Big Green Head to North Carolina For Games vs. Duke and Davidson

GAME 6
No. 13/13 Dartmouth (4-1, 1-0 Ivy) vs. No. 6/6 Duke (7-1, 1-1 ACC)
▶ Sunday, Mar. 17, 2013 ▶ 1 PM ▶ Durham, N.C.
▶ Koskinen Stadium (4,500)
▶ All-Time Series: Duke, 11-6 (18th Meeting)
▶ Last Meeting: Mar. 17, 2012 (Hanover) - W, 9-8 (2OT)
▶ Streak: 1-0

GAME 7
No. 13/13 Dartmouth (4-1, 1-0 Ivy) vs. Davidson (2-3*, 0-0 Big South)
▶ Tuesday, Mar. 19, 2013 ▶ 6 PM ▶ Hanover, N.H.
▶ Richardson Field (6,000)
▶ All-Time Series: N/A/(1st Meeting)
▶ Last Meeting: N/A
▶ Streak: 0-0
* - Will Play Before Tuesday

THIS WEEK
The Dartmouth women's lacrosse team will be out on the road this week for a pair of games in North Carolina. Match-ups with Duke and Davidson will highlight a spring break for the Big Green prior to their return to Ivy League play next weekend at Columbia.

LAST TIME OUT
In the last outing, Dartmouth fell at home to No. 2 Florida, 14-9. The loss snapped the nearly three-year run without a defeat at home during the regular season, stretching back to the 2010 campaign and 16 straight contests.

WHERE WE RANK
Despite the loss, it came against one of the nation's toughest opponents and did little to sway the pollsters' outlook of the Big Green's 2013 season. This week, both national polls continue to have Dartmouth ranked 13th, once again the top team in the Ivy League in terms of each poll's placement of conference opponents.

AGAINST DUKE
Last season, the Green snapped a seven-game skid to the Blue Devils with a 9-8 victory in double overtime thanks to a goal from the eventual Ivy League Player of the Year Sarah Plumb. Duke owns the all-time series advantage with an 11-6 mark in the 17 previous meetings.

SCOUTING DUKE
The Blue Devils enter Sunday's tilt winners of the last three, including a 10-7 road victory at Jacksonville Wednesday afternoon. Overall the team is 7-1 this season and ranks sixth in both national polls. The one loss came at the hands of the nation's current No. 1 team, Maryland, in a lopsided 15-6 road defeat for the Blue Devils. Freshman Kelci Smesko scored three times against the Dolphins to help earn her team win, but the offense has come mostly from sophomore Kerrin Mauer this season. Mauer leads the team in goals (20), assists (18) and total scoring (38). Kaitlin Gaiss and Kelsey Duryea have split time in the circle this spring as both have over 200 minutes of action and similar statlines.

SCOUTING DAVIDSON
Prior to Tuesday night's meeting with the Big Green, the Wildcats will be on the road for a Saturday afternoon game at Villanova. Coming into this weekend, Davidson boasts a 2-3 overall mark in five outings. The match-up with Dartmouth will be the final tune-up before opening Big South play with Longwood next weekend. Most recently, the Wildcats took down Robert Morris of the Northeast Conference, 13-6, on March 12 after losing two games to Vermont and Oregon in Eugene the week before. Ann Fucigna leads the Wildcats with 14 goals, but does not have an assist to her credit this season. Emily Cooke, on the other hand, has 16 helpers to go along with nine markers for a team-leading 25 points.

AGAINST DAVIDSON
Tuesday's match-up under the lights at Richardson Field will mark the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

BALANCED ATTACK
Junior Liz Calby scored twice and assisted on two others, as did classmate Lindsey Allard in the game against the Gators last Saturday afternoon. It marked the second straight game that each of the two players had at least four points. Allard actually posted three goals and two assists in the previous outing against Boston University.

GAME IN, GAME OUT
In addition to Calby, senior Hana Bowers has been the most consistent scorer. Like Calby, Bowers has at least two goals in each of Dartmouth's five games this season after scoring a pair against Florida. Calby leads the team in points with 20, while Bowers has the narrow edge in goals, 13-12.

FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME
Senior co-captain Kelsey Johnson scored her first goal since her sophomore season when she found the back of the netting 8:56 into the second half against the Gators. Johnson's only other collegiate goal tally came back on April 2, 2011 as her role has been that of one of the Ivy League's premier shutdown defenders.

NICE START
Making her collegiate debut, freshman Gabby Starkey scored the first goal of her Dartmouth career late in the game against Florida. Starkey finished off a pass from Lindsey Allard with 55 seconds left for Dartmouth's eighth tally of the afternoon and her first as a member of the Big Green.

AS CLOSE AS WE GET
The Sunday/Tuesday games will mark the second of three times this season that Dartmouth will play two games with just one day of rest in between. After snow pushed back the home opener one day, the Big Green played UNH on Thursday, Feb. 28, before venturing down I-91 to play Yale two afternoons later in the conference opener. After this week, the only remaining instance of two games in three days will come at Penn and Maryland on April 12 and 14.

WHAT'S AHEAD?
Dartmouth will return north after playing at Davidson Tuesday, but will travel to Columbia for a Saturday matinee in the city, taking on the Lions at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES

Schedules