Big Green Travel Up I-89 to Battle Regional Rival Vermont

GAME 8
Dartmouth Big Green (4-3, 1-1 Ivy) vs.
Vermont Catamounts (8-2, 0-0 America East)
▶ Tuesday, March 26, 2014 ▶ 3 PM ▶ Burlington, Vt.
▶ Virtue Field (3,000)
▶ All-Time Series: 21-4-1 (27th All-Time Meeting)
▶ Last Meeting: Mar. 27, 2013 / L, 16-15 (2OT) (Hanover)
▶ Streak: 0-1

WEDNESDAY'S GAME
The Dartmouth women's lacrosse team heads out on the road for the first of three straight away from Hanover Wednesday afternoon when it heads up I-89 to Burlington for a 3 p.m. tilt with Vermont.

LAST TIME OUT
The Big Green are coming off a 12-9 win Saturday afternoon at Scully-Fahey Field against visiting Columbia. The home team used stifling defense in the first half, timely scoring in the second half and an outstanding effort from senior goalkeeper Kristen Giovanniello to earn the three-goal conference victory against the Lions.

SCOUTING VERMONT
The Catamounts have one of the most potent offenses in the region this season having scored 169 goals in 10 games. That high-scoring attack — which ranks second in the country at 16.90 per game — has helped UVM to an 8-2 record entering Wednesday's game with the Green. The team split games last week against UMass (L, 16-6) and at Central Connecticut (W, 22-7). The Catamounts have the fourth-best scoring margin in Division I as well, averaging 8.90 more goals per contest than their opponents. Sydney Mas ranks second in the nation with 40 goals this season and third in goals per game (4.0). She is one of just two players in the country to have already reached the 40-goal mark this year, joining Florida's Shannon Gilroy (53). Goalkeeping duties have been split between Mackenzie Maher and Meg Hopkins.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE CATAMOUNTS
Last season's 16-15 double-overtime victory helped snap Dartmouth's 11-game win streak in the series for Vermont. The Big Green had not lost to its regional rival since 1994 prior to the 2013 thriller that needed 69:39 of game play over two hours and 45 minutes to be settled. In the end, it was a Samantha Gallerani marker 2:21 into the sudden-victory second OT that gave UVM just its fourth win in 26 meetings with Dartmouth.

WEEKLY AWARD
For the first time this season and the seventh time in her collegiate career, goalkeeper Kristen Giovanniello was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week. The senior earned the distinction for her 27 saves over the course of the week at Florida (15) and home against Columbia (12). It was the second weekly honor of the season for the Big Green after Sarah Byrne shared Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors on Mar. 3.

TYING CAREER HIGHS
In addition to her 12 saves —many of which came in spectacular fashion — Giovanniello tied her career high with seven ground balls in the win over the Lions. She had previously picked up seven GBs in a double overtime game last season against Vermont, but was able to match that figure in just 60 minutes against the Lions. Also matching an impressive career high was senior Lindsey Allard, who had eight draw controls against Columbia. The Dartmouth single-game record of nine held by Sarah Plumb '12 and Courtney Bennett '13, a figure Allard has just missed twice in the last three games after also picking up eight against Albany on Mar. 8.

FOUR GOALS, FIVE POINTS
Leading the way offensively in the most recent outing was sophomore Jaclyn Leto. Leto scored four goals and registered five points in the win on Saturday, matching her career highs in both categories that she had previously set against Boston College in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament last May in Syracuse.

REMAINING PERFECT
In beating the Lions on Saturday, Dartmouth remains perfect in the all-time series with Columbia, improving to 17-0 dating back to the first meeting in 1998.

ROAD TRIP!
The three-game road trip the Big Green are about to embark upon is the longest stretch of the season away from home. The Green and White will play at Vermont on Wednesday before Ivy contests at Brown on Mar. 29 and Cornell on April 5.

ALL EVEN IN THE IVY LEAGUE
In defeating Columbia, Dartmouth evened its Ancient Eight record at 1-1 following a loss to Yale in the conference opener on Mar. 1. Currently, the team is tied with Cornell for fourth in the league standings.

APPROACHING MILESTONES
Liz Calby – 79 Goals / 116 Points (Needs 9 more to move into Top-20 at Dartmouth) / 45 Ground Balls
Frances Bird – 43 Games Played / 45 Ground Balls / 28 Caused Turnovers
Jaclyn Leto – 35 Goals / 48 Points / 27 Ground Balls / 24 Draw Controls
Sarah Byrne – 47 Goals / 54 Points / 43 Draw Controls
Christine Lushefski – 29 Games Played / 21 Ground Balls
Lindsey Allard – 36 Goals / 58 Points / 45 Draw Controls
Bailey Johnson – 48 Games Played
Kristen Giovanniello – 59 Games Played & 58 Career Starts / 470 Saves

WATCH IT LIVE
Wednesday's game will be broadcast live in HD for FREE via Vermont's CatamounTV.

WHAT'S AHEAD?
Dartmouth will head to Providence for a Saturday road contest against Brown at noon.

Schedules