Men's Lacrosse to Take on No. 2 Notre Dame Saturday

Game 2
Saturday, Feb. 28: Dartmouth (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League) at No. 2 Notre Dame (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: South Bend, Ind. – Arlotta Stadium
All-Time Series: Notre Dame leads, 6-2

THIS WEEKEND
With one game under its belt, the Dartmouth men's lacrosse team returns to the field on Saturday with a 1 p.m. faceoff with No. 2 Notre Dame in Arlotta Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT
The Big Green opened the 2015 season on the road, falling to Ohio State by a score of 15-5 last Saturday. This contest marked the first time the two teams have met since March 20, 2001, a game that the Buckeyes won, 14-10. Dartmouth played even with Ohio State in the early stages of the game and the two teams went goal for goal until the third quarter hit, when the Buckeyes scored six unanswered goals, while not allowing the Green a marker in the frame. With an 11-4 lead, it was not until the opening minutes of the fourth that OSU allowed another goal, while the Buckeyes managed four more before the game's conclusion. Don Stephan led the team with two goals and Dartmouth's lone assist of the afternoon. Between the pipes, Blair Friedensohn was tagged with the loss, posting six saves and 11 goals allowed.

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH
Notre Dame is just opening its season as well and is sporting a record of 2-0 heading into Saturday's game. The Fighting Irish got things started on Valentine's Day, defeating Georgetown by a score of 14-12. In its first road game of the year, Notre Dame took down Michigan, 17-8. Mikey Wynne leads the team with 10 goals and one helper after a six-goal performance in the season opener.

LAST TIME AGAINST NOTRE DAME
The Big Green and the Fighting Irish last met on Feb. 28, 2009, a game that Notre Dame won, 19-7, after firing off 10 unanswered goals. The Green were outshot 48-24 by the Irish and Dartmouth took advantage of its lone man-up opportunity, while Notre Dame scored two goals in three chances with the extra man. Face-offs continued to be a problem for the Big Green as Dartmouth only came away with the ball nine times in 30 chances.

ALL NEW LOOK
After a 2-10 campaign last season, the Dartmouth men's lacrosse team is looking to rebuild in 2015. That rebuild began last summer with the hiring of Brendan Callahan, who came to Hanover after spending the last seven years as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator at Lehigh. Callahan brought in Tucker Kear and Kevin Gould to round out the Big Green's new look on the sidelines.

RETURNING FIREPOWER
This year, the Green will return four of their five leading scorers from a season ago. Juniors KC Beard and Billy Heidt, and sophomores Wiley Osborne and Jack McCormick are top returners on attack for the Big Green. Heidt and Osborne netted 10 markers apiece, while Beard was third among the Big Green with five assists. McCormick was second on the team with 18 points on 10 goals and a team-leading eight assists. He was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on April 7 for a four-point effort against Yale two days before and was the first Big Green freshman to be honored by the league office since March 30, 2009.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Two of Dartmouth's four goaltenders from last year will be returning for the 2015 season. Junior Blair Friedensohn started all 11 games in which he appeared, stopping 116 shots while allowing 125 goals, and wrapping things up with a 12.87 goals against average and a .481 save percentage. Looking to spend more time in net this season is senior Colin Heffernan, who, at 6-foot-7, is tied for tallest player in Division I lacrosse. He adds depth and experience in the circle for the Big Green. On Saturday, both Friedensohn and Heffernan saw time in net. Friedensohn was tagged with the loss, posting six saves and 11 goals allowed, while Heffernan stopped three shots and allowed four markers.

FRESH FACES
Making their collegiate debut this year in the Class of 2018 are Willis Bocock, Jase Davis, Cormac Dugan, Cody George, Alex Kelly, Evan Key, Jack Korzelius, Patrick Lesch, Richie Loftus, James McJunkin, Sam Runkle, Doug Strazza and Ty Vandenberg.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Dartmouth will open its six-game home schedule on Wednesday, March 4, hosting Sacred Heart at 3 p.m.

Schedules