Dartmouth Heads to No. 15 Harvard Friday for Ivy League Opener

GAME 4

Dartmouth (2-1) at No. 15 Harvard
Date: Friday, September 15, 2023 – 5 p.m.
Location: Cambridge, Mass. – Berylson Family Field Hockey Field
All-Time Series: Dartmouth leads, 24-21-4
Last Meeting: Harvard, 3-2 (10/14/22)

FRIDAY'S GAME
Off to its best start since 2011, the Dartmouth field hockey team heads to Harvard on Friday for its Ivy League opener at the No. 15 Crimson. The Big Green are coming off a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over Merrimack in a game which saw them hold a 55-8 edge in shots, with freshman Ella Bowman putting home the game-winning goal 5:11 into overtime off a penalty corner. This came after a tight 2-1 defeat to Quinnipiac two days prior. This Friday's game begins at 5 p.m. and can be seen on NESN+ and ESPN+.

WITH A WIN...
- The Big Green would be off to their best start after four games since the 2010 season (when they began 4-0).
- Dartmouth would snap an eight-game losing streak against Harvard and beat the Crimson for the first time since Nov. 2, 2013, a 4-2 win on the road.
- The Big Green would snap a four-game road losing streak against Harvard.

ALL-TIME VS. HARVARD
Dartmouth leads the all-time series with Harvard, 24-21-4. The Crimson have won eight straight, most recently beating the Big Green 3-2 last season. Zoe Schaffer pulled Dartmouth even with five minutes remaining, but just under two minutes after that, Harvard put home the game winner. The last Big Green win came on Nov. 2, 2013 via a 4-2 final. That marked Dartmouth's sixth straight win in the series.

SCOUTING HARVARD
Harvard enters Friday standing 15th in the NFHCA national poll, owning a 2-2 record. The Crimson began the season with wins at UMass (2-1) and then No. 15 UConn (3-2) before dropping a pair of one-goal contests at No. 9 Liberty (2-1 in overtime) and No. 6 Virginia (1-0). Last season, Harvard was 13-4 and 6-1 in the Ivy League. The Crimson are two years removed from a trip to the 2021 national semifinals. So far this season, Lucy Leel leads Harvard in goals (2) and points (4) while four others have scored a goal. A pair of goalkeepers have started two games, with Sofia Castore owning a 1.41 goals against average and 70.0 save percentage. Tessa Shahbo has a 1.42 GAA and 62.5 save percentage.

THRILLER IN OT OVER MERRIMACK
- Dartmouth outshot Merrimack, 55-8, beating the Warriors 4-3 in overtime to improve to 3-0 in the all-time series.
- The 55 shots were more than double the previous high in head coach Mark Egner's time at Dartmouth. In the season opener, the Big Green had 24 shots, which had been their most since also posting 24 on Sept. 22, 2019 against Merrimack. That was shattered one week later.
- It marked the Big Green's first overtime win since Sept. 29, 2019, a 4-3 victory over UMass Lowell. Dartmouth did win Egner's first game as Big Green head coach in a shootout, winning 2-1 at UC Davis.
- The Big Green improved to 2-1, their best record after three games in 12 years (since the 2011 season).

ODDS AND ENDS
- Dartmouth's 11 goals through three games mark its most since the 2011 season, when the Big Green scored 12 through the first three contests.
- The Big Green's 3.67 goals per game are good for sixth in the nation.
- Dartmouth is also first nationally in penalty corners per game (11.67), fourth in assists per game (3.33) and fifth in points per game (10.67).
- The Big Green enter Ivy League play with a winning record for the first time since 2010.

STONEHILL GAME NOTES
- Dartmouth's six goals marked its most since scoring seven against Bryant on Sept. 10, 2017.
- Senior Lila Browne scored a career-high two goals while sophomore Olivia Galiotos and freshman Riley Dumigan each tallied their first collegiate goals. Freshman Lucia Campaño recorded her first-career assist on Dumigan's goal.
- The Big Green scored three goals in the fourth quarter, their most goals in a quarter since scoring three in the first last Sept. 9 vs. Northeastern, a 4-3 Dartmouth victory.
- Mark Egner improved to 2-1 in season openers in his time as Big Green head coach.
- Dartmouth improved to 5-0 all-time against Northeast Conference foes in Egner's time.

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.

2023 CAPTAINS AND LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
The Big Green's 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 Friday, Dartmouth hits the road next weekend to face Cornell (Friday, Sept. 22) and Colgate (Sunday, Sept. 24).

Schedules