A Freshman Sports Primer

By Ben Flickinger | Monday, September 20, 2004

No one will confuse Dartmouth's sports scene with that of a Big Twelve or SEC school, but sporting events are still an integral part of campus life. Nowhere else can you find a group of fraternity brothers chanting the theme from Nintendo's RBI Baseball whenever a player crosses the plate or deride your fellow Ivy Leaguers with chants of "Princeton's in New Jersey." And hopefully Keggy the Keg will follow up his successful first year with more appearances this sports season.

With all that in mind, here are five sporting events that every freshman should attend, even if you think icing is what you put on a birthday cake.

5) Men's hockey vs. Quinnipiac — 10/30 (Homecoming Saturday)

Without exaggeration, this could be an historic year on the ice for Dartmouth. The team only loses four seniors from last year's squad, but only defenseman Brian Van Abel can be considered a huge loss. With the addition of defenseman Ben Lovejoy, who becomes eligible after a transfer from Boston College, and crop of incoming freshmen that includes 3 NHL draft picks, Dartmouth should be the preseason favorite to win the ECAC and advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time in nearly 25 years.

Quinnipiac will become a conference opponent in the 2005-06, replacing a Vermont squad that is joining its state school brothers in Hockey East. But the Indians should still win this game without too much of a struggle, despite the fact that Quinnipiac will already have several games under its belt while Dartmouth will be playing its first. There will definitely be bigger games over the course of the year, but this game makes the list for two reasons. It is the season opener, and it makes a great way to fill the time between the Homecoming game (mentioned below) and the parties later that night.

For most freshmen, college hockey will be a new experience. The only D1 programs outside of New England and the Upper Midwest reside in Alaska, Colorado, and Alabama (Hunstville, in case you're wondering). The games lack the coverage of hoops on ESPN, but make no mistake, on Dartmouth's campus hockey is king. It is definitely the best way to spend your weekend evenings in dead of winter, even if you have to walk all the way from your dorm in the River.

4) Men's Lacrosse vs. Cornell — 4/16

Two years ago, Dartmouth surprised everyone by winning their first Ivy title in a sport traditionally dominated by Princeton and Cornell, and held their own in the NCAA tournament before falling to powerhouse Syracuse. Last year the team did well, but failed to meet expectations generated by the previous year's success and finished out of the money come tournament time. But lacrosse games still provide some of the best action on the field.

Cornell has become a thorn in the side of more than a few Dartmouth squads, and with the Princeton game taking place on the road this year, the Cornell game becomes the biggest conference game on the home slate. Head coach Bill Wilson moves into his second year at Dartmouth.

Scully-Fahey Field has hosted its share of moments, including a near-brawl the last time Harvard came to town two seasons ago in a game which clinched the Ivy Title for the Indians. Expect plenty of action and hope the team can repeat its performance from two years ago.

3) Men's Basketball vs. Penn & Princeton — 2/4 & 2/5

Dartmouth basketball has been on downtimes of late. At one point last year the team was ranked dead last in the RPI ratings, 326th our of 326 D1 teams. But the games against travel partners Penn and Princeton are still spirited affairs. Last year against Princeton the squad battled back from an 18-point halftime deficit and cut the lead to four before eventually falling to the Tigers.

But it's a new season, and with it comes a new head coach. Terry Dunn comes to the Indians after several successful seasons as an assistant at Colorado. And the cupboard is hardly empty, with last year's Freshman of the Year Leon Pattman '07 looking to improve on his team leading 13.2 points per game.

2) Football vs. Harvard — 10/30

Talk to any son of Dartmouth and inevitably Homecoming will be one of the fondest memories. Quite simply it is the best weekend of the school year, especially in years when the football game is against Harvard rather than Columbia. It starts with the bonfire the night before and goes the entire weekend. Most likely they will also instill a hatred of all things Crimson as well.

Last year's game down in Cambridge was a classic, complete with a signature moment now known in Dartmouth lore simply as "The Catch" (with apologies to the S.F. Giants). On 3rd down and forever to go, wide out Andrew Hall '05 made a leaping one handed catch at the 2-yard line to set up a Dartmouth touchdown and help give the Indians their first win over Harvard since Jay Fiedler was quarterback.

This year the team hopes its fortunes continue to rise after finishing 5-5 last year. With 19 starters and 46 letterwinners returning, the team should compete for an Ivy title after finishing 4-3 and tied for second last year in the conference. With only three conference games at home this year, this one stands out as the biggest by far.

1) Men's hockey vs. Harvard — 2/25

Here's how big this game has become. Last year fans who were turned away because the rink was sold out, including students who arrived late only to find the student section filled as well, stayed and watched from outside Thompson Arena through the windows. This is not a game where you can wander in a half hour late and expect to find a seat.

As big a pain as Harvard is in football, the Crimson hockey team gives the Indians fits. Dartmouth last beat Harvard with a 7-0 whitewash of the Crimson in the 2000-01 season, a game highlighted by a Crimson player making an obscene gesture to the student section. Since then Dartmouth has gone 0-7-2 against the Crimson, a stretch including two consecutive losses in the conference semifinals in close, hard fought matches.

That stat means that no one on this year's squad has ever beaten the Crimson. That fact is astonishing, considering this year's senior class is 11 games above .500 overall, never finished worse than 5th in the conference, and has knocked off squads such as #1 Boston College two years ago.

With seven NHL draft picks on the roster and a favorable schedule that has 17 of the 29 games at home, this is the year that men's hockey breaks out and earns an NCAA berth. Though the Brown game will follow and there will surely be some home playoff games, this is the red letter game that every fan will be pointing to. It will likely be the rowdiest and most fired up crowd of any sporting event all season, making it the number one sporting event to attend this year.

A Freshman Sports Primer

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