Fast Start, Strong Finish Leads Dartmouth Past Vermont, 11-10

Thursday, March 14

Burlington, Vt.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-3

Vermont

2-6

Dartmouth

Vermont

Photo by: Cayla Fernandes

Fast Start, Strong Finish Leads Dartmouth Past Vermont, 11-10

3/14/2024 5:25:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score ESPN+ Highlights

The Big Green scored on their first six shot attempts of the afternoon

By: Justin Lafleur

BURLINGTON, Vt. — The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team jumped out to an 8-2 lead, then after Vermont pulled even at 10, junior Colin McGill scored on the extra man with 8:21 remaining and the Big Green defense didn't allow a goal for the game's final 10:59 in an 11-10 road win on Thursday afternoon. McGill led the offense with five points, his second straight five-point game, behind three goals (good for his third straight hat trick) and two assists. Fifth-year Tommy Rogan shined in his first action of the season, scoring three goals for his fourth-career hat trick.

With the win, Dartmouth improves to 3-3 while Vermont falls to 2-5. Each of the last three meetings between the two sides have been one-goal games, with the Big Green winning each of the last two.

"Loved the way we started," said Dartmouth head coach Sean Kirwan. "Vermont battled back, credit to them for continuing to fight. I'm very proud of the resiliency of our guys to make the plays when we needed to with the pressure on us towards the end of the game."

Senior Henry Bonnie scored twice in the victory, while junior Quinn Moore posted a season-high three points via a goal and two assists. Senior Nate Davis had a goal and assist, while classmate Peter Lapina dished two assists.

McGill's five points gives him 99 for his career via 73 goals and 26 assists.

Defensively, sophomore Thomas Goguen had four groundballs and two caused turnovers. First-year Will Cohen recorded a groundball and two caused turnovers.

Less than four minutes in, the Big Green held a 3-0 lead behind a Moore man-up goal, then later two McGill scores in the span of 31 seconds. After a Vermont goal, the Big Green answered with the next four. Rogan closed the first quarter with two goals in 12 seconds, the second a highlight-reel behind-the-back goal to give Dartmouth a 6-1 lead with 3:47 left in the first quarter, which proved to be the score after 15 minutes of play.

The BTB for the Big Green!#NCAAMLAX x 🎥 ESPN+ / @DartmouthMLax pic.twitter.com/o2KoDSnxln
— NCAA Lacrosse (@NCAALAX) March 14, 2024

Fifth-year faceoff specialist Mitchell Myers scored off the opening faceoff of the second quarter to give the Big Green a 7-1 lead, then after a Catamounts' goal, Rogan netted his third of the game for an 8-2 advantage. Vermont scored two of the final three second-quarter goals, with Bonnie scoring at the 16-second mark to give the Big Green a 9-4 halftime lead.

We are underway in the third quarter with the Big Green leading, 9-4. This is how the first-half scoring ended with Henry Bonnie giving Dartmouth a five-goal advantage at the break.

Watch on @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/MjTu0ivzb9 #GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲 pic.twitter.com/6nVpbOTh9P
— Dartmouth Men's Lacrosse (@DartmouthMLax) March 14, 2024

It was all Catamounts through the early stages of the second half, with UVM scoring six of the first seven goals, including four straight to turn a 10-6 Dartmouth lead into a 10-10 deadlock with 10:59 remaining in the fourth quarter.

However, from that point forward, it was all Big Green. McGill scored on the extra man with 8:21 remaining, and junior Mason Morel stopped each of the last three shots sent his way, including two saves in the final 30 seconds, to help secure the 11-10 victory.

UVM came all the way back to tie the score at 10, but Colin McGill answered on the extra man to give the Big Green the lead once again.

Watch on @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/MjTu0ivzb9 #GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲 pic.twitter.com/FzEDpgBeL1
— Dartmouth Men's Lacrosse (@DartmouthMLax) March 14, 2024

Vermont finished with a 40-30 edge in shots while the Catamounts held a 32-23 edge in groundballs. Dartmouth was 2-for-3 on the extra man compared to UVM's 0-for-1. Morel finished with 11 saves in goal. Myers won 13-of-22 faceoffs against UVM's Henry Dodge, who entered the day having won 57.4 percent on the season.

"It was Mason's first start of the year and he stepped up and made some timely saves, which was huge," said Kirwan. "Tommy Rogan, in his return to action to have three goals and give us that spark we needed on offense, was great. Sean McMahon, another guy with his first taste of action. The moment wasn't too big for any of them and they stepped up when we needed it."

The Big Green look to carry the momentum into next Tuesday's big nonleague finale at No. 11 Georgetown. Opening faceoff is set for 3 p.m.