No. 20 Dartmouth Picks Up Thrilling 9-8 Overtime Win at No. 16 Penn

Saturday, March 22

Philadelphia, Pa. / Franklin Field

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

7-1, 1-0

Penn

4-5, 1-1

Dartmouth

Penn

No. 20 Dartmouth Picks Up Thrilling 9-8 Overtime Win at No. 16 Penn

3/22/2025 11:47:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Neither team led by more than one in a back-and-forth classic

By: Justin Lafleur

PHILADELPHIA — In a back-and-forth game that saw neither team lead by more than one, the 20th ranked Dartmouth men's lacrosse team played its best when it mattered most, as first-year Alex Jessey scored with 1:17 left in overtime to give the Big Green a thrilling 9-8 win at No. 16 Penn on Saturday night at Franklin Field. Dartmouth, who improved to 1-0 in the Ivy League, wound up scoring three of the game's final four goals to turn a late 7-6 deficit into the overtime thriller.

The win marks Dartmouth's first over Penn since 2013 and first at Penn since 2005. It's also the Big Green's first victory over a nationally-ranked opponent since 2015. Now at 7-1 on the season, Dartmouth is off to its best start since 2003. Saturday marked the Big Green's first overtime victory since a 2023 home win over Harvard, which was also Dartmouth's last Ivy League victory.

"Credit to our guys for sticking together," said Big Green head coach Sean Kirwan. "This is such a fun group to go to work with every day. The closeness of this group, how much they love each other, the connectivity… you saw that on full display. When things were maybe a little bleak for us, they just stuck together, stuck to our plan and executed when it mattered."

Trailing 7-6, Colin McGill finished a feed from Jessey to pull Dartmouth even with 2:34 remaining. Less than a minute later, William Stahl took it himself from behind the net and beat Penn goaltender Emmet Carrol to give the Big Green an 8-7 advantage.

The Quakers' Cam Rubin evened the score with 52 seconds remaining. They then won the ensuing faceoff, but the Big Green made a defensive stop — then stopped Penn on the opening possession of overtime — to give their offense a chance. That's when Jessey stepped up big.

"That's a first-year making a bigtime play in a bigtime moment," said Kirwan. "Alex Jessey got thrusted into the attack role when Hopper (Zappitello) when went down. For him to step up and make that play, that's why we love him, that's why he's here, to make those plays and you saw it today."

Alex Jessey the hero in overtime to give the Big Green their first win over Penn since 2013, first win at Penn since 2005, first nationally-ranked win since 2015 and best start (7-1) since 2003‼️#GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲 pic.twitter.com/qhVvROc7vM
— Dartmouth Men's Lacrosse (@DartmouthMLax) March 23, 2025

Offensively, Emmett Paradine scored three goals, all in the first half, for his fourth-career hat trick. Thomas Power scored twice while Stahl and Jessey each had two points via a goal and assist.

Thomas Goguen continued his strong play on the defensive end, tallying five groundballs and two caused turnovers to reach 18 on the season. Colin Fagan also caused a pair of turnovers. Mason Morel was the backstop of the defense, making 14 saves, which included denying seven of nine sent his way after halftime. He now owns a stellar 60.3 save percentage on the season.

Paradine opened the scoring at 12:36 of the first quarter before Penn answered with the next two. After trading goals, Power (at 3:48) and Paradine (at 0:34) gave Dartmouth a 4-3 lead after the first quarter of play.

Take a look at the third goal from Emmett Paradine, who tallied a first-half hat trick!

Gameday Central ➡️ https://t.co/vRYKvuJbPL #GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲 pic.twitter.com/emO73Hmksp
— Dartmouth Men's Lacrosse (@DartmouthMLax) March 23, 2025

Penn won the second, 3-2, with Dartmouth's goals coming from Paradine and Power. Power's second, with 16 seconds until halftime, pulled Dartmouth even at 6-6 after 30 minutes of play.

A scoreless third quarter saw 15 combined shots between the teams and eight saves, four from each side. The first goal of the second half came at 6:06 of the fourth (breaking a 23:54 scoreless drought), coming from Penn's Ben Smith to give the Quakers a 7-6 advantage.

That set up the finish, with Dartmouth's late surge in regulation before Jessey's heroics.

Final shots were 37-31 in favor of Penn, with the Big Green holding a 25-21 edge in groundballs. Morel's 14 saves came across Carroll, who made eight.

Dartmouth returns home next Saturday to host No. 6 Princeton at 12 p.m. on Youth Lacrosse Day and Autism Awareness. To purchase tickets, please click here.

"We're going to enjoy this one for sure, but we can't enjoy it for too long," said Kirwan. "We've got a really talented Princeton team coming to town at Scully-Fahey Field on Saturday. We're certainly going to enjoy this long bus ride home, but then we're back to work and that's what I love about this group. They keep showing up, they keep moving onto the next one — good, bad or indifferent."