Dartmouth Welcomes Sacred Heart & Bryant to Hanover This Weekend

GAME 5
Dartmouth Big Green (1-3) vs.
Sacred Heart Pioneers (2-3)
Date: Friday, Sept. 18, 2015 – 4:30 p.m.
Location: Hanover, N.H. – Chase AstroTurf Field
All-Time Series: Dartmouth, 1-0
Last Time: Sept. 2, 2011 – W, 5-0 (Hanover)

GAME 6
Dartmouth Big Green (1-3*) vs.
Bryant Bulldogs (1-5*)
Date: Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015 – 1 p.m.
Location: Hanover, N.H. – Chase AstroTurf Field
All-Time Series: Dartmouth, 6-1
Last Time: Sept. 28, 2014 – W, 3-2/OT (Hanover)

THIS WEEKEND
The Dartmouth field hockey team will welcome a pair of non-conference opponents to Hanover this weekend. Sacred Heart makes the trip for a Friday afternoon tilt, while Bryant makes its way to the Upper Valley to play Sunday.

LAST TIME OUT
The Big Green dropped both of their games last weekend, falling, 2-1, at home to Northeastern on Friday afternoon, before suffering a 6-1 setback at UMass on Sunday in the first road contest of the 2015 campaign.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sacred Heart comes to Chase Field with a 2-3 overall record, having snapped its three-game skid with a 2-1 win against Holy Cross in its most recent outing. The Pioneers will begin a three-game Ivy League road trip with Friday's game in Hanover, traveling to Penn on Sunday and Columbia next Thursday evening. Rachel Claroni is the only player on the roster with more than one goal this season as she has a pair in five games. Senior Mary Altepeter has been the goalie of record all five contests, boasting a 2.32 goals against average to go along with an .823 save percentage.

AGAINST SACRED HEART
These two teams have only met once before, a 5-0 Dartmouth win on Sept. 2, 2011 as part of the Big Green Cup. The game served as the home team's season opener and featured a pair of goals from Kelly Hood '12 and a six-save shutout from fellow senior Meagan Vakiener. Current fifth-year senior Rebecca Hu not only made her Dartmouth debut in the contest, but also picked up her first career point in the game; an assist on Maya Herm's goal in the 53rd minute.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Bryant's 2015 season is not going as planned, as it is 1-5 overall heading into the weekend that begins Friday afternoon at Yale. Sunday's game will mark the fourth straight against an Ivy opponent as the Bulldogs have fallen, 5-2, at Harvard (Sept. 7) and, 3-2, in overtime at Brown (Sept. 12) prior to Friday's contest against their fellow Bulldogs. A beacon of hope for the rest of the season has been the play of junior Victoria Danby and her team-leading six goals, two assists and 14 points. In goal, freshman keeper Marissa Elizardo is 1-2 with a 2.85 GAA and a save percentage of .643, while senior Jenna Limone is 0-3 with a 4.80 GAA and a .409 save percentage.

AGAINST BRYANT
Dartmouth won the first five all-time meetings between these two teams before a 4-2 Bryant win during the 2013 season put the Bulldogs on the board. However, Dartmouth fought back with a dramatic 3-2 OT win last season in Hanover with then-freshman Julia Donald tying the game with 1:31 left in regulation and Ali Savage '15 winning it 5:50 into overtime on a hot afternoon at Chase.

LONE GOAL
Dartmouth scored just once in each of their games last weekend. Julia Donald netted the lone marker in the Northeastern loss, starting a fevered late-game comeback, while freshman Gemma Bautista notched the first collegiate points of her career with a goal against the Minutewomen two days later in Amherst.

UP-AND-DOWN DAY
Junior goalkeeper Paige Duffy made a career-high 10 saves on Sunday against UMass. Duffy has had to make seven or more saves three times this season — all losses — while her one game below that mark was a four-save performance in picking up her first collegiate win against UNH.

FOLLOW ALONG
Both games this weekend will be carried live in HD on the Ivy League Digital Network. DartmouthSports.com will also provide live stats for those looking to follow along during the contests. Fans can also follow the team's official twitter account for in-game updates: @DartmouthFH.

WHAT'S AHEAD?
After these two games, the Big Green will remain at home next weekend when they open the Ivy League portion of the schedule against Princeton on Sunday, Sept. 27 at noon.

Schedules