Dartmouth Travels to Yale Saturday for Another Big Ivy Showdown
By: Justin Lafleur
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GAME 9
Dartmouth (6-2, 1-1 Ivy League) at Yale (4-4, 0-3 Ivy League)
Dates: Saturday, April 8, 2023 – 1 p.m.
Location: New Haven, Conn. – Reese Stadium
All-Time Series: Yale leads, 54-34
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Today’s Game
The Dartmouth men’s lacrosse team will look to bounce back from a loss at No. 5 Cornell when the Big Green remain on the road for a matchup at Yale Saturday. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+. Dartmouth stands 6-2 on the season, 1-1 in Ivy League play, with the Bulldogs coming in at 4-4 and 0-3 in the league. Saturday’s game could be significant in the race for a top four seed and Ivy League Tournament berth in May.
Yale has lost three straight games to begin its league season, allowing 20, 23 and 17 goals in the process. But the Bulldogs did bounce back on Tuesday with a 17-14 nonleague win over defending Patriot League Champion Boston University. Ranked seventh in the preseason Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, Yale enters Saturday’s game unranked.
Meanwhile, Cornell jumped out to a 6-0 lead on Saturday and 10-2 after the first quarter. The Big Red led 3-0 just 1:04 into the game. But after the initial Cornell surge, Dartmouth settled down. Trailing 14-3 in the second quarter, the teams played to an 8-8 draw the rest of the way. The Big Green reached double-figure goals for the seventh time in their first eight games this season. The last time that happened was 1995, when Dartmouth reached double figures in its first eight contests of the year.
Sophomore Colin McGill led the offense with four points, the seventh time this season posting three or more points. He finished with two goals and two assists, reaching 47 career goals in the process. Senior Tommy Rogan had two goals and two assists, junior Henry Bonnie tied a career-high two goals and both junior Peter Lapina and sophomore Quinn Moore recorded a goal and assist. Early on at Cornell, the Big Red kept winning faceoffs (winning their first six) while also shooting at an incredible percentage (turning their first 12 shots into 10 goals). Senior Mitchell Myers bounced back; after an 0-for-6 start at the X, he won 14 of his last 24. Myers is an honorable mention Inside Lacrosse Media Midseason All-American, as announced last Friday. Meanwhile, freshman Sam Cooper entered in goal and finished with 11 saves, including a number of sensational stops (five coming in the third quarter).
Following the Big Green’s other loss this season, at No. 13 UNC, Dartmouth bounced back with an 18-9 win at Hampton and 10-9 overtime win over Harvard. Dartmouth will be vying for its first win over Yale since 2009, having lost 11 straight. Saturday will be Dartmouth’s seventh road game in the first nine contests this season; after this weekend, the Big Green will play two of their final three regular season games at home.
With a Win…
– Dartmouth would win its seventh game of the season, marking its most wins in a season since 2008.
– The Big Green would clinch a winning regular season record for the first time since 2006 (when they were 8-7).
– Dartmouth’s 7-2 record after nine games would be its best mark since 2003 (when the Big Green were also 7-2).
– The Big Green would win a second Ivy League game in a season for the first time since 2010 when they finished 2-4 with wins over No. 6 Cornell (8-6) and Penn (15-11).
– Dartmouth would improve to 2-1 in the Ivy League for the first time since 2005.
– The Big Green would snap an 11-game losing streak against Yale and beat the Bulldogs for the first time since Apr. 15, 2009, a 14-13 Dartmouth overtime victory in New Haven.
– Dartmouth would pull within 54-35 in the all-time series with Yale.
Scouting Yale
Yale came in at No. 7 in the Preseason Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and picked up some impressive nonleague victories — over Villanova (20-14), UMass (18-9) and Denver (11-9) —but lost three straight Ivy League games and enters Saturday 0-3. The Bulldogs fell to Cornell (20-10), Princeton (23-10) and Penn (17-16) before rebounding with a 17-14 home win over defending Patriot League Champion Boston University on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs feature two of the nation’s best offensive players in Matt Brandau and Chris Lyons. Brandau stands 22nd nationally in points per game (4.50) while Lyons is seventh in the country in goals per contest (3.62). Overall, Brandeau owns a team-leading 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) while Lyons has 33 points via 29 goals and four assists. Leo Johnson comes in with 26 points (16 goals, 10 assists) while three others have reached double-figure points. Jack Stuzin leads the defense with 13 caused turnovers; his 1.62 per game lead the Ivy League. Faceoff specialist Nicholas Ramsey leads the Bulldogs in groundballs (52) while he’s won 96-of-196 draws (49.0 percent). Jared Paquette has recorded a 14.83 goals against average and 49.4 save percentage, starting all eight games. His 14.38 saves per game are third in the nation.
As a team, Yale stands 14th nationally in scoring offense (14.12), but 68th in scoring defense (14.88).
All-Time Against The Bulldogs
Yale leads the all-time series vs. the Big Green, 54-34, which includes 11 straight victories. The last Dartmouth win came on Apr. 15, 2009 in New Haven behind a 14-13 final (in overtime). Yale has been nationally ranked in 10 of the last 11 meetings with Dartmouth, including eight straight. Four times, the Bulldogs have been in the top five, including standing No. 1 in 2016. The last time Yale wasn’t ranked in a game against the Big Green was in 2012, a 13-11 Bulldogs’ victory.
Drought Over
Dartmouth came back from a 9-5 fourth-quarter deficit vs. Harvard on Mar. 25 for its first Ivy League victory since 2015. The Big Green beat the Crimson, 10-9, behind a Colin McGill goal with 1:35 left in overtime. In regulation, the Big Green scored four goals in the span of 5:23 to force the extra session. Ironically, the 2015 win also came at home vs. Harvard, with that coming in double overtime. The Mar. 25 win marked Dartmouth’s first overtime win of any kind since that 2015 Harvard victory.
Surging Offense
Dartmouth’s offense has impressed this season, currently standing 27th nationally in scoring offense (13.12) with 105 goals through eight games. The Big Green already have almost as many goals as they did all of last season. Here’s a rundown of Dartmouth’s goal totals since 2011 for comparison.
2023: 105
2022: 123
2019: 101
2018: 110
2017: 92
2016: 89
2015: 114
2014: 99
2013: 109
2012: 123
2011: 131
Other items of note:
– The Big Green have reached double-figure goals in seven of the first eight games of the season, the first time that’s happened since 1995.
– Dartmouth has scored 17 or more goals three times: at Holy Cross (17), at Hobart (20) and at Hampton (18). It’s the first time that has happened since 1996.
Myers Named Midseason All-American
Off to an impressive start to the season, senior faceoff specialist Mitchell Myers was named an honorable mention Midseason Media All-American on Friday, Mar. 31. After the Cornell game on Apr. 1, Myers stood among the nation’s best in faceoff percentage (61.8) and groundballs per game (7.88). Myers was 16th nationally in groundballs per contest, and 17th in faceoff percentage, which are also good for first and second in the Ivy League, respectively. Myers began the season by winning 17-of-26 at Merrimack before winning 17-of-21 at Holy Cross and 19-of-23 vs. Siena. He won 21-of-39 at Hobart with a career-high 13 groundballs, one of four times this season with double-figure groundballs. At Cornell, Myers bounced back from a tough start to win 14 of his final 24 faceoffs. Myers also won five of his last six faceoffs taken in a comeback, 10-9 overtime win over Harvard.
Paradine Named Rookie of the Week Again & Named to USILA Team of Week
One day after earning Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors, freshman Emmett Paradine was named to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) National Team of the Week on Tuesday, Mar. 14. Paradine is one of 10 student-athletes nation-wide recognized. He follows senior Tommy Rogan as Big Green named to the team this season; Rogan received the honor following the season opener at Merrimack.The two honorees are tied with Cornell for the most in the Ivy League through four weeks this season. Brown, Penn and Yale have all had one honoree thus far.
The honor came after Paradine was named Dartmouth’s fourth straight Ivy League Rookie of the Week to begin the year (and Paradine’s second in a row). He finished the 20-16 win at Hobart on Mar. 7 with 10 points via seven goals and three assists. Paradine became the first freshman nationally to reach double figures in a game this season and the first Ivy League freshman to reach 10 points in a game since Jeff Teat of Cornell during the 2017 season. Paradine had a hand in half of Dartmouth’s 20 goals for the game, with all of his points proving important in a high-scoring affair. Following a goal and two assists in the first half, Paradine exploded for six goals and an assist in the second half. There was one stretch in which he scored four goals in the span of 9:32 bridging the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters, helping the Big Green turn a 9-9 tie into a 16-12 lead.
Road Warriors
The Big Green are road warriors in 2023, with eight of its 12 games coming away from home. Five of Dartmouth’s six nonleague contests were on the road, with the exception of the home opener vs. Siena on Saturday, Mar. 4.
Follow Along
Saturday’s game will be streamed on ESPN+.
What’s Ahead
Following Saturday’s contest, the Big Green return home to host No. 15 Princeton next Saturday, Apr. 15 at 1 p.m. on Alumni Day.
