The Dartmouth Sports Weekly 02/15/16

02.15.16

Women’s basketball stages back-to-back epic comebacks on the road

MEN’S HOCKEY DROPS GAME TO UNION, BOXES OUT NO. 18 RPI IN OVERTIME

MEN’S HOOPS SPLITS PAIR IN LEEDE ARENA SEAMORE ZHU, JOB ORENGE/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 2

BY THE NUMBERS

0 Shots against men’s hockey in OT period vs. RPI

35 Shots on goal for women’s ice hockey vs. Union

5 Days until women’s lacrosse hosts first game

14 Women’s hoops’ halftime deficit before comeback win vs. Brown

02.15.16

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Men’s hockey splits against Union, No. 18 RPI

By SAM STOCKTON The Dartmouth Staff

The men’s hockey team split a pair of ECAC match-ups at Thompson Arena this weekend. After falling to Union College in a 4-1 contest that was closer than the score indicated, the team earned a 2-1 come-frombehind win against No. 18 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on the strength of a Troy Crema ’17 overtime goal.

The split leaves the Big Green’s record at 13-11-1, 10-8-0 ECAC, good for a tie with RPI for fifth in the ECAC. On Friday night against Union, the Big Green got off to a hot start, playing a dominant first period in which the team outshot the Dutchmen 16 to 3.

Despite all these chances, the score sat at 0-0 after 20 minutes.

“We played as good a first period as I’ve seen us play,” head coach Bob Gaudet ’81 said. “It’s unfortunate that it got away from us. We had a few opportunities, and we just didn’t bury them.”

A crucial factor in keeping the Big Green off the board was Union netminder Alex Sakellaropoulos, who stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced.

“I thought we were playing pretty well offensively,” captain Brad Schierhorn ’16 said. “We got a lot of pucks to the net, a lot of bodies to the net.

I think their goalie played really well and made some key stops at some key moments. He was definitely a difference maker tonight.”

Along with Sakellaropoulos’ strong netminding, the story of the game was frequent penalty calls.

Fifteen penalties were assessed, and each side benefitted from six power play chances.

“It was a game where the referees were calling it really closely,” Gaudet said. “They were not flagrant penalties, and the penalties took the flow out of the game, no question.”

In the second period, Grant Opperman ’17 opened the scoring with a five-on-three goal in what would be the lone bright spot for a power play that went one-for-six, including another five-on-three opportunity.

“We had some opportunities [on the power play], and I thought we did some good things,” Gaudet said.

Rebecca Asoulin ’17 Editor-in-Chief

Rachel DeChiara ’17 Publisher

Annie Ma ’17 Executive Editor

Maya Poddar ’17 Executive Editor

Gayne Kalustian ’17 Ray Lu ’18 Sports Editors

Eliza McDonough ’18 Tiffany Zhai ’18 Seamore Zhu ’19 Photography Editors

SEAMORE ZHU/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Men’s hockey gave up the first goal to RPI on Saturday but came back to take the win.

“We had some good looks. In the third period, we were a little bit out of sorts, and it just wasn’t very crisp. Prior to that, we moved the puck really well, had some good chances, and could have had a few on the power play, but we definitely have to win the specialty teams battle to win the game.”

Just over five minutes after Opperman’s tally, Union was able to tie the game, and the two teams headed to the second intermission with the scored knotted up at one. Midway through the third period came a microcosm of the game. Corey Kalk ’18 was sent to the penalty box for elbowing, but the Big Green penalty kill was able to keep the Union power play in check. Exactly one second after Kalk was released from the box, Connor Yau ’19 was whistled for holding. On the ensuing power play, Brett Supinski beat goalie Charles Grant ’16 for the game-winning goal.

“The back-to-back penalties in the third hurt us,” Gaudet said. “We’re putting our guys on the ice a lot to kill penalties there. I thought the penalty on Connor Yau where he did get called for holding was a dive. It’s tough to have four minutes’ worth of penalties.”

In net against Union, Gaudet opted to return to Grant after going with James Kruger ’16 last Saturday night against Brown University. Grant was passed up for the start after allowing four goals the previous night against Yale University. Against the Dutchmen, Grant stopped 23 of the 27 shots he faced.

“In the month of January, he was the best goalie in my estimation in college hockey,” Gaudet said of his veteran goaltender. “We didn’t play a great game against Yale — it wasn’t Chuck’s fault. Chuck deserved an opportunity, and he played a good solid hockey game.”

Union would score two more late goals, making what was a tight game

appear more like a blowout.

“With seven minutes left in the game it was a 1-1 game,” Gaudet said. “It was not a 4-1 game. It was a 2-1 game. It’s hard to win a game 1-0. We had to put some pucks away, and we just didn’t do it [on Friday].”

Unlike the Union game, the Big Green struggled out of the gate against RPI. The team spent much of the first period with the puck in its end and had a hard time generating scoring chances. Mike Prapavessis put the Engineers on top just over six minutes into the contest.

“The start of the game, they had the edge in play, but at about the midpoint of the first period, we played really good hockey,” Gaudet said. “We battled hard, and we found a way to get better and better as the game progressed. It came from really hard work and momentum that came from winning battles and winning shifts.”

After giving up 11 shots in the first period, the Big Green allowed just eight across the final two stanzas. The team smothered the Engineer attack and kept the puck in RPI’s end.

“We just started moving the puck quickly from our defense to our forwards,” Crema said. “Our transition game got a lot better. We dominated most of the play by keeping the puck pressure down low and making the right play at the right time.”

Going into the third period, the game appeared poised to be a repeat of the previous night with the Big Green outplaying and outshooting their opponents but trailing on the scoreboard. Again, the Big Green power play, 0-3 at the time, was unable to take advantage of its opportunities. That narrative stopped just over halfway through the third frame, when Ryan Bullock ’16 connected for a power play goal, assisted by Brett Patterson ’16 and Opperman.

“We played a little more patiently,

and we didn’t try to force anything to the inside,” Bullock said. “The forwards were doing a good job possessing it down low, and Patterson slid it over. I hit it first time, and I think it went off a shin pad and found the five hole.”

The Big Green carried that momentum forward and continued to pepper Engineer goalie Jason Kasdorf with shots, but the game remained tied after 60 minutes. The team continued to dominate in the extra session, not allowing the Engineers to register a single shot.

With little more than a minute to play in overtime, Crema won a huge faceoff and headed to the front of the net, when the rebound from a Tim Shoup ’18 shot ricocheted right to him.

“I tied it up on the face off and [Tim O’Brien ’16] and Schierhorn did a great job coming in and winning the puck back,” Crema said. “It went D-to-D, and their center left me alone, so I went to the front of the net. The puck went off the goalie’s far pad, and I was there to put it in.”

While Crema understated the significance of the play, his coach was eager to build it up.

“I love the fact that we found a way to score,” Gaudet said. “[Crema] was starting to really feel it, and he was due. The play at the end was a classic hockey play — won faceoff, drive to the net, stick on the ice and ready to put it in the open net. We beat a really good team and an outstanding goaltender.”

Kruger got the win in net for Dartmouth, stopping 18 of RPI’s 19 shots.

Next weekend, the team will play its final two home games of the regular season against Colgate University and No. 15 Cornell University, with the latter game serving as Senior Day and the Class of 2016’s final regular season game at Thompson Arena.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

Women’s basketball sweeps road set

SW 3

RUNDOWN THE

Men’s Basketball

JOB ORENGE/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Despite falling far behind in both games, the Big Green brought home two victories to Hanover against Yale and Brown Universities.

By ASHLEY DUPUIS The Dartmouth Staff

It was a winning weekend for Dartmouth’s women’s basketball program, as the team managed to come from behind in both match-ups to claim late-game victories.

The Big Green traveled south to face Yale University and Brown University, improving their league record to 4-4 and overall record to 9-15.

On Friday night, Dartmouth defeated the Bulldogs 68-63 before overwhelming Brown 63-50 the following day. The pair of victories comes after tough losses to league leaders the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University. The weekend also marks the end of away play for the Big Green until March.

“These are huge road wins because we only have one more away weekend,” Kate Letkewicz ’18 said. “The wins will set us up for the next two home weekends.”

The Friday night tip-off at Yale saw the Bulldogs take the lead early and dominate the first half despite early threes by Letkewicz and Fanni Szabo ’17. The Big Green fielded some early opposition but stopped a Yale run in the first quarter and tied the game with over a minute left in the quarter. Yale quickly answered in the remaining time, hitting a buzzer beating three to lead the Big Green 21-15 heading into the second period.

In the second quarter, Dartmouth committed costly turnovers, on which Yale quickly capitalized. These mistakes were coupled with an explosive 14-0 run by the Bulldogs. The Big Green tried to stave off the damage with the help of a Szabo jump shot and three, but it wasn’t enough as Yale took a 13-point lead by the end of the half.

Despite a rough start to the game, Dartmouth redoubled its efforts in the second half. Letkewicz kicked off the start of half with a three-point play.

“At halftime we talked about taking care of the basketball and to keep the fight in you because there’s 20 minutes left in this game,” head coach Belle Koclanes said.

“You prepared all week to earn this victory, but you have to take care of the basketball

to do that. We did a much better job in the second half doing that.”

By 2:41 left in the half, Dartmouth was on a 11-0 run, but still trailed Yale 47-40.

The Big Green would not find itself atop the scoreboard until the fourth quarter when senior Lakin Roland ’16 helped retake the lead after nailing a couple of shots and free throws, putting the Big Green up by one.

Yale couldn’t regain the upper hand despite leading for the majority of the game and Dartmouth sealed the game with a few extra points to secure a five-point victory at New Haven.

“It’s a 40 minute game, sometimes 40 plus,” Koclanes said. “Lakin is our senior leader and [she] knows. She wasn’t happy with her first half performance, but she turned it on in the second half. She made plays where she needed to and that’s what you need your senior leaders to do.”

Roland led both sides in scoring with 24 points and secured five rebounds. Letkewicz contributed impressive stats as well with 18 points. Szabo, who returned last weekend from an injury, also contributed double figures with 10 points.

“We knew collectively [as a team] that that wasn’t our best start,” Roland said.

“So we headed back out giving our best effort not thinking about the score. We all believed we could win the game, regardless of the score at halftime. And [the win] showed that we’re here to play and we’re going to fight to the end.”

Dartmouth’s second half comeback would be mirrored the next night in Providence where the Big Green faced Brown.

The game started similarly as the previous night with a Big Green three from Szabo before Brown gained control and went on a 13-0 run. Letkewicz stepped up with two threes, helping end the Big Green’s scoring drought. Still, by the end of the first quarter, Brown led 19-11.

Saturday night, the Big Green’s Achilles heel came in the form of multiple fouls. The team had 11 fouls with five minutes left in the first half, helping pave the way for big gains by the Bears at the free throw line.

While both teams were around 30 percent

in shooting from the field in the first half, Brown compensated with a perfect performance from the free throw line 15-15. By the end of the half, Brown led by 14.

True to this weekend’s comeback fashion, the Big Green came out strong in the second half, kicking off the half with an 8-0 run. By the end of the third quarter, Dartmouth was even able to take back the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter.

“I think that in the first half we worried more about the things we couldn’t control,” Letkewicz said. “But at halftime we decided to up our energy, our focus, and our defense.”

The tables were clearly turned in the second half, as Dartmouth went on a 16-point run, besting Brown by 13 points by the end of the game.

“Fanni Szabo sparked our runs,” Koclanes said. “[She] is a competitor and you see her getting better and better each night.

The team is locked in right now, they scored 32 points in the second half and held them to 15. The defensive effort was the game changer for us tonight.”

Szabo finished the night with 15 points, the most since her return from injury. Roland, Letkewicz and Olivia Smith ’18 also finished in double digits. Roland finished with 13 points, all in the second half, and 10 rebounds, marking her eighth doubledouble of the season. Letkewicz led the team with 17 points and Smith scored 11 points, one of her best performances of the season.

“We really showed [this weekend] that we have what it takes to make a big comeback,” Letkewicz said. “We have so much more to give than we’re giving. We just need to focus on things little by little.

[Next weekend] we need to stay consistent and focus on the first half. The last four games we didn’t come out with the best energy and focus, and we need to so we’re not digging ourselves in a hole.”

The Big Green will kick off a four game home series against Cornell University this Friday at 7 p.m. before taking on Columbia University on Saturday at 6 p.m.

SCHOOL

IVY

OVERALL

YALE PRINCETON COLUMBIA PENN HARVARD CORNELL DARTMOUTH BROWN

8-0 6-1 6-2 3-4 2-6 2-6 2-6 2-6

17-5 16-5 17-8 9-12 10-14 9-13 8-14 7-15

Women’s Basketball SCHOOL

IVY

OVERALL

PENN PRINCETON CORNELL HARVARD DARTMOUTH YALE BROWN COLUMBIA

7-0 6-1 5-3 5-3 4-4 2-6 1-7 1-7

18-3 17-4 13-9 10-11 9-15 11-14 13-9 12-11

Men’s Hockey SCHOOL

ECAC

OVERALL

QUINNIPIAC YALE HARVARD ST. LAWRENCE RPI DARTMOUTH CLARKSON CORNELL UNION COLGATE BROWN PRINCETON

13-1-4 11-4-3 10-5-3 10-6-2 7-5-6 10-8-0 8-7-3 7-7-4 4-9-5 4-12-2 2-12-4 3-13-2

22-2-6 16-5-4 14-8-3 16-11-3 15-11-6 12-11-1 16-11-3 12-8-5 11-11-8 8-20-2 4-16-5 5-18-2

Women’s Hockey SCHOOL

ECAC

OVERALL

QUINNIPIAC CLARKSON PRINCETON COLGATE HARVARD ST. LAWRENCE RPI YALE CORNELL DARTMOUTH BROWN UNION

14-2-4 12-3-5 13-6-1 11-4-5 11-6-3 8-8-4 8-8-4 9-10-1 7-9-4 6-11-3 1-16-3 0-17-3

24-2-5 24-3-5 20-6-1 19-6-7 15-9-3 14-13-5 10-14-6 10-16-1 11-12-4 6-17-3 3-21-3 0-26-6

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 4

SPORTS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

TUESDAY MONDAY LINEUP LINEUP

MEN’S LACROSSE No athletic AT VERMONT events 3 PM scheduled

Men’s basketball blows first half lead over Yale, beats Brown

By ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN The Dartmouth Staff

Desperate to escape a four-game losing streak that has cast a pall over prospects for conference success, the Dartmouth men’s basketball team entered last weekend with a chance to prove itself against the best team in the Ivy League, as well as a contest against a more evenly matched side. While the former case saw the Big Green (8-14, 2-6) relinquish a once-stable lead to lose 75-65 to Yale University (17-5, 8-0) on Friday, the team rebounded the following night to decisively triumph over Brown University (7-15, 2-6) 87-70.

Friday night’s game against Yale saw the repeat of an increasingly familiar, unsettling development, which at this point epitomizes Dartmouth’s downfall in conference play. Having led for 31:27 of the total 40 minutes and all but 39 seconds in the first half, the Big Green faltered over the last 10 minutes of the game.

Such a late-game collapse has been a hallmark for the team in Ivy play, as Friday’s contest marked the fourth in seven conference games that Dartmouth seemingly attained control but failed to properly close out the game. In its eight conference matchups, the Big Green has cumulatively led for 49 percent of the game clock and trailed for

44 percent — after Saturday, that somehow translated to just a 2-6 record.

Top conference talent Justin Sears proved a steady force throughout the night for Yale, posting a double-double, nearly attained at halftime, with 21 points and 13 rebounds in dominating the paint. The play of guard Makai Mason also contributed to the Bulldog victory. Putting a putrid 0-7 first half shooting mark behind him, the sophomore exploded with 20 of his game-high 25 points in the second stanza, draining four threes with 6-9 second-half shooting to spur a successful comeback bid.

Yale’s second half resurgence can just as easily be ascribed to some regression to its shot-making mean. Entering the day with a league-best .474 shooting percentage, the Bulldogs went .276 from the floor during the first 20 minutes. Yet that mark drastically improved thereafter, as the visitors shot .625 to close the game, thus pulling the team’s game average closer to its excellent season average.

For Dartmouth, Evan Boudreaux ’19 shined once more, scoring 11 points in the first 10 minutes en route to finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Miles Wright ’18 enjoyed more freedom on offense as well, aggressively capitalizing on his chances in

SEAMORE ZHU/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The Big Green’s win over Brown came after a devastating loss to Yale University.

SEAMORE ZHU/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Against Brown University, the Big Green scored 87 points, 25 of which came from Evan Boudreaux ’19.

converting three deep balls toward his 15 point total.

Across a span of 10 minutes in the second half, Yale gradually built up a 21-6 run to open a double-digit advantage. Securing its first lead since the start of the game under the nine-minute mark, the Bulldogs hardly looked back thereafter, robbing the home team and its fans of all the energy and momentum in the arena.

Permitting Yale’s abrupt takeover of the game were six sloppy turnovers by Dartmouth in a span of five minutes. While end-game offensive woes has contributed much to closeout failures, Wright placed greater weight on defensive fallouts, which precluded any chance to keep up with Yale’s surges.

“It just comes down to defensive stops,” Wright said. “When a team’s making a run, the only way to end [it] is to make a stop. It’s not about how many times you score.”

Reeling after squandering another potential victory, the Big Green made sure less than 24 hours later it would not leave the weekend further entrenched in tribulations.

Dominating the visiting Bears from start to finish, Dartmouth finally managed to snap a five-game losing skid by leading for more than 38

minutes of total game time.

Playing the whole game and not having any lapses the last eight to ten minutes like in team’s previous games keyed the closeout effort on Saturday according to guard Taylor Johnson ’18.

“A big part of that is defense, and offense is to not hold it back too much,” Johnson said.

Boudreaux concocted yet another stupendous effort in leading all scorers with 25 points, 17 of which came in the second half, and brought down 13 rebounds to complete the double-double — attaining one for the second straight day in a row, and eighth time in the season.

Yet that belied an all-around balanced offensive display by the Big Green, which included all five starters netting at least five points by halftime. Four Dartmouth players left the night in double figures.

Johnson, who in each passing game seemingly adopts a greater offensive role, represented a potent force all night. The sophomore had success on drives to the rim throughout the game and torched Brown from three-point land with three long-range shots to set a new career high of 22 points, adding four assists for good measure.

A stark rebounding advantage

for Dartmouth proved essential to the victory as well. Having finished the first half with a plus11 differential on the boards, the Big Green continued to dominate the glass for the rest of the night, posting a 43-21 edge — 17 from the offensive end — when the final horn sounded.

Despite facing one of the Ivy League’s best big men and all-time shot-block leader in Cedric Kuakumensah — who himself had six first half blocks and 15 points for the game fueled by a hot touch from deep — Dartmouth nevertheless achieved control near the basket on another dimension, building a plus-10 points in the paint margin by the end of the night.

“Tonight we played very good team defense,” head coach Paul Cormier said after the game.

“We’re not a program that has the most talented [and] most athletic team on the floor, but we can still be the best team on the floor. And if we all buy in and play that way, we’re good.”

Later this week, Dartmouth will visit Ithaca, New York to play Cornell University on Friday night at 7 p.m., and travel to New York City the next day to face off against one of the better conference teams in Columbia University at 7 p.m.