Morel Shines in Big Green Loss at No. 13 Princeton

Saturday, March 30

Princeton, N.J.

12:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-6, 0-2

Princeton

6-3, 2-1

Dartmouth

Princeton

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

Morel Shines in Big Green Loss at No. 13 Princeton

3/30/2024 5:20:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Mason Morel finished with a career-high 21 saves, the most by a Dartmouth goaltender since 2014

By: Justin Lafleur

PRINCETON, N.J. — The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team scored two of the first three second-quarter goals to pull within 4-2, but the offense went cold for more than 35 minutes as No. 13 Princeton pulled away, eventually winning by a 15-5 final on Saturday afternoon. Junior Mason Morel shined for the Big Green with a career-high 21 saves, tied for the second most stops in the nation this season. Two other bright spots were first-years Eli Goldstein and Elliott Fee, who each scored their first-career goals within a minute of each other in the fourth quarter.

Morel's 21 saves were the most by a Dartmouth goaltender since Blair Friedensohn also had 21 against Holy Cross on Apr. 29, 2014.
With the loss, the Big Green fall to 3-6 and 0-2 in Ivy League play. Princeton improves to 6-3 and 2-1 in the league.

"Our defense played outstanding," said Big Green head coach Sean Kirwan. "Mason Morel was a huge part of that, but Coach Whitcher had a great game plan. I thought our D had a great week all week and our guys executed well. We gave up shots that Mason wanted to see and Mason did his job saving them. It was a total team effort on the defensive end and really kept us in the game."

"You're going to be hard-pressed to find a better save than that."

Mason Morel finished with a career-high 21 saves today at Princeton, none better than this absolute 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐲.

Morel's save total was most by a Big Green goaltender since 2014.#SCTop10 | @LacrosseNetwork pic.twitter.com/tp0THdunys
— Dartmouth Men's Lacrosse (@DartmouthMLax) March 30, 2024

Offensively, the Big Green struggled with just two goals over the game's first 54:39 before three over the final 5:21. Five different Dartmouth players scored goals, with junior Colin McGill and seniors Nate Davis and Henry Bonnie accounting for the first three, before Goldstein and Fee got on the board.

"It felt very lackluster on offense," said Kirwan. "That certainly is a reflection of myself, Coach Herring and the coaching and making sure that we are putting these guys in the best spots to be successful. It's a little bit back to the drawing board there. It felt like we were playing on our heels all game."

Both defenses stood tall in the early going with neither team scoring until there was 4:06 left in the first quarter. Each goaltender, Morel and Princeton's Michael Gianforcaro, made four saves before the Tigers opened the scoring.

Princeton went on to tally two more in the first to take a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes of play.

Early in the second, McGill pulled the Big Green within 3-1 in highlight-reel fashion. He first caused a turnover on the ride then collected the groundball and in one motion, spun around to finish behind-his back. That pulled Dartmouth within 3-1 with 13:05 on the second-quarter clock.

In case you missed it, Colin McGill had a 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝 spinning behind-the-back goal this afternoon. We have you covered with five angles of the #SCTop10 worthy score.#GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲 pic.twitter.com/vOIO7rkSYM
— Dartmouth Men's Lacrosse (@DartmouthMLax) March 30, 2024

Princeton answered off the ensuing faceoff, but Davis responded for the Big Green. His unassisted goal at the 10:42 mark pulled Dartmouth within 4-2.

That proved to be the Big Green's final goal until late in the fourth, however, with Princeton reeling off 11 straight goals.

Dartmouth had a late flurry, with goals from Bonnie, Goldstein and Fee in the final 5:21 pulling the Big Green within 15-5 at the final horn.

Final shots were 55-30 in favor of Princeton, with the Tigers holding a 31-21 edge in groundballs. Dartmouth had 14 turnovers to Princeton's nine. The Big Green were 0-for-1 on the extra man to the Tigers' 3-for-4. Morel's 21 saves came across Gianforcaro, who made 15.

"I thought defensively, everyone did their job pretty well," said More. "We all slid to the ball, got our matchups and forced guys to take shots I wanted them to take, and I took advantage of them taking shots that I wanted. I have to shout out my defense for giving me the looks that I really wanted to help me succeed."

The Big Green return to action next Saturday at No. 16 Harvard. Opening faceoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

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