Dartmouth Can’t Get it Going in Loss at Penn

Next Game:

Brown

4/29/2023 | 1:00 PM

Apr. 29 (Sat) / 1:00 PM

 Brown

History { element.remove(); }); } else{ let elementsToRemove = document.querySelectorAll(‘.postgame_3_nextgame’); elementsToRemove.forEach(element => { element.remove(); }); } ]]> PHILADELPHIA — Fifth-year defenseman Peter Rizzotti scored a pole goal 2:56 into the game to pull the Dartmouth men’s lacrosse team even, but Penn quickly took momentum back, scoring the next seven goals to take an 8-1 lead, on the way to defeating the Big Green, 17-6 on Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field. Dartmouth trailed 10-2 at the half and could never get back in the game.

With the win, Penn improves to 6-5 and 4-2 in the Ivy League. Dartmouth falls to 6-5 and 1-4 in the league.

“We didn’t shoot the ball very well and their goalie made some really good saves, which prevented us from ever getting going,” said Dartmouth head coach Brendan Callahan. “Defensively, we needed to get some more stops and saves early in the game; they shot the ball pretty well and we didn’t. When you tie that at all together, we struggled.”

Dartmouth’s six goals were scored by six different goal scorers. Junior Nate Davis had a goal and assist while sophomore Brandon Ventarola and Ben DiGiovanni each dished two assists. The two helpers marked a career high for DiGiovanni while it tied a career high for Ventarola.

The Big Green are now up to 129 goals on the season, marking their most since 2011 (when they scored 131).

Along with his goal, Rizzotti caused two turnovers to increase his season total to 19. It marked his sixth straight games with multiple caused turnovers. Freshman Thomas Goguen also tallied a pair of caused turnovers.

At the faceoff X, Mitchell Myers impressed in winning 17-of-26 faceoffs with seven groundballs.

“We played much harder at the faceoff X, which was a bright spot for us in winning the groundball battle,” said Callahan. “And for the most part, we were able to clear the ball against a great riding time (19-of-21 on the afternoon). 

“There are positives to build on, but in league play, we are still searching for everything to come together for us where all the units are clicking at the same time for us,” Callahan continued. “We haven’t been able to find that yet.”

Penn’s Sam Handley opened the scoring at the 13:07 mark, but Rizzotti answered just over a minute later. After the Dartmouth defense caused a turnover, DiGiovani found Rizzotti on the run near midfield, and he went all the way to goal, firing it past Quakers’ goaltender Emmet Carroll.

Penn answered with the next seven goals as Ben Smith’s second of the day, which came on the extra man, gave the Quakers an 8-1 advantage early in the second.

Dartmouth ended a more than 20-minute scoreless drought with a Colin McGill man-up goal at the 6:23 mark, but Penn came right back with the next five (two in the first half and three in the second) to take a 13-2 lead.

From that point forward, four goals were scored by each side. For Dartmouth, Davis scored in the third while sophomores Quinn Moore and Holden Deck, along with freshman Emmett Paradine, netted fourth-quarter tallies.

Emmett Paradine with the 𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒚 goal in the fourth quarter at Penn today. #TheWoods | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/5YTBFDZprP

— Dartmouth Men’s Lacrosse (@DartmouthMLax) April 23, 2023

Final shots were 45-30 in favor of Penn while Dartmouth held a 29-25 edge in groundballs The Big Green were 1-for-4 on the extra man compared to the Quakers’ 1-for-1. Dartmouth has now scored a man-up goal in all 11 games this season. The Big Green committed 19 turnovers while Penn had 14. A pair of goalkeepers combined for 14 saves for the Quakers, with Carroll making 11 over the first three quarters. Freshman Sam Cooper made four saves for Dartmouth over the game’s first 30:31 before sophomore Mason Morel entered to make four over the final 29:29.

Dartmouth will close its regular season next Saturday when it hosts Brown on Senior Day. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

“It’s a big week,” said Callahan. “These [seniors] are some guys there who have put in a lot of time and work. To be able to get together and play at a high level for them would be huge. They’ve been through a lot and we want to send them out the right way.”