Big Green Open Season at Home vs. Stonehill Sunday

Sunday, September 3

Hanover, N.H.

12:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Stonehill

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

Big Green Open Season at Home vs. Stonehill Sunday

9/1/2023 11:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

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Sunday marks the first of three straight home games to begin the season

By: Justin Lafleur

GAME 1

Dartmouth (0-0) vs. Stonehill (0-2)
Date: Sunday, September 3, 2023 – 12 p.m.
Location: Hanover, N.H. – Chase Field
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Last Meeting: –

SUNDAY'S GAME
The Dartmouth field hockey team opens the 2023 season on Sunday when it hosts Stonehill at 12 p.m. on ESPN+. Sunday marks the start of year four (season three) for head coach Mark Egner, who has led steady improvement within the Big Green program over his first two seasons (Egner began at Dartmouth in 2020 and what would have been his first season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Sunday will also be the first-ever meeting between Dartmouth and Stonehill.

WITH A WIN...
- The Big Green would win their season opener for the second time in Egner's three seasons as head coach. Prior to his arrival, Dartmouth had lost the previous seven openers.
- Dartmouth would improve to 1-0 all-time against Stonehill.
- The Big Green would improve to 5-0 against the Northeast Conference in Egner's tenure.

ALL-TIME VS. STONEHILL
Sunday will mark the first-ever meeting between Dartmouth and Stonehill. Last season (2022) marked the Skyhawks' first at the Division I level.

SCOUTING STONEHILL
Stonehill enters Sunday's matchup with an 0-2 record, falling at Holy Cross (1-0 in overtime) and No. 19 UAlbany (5-0). Last season, the Skyhawks finished 3-12 with wins over Lindenwood, Merrimack and Queens. The two top scorers both return in 2023 in Raegan Hickey (11 points: five goals, one assist) and Makayla Strickulis (eight points: four goals). Maddie House led Stonehill in defensive saves with two while Shannon Conte, who also returns, played every minute in goal, tallying a 72.4 save percentage and 4.00 goals against average.

LAST SEASON
Despite finishing 0-7 in Ivy League play last season, there were a number of highlights. Dartmouth lost its last five league games by a single goal, including 1-0 and 3-2 defeats to nationally-ranked Princeton and Harvard, respectively. The other defeats were by just two goals. The margin in Ivy play of minus-9 was 12 goals better than the year prior — when the Big Green were outscored by 21.

Early last season, Dartmouth posted a three-game winning streak, good for the program's first winning streak since 2017. The Big Green beat Northeastern (for the first time since 1987), Sacred Heart and Merrimack to improve to 3-3 on the young campaign.

GOAL SCORING IMPROVEMENT
Dartmouth took a step forward in scoring last season. Here are a few highlights.

- The Big Green scored a goal in each of their first seven games of the season, the longest streak to begin a season since 2015.
- Dartmouth scored twice on Sept. 18 vs. Merrimack to increase its streak of scoring multiple goals to four straight games, its longest streak since 2018.
- The Big Green's 12 goals over four games also marked their most scored in any four-game streak since scoring 15 between Sept. 18 and Oct. 3 of 2015.

AWARDS GALORE!
The Big Green garnered plenty of individual awards in 2022.

- Dartmouth saw four players named All-Ivy, with two named second team All-Ivy (Bronwyn Bird and Holley Cromwell), and two garnering honorable mention recognition (Olivia Galiotos and Hatley Post).
- The four student-athletes honored were the most for the Big Green since they had four in 2011.
- It's also the first time they've had multiple players named to the first or second teams since 2016.
- Bronwyn Bird was named NFHCA second team All-Region, Dartmouth's first All-Region honoree since Katie Spanos was also named to the second team in back-to-back seasons in 2018-19.
- Last season was also the first time since 2013 that Dartmouth field hockey won two Ivy League weekly awards, as Cromwell was named Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 12 and Post garnered Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 10. Post also received national recognition, garnering honorable mention from the NFHCA and Defensive Player of the Week from Synapse Sports.

2023 CAPTAINS AND LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
The Big Green's 2023 captains in 2023 include a second-year captain in fifth-year Meg Barnes, along with senior Bronwyn Bird. In addition, junior Piper Edwards and sophomore Olivia Galiotos have been named to Dartmouth field hockey's expanded leadership council.

NEXT UP
After Sunday's game, the Big Green remain home for two games next weekend, hosting Quinnipiac on Friday (3 p.m.) and Merrimack on Sunday (12 p.m.).