Fall Season Sports Primer

By Brendan M. Neff | Sunday, October 1, 2006

Sports are very important to the social culture of Dartmouth. Seriously. While freshman trips and orientation may lend the impression that everyone on campus is either in Cabin and Trail or an a cappella group, the truth is that campus is teeming with students who sacrifice some of their free time to compete in varsity, club, intramural, and social sport; fully one quarter of Dartmouth students play on a varsity team, and another fifty percent participate in club or intramural sports. We are an active student body, who enjoy watching physical contests, when not participating in them ourselves. For those among you moved by the spirit of competition or entertained by the skill and sweat of your peers, here is a guide to the teams and the matches that will make the highlights of this fall term.

Football

The last two years have been a low point in the proud history of Dartmouth football. While still boasting the most league titles and greatest number of wins, the traditional Ivy power has shown little of its past clout recently. Despite all the optimism surrounding the hiring of former Dartmouth and Stanford head coach Buddy Teevens ‘79, and an opening week victory over Colgate, the Indians again found themselves in the cellar of the Ancient Eight last season. Notwithstanding last season’s disappointment and the Parkhursting of last season’s freshman starting quarterback, Josh Cohen, there seems to be great optimism for Coach Teevens’ second campaign. Says one Dartmouth senior, over the course of preseason training “the team is coming together well and guys are really stepping up”. It remains to be seen whether the team’s hard work and coalescence will translate into the kind success for which Dartmouth alumni and undergraduates alike hope, and once expected.

The team’s home opener and second game of the season, against UNH (9/23, 12:00)–an annual bout fittingly dubbed the “Granite Bowl”–will serve as a good indicator of the team’s progress over the last year of training. As usual, UNH should have a strong squad this season and is ranked at the top of Division 1-AA. While it has been many years since Dartmouth has beaten its main non-conference rival, a respectably close contest should bode well for the Indians’ chances when Ivy League competition begins the following week. Another blowout, however, may mean another long autumn in Hanover.

Regardless of records, the Indians’ late season battle with Harvard (10/28, 12:30) should be another thrilling contest worth seeing. Harvard was also picked in preseason polls to win the Ivy League, but have since lost their captain and starting quarterback to disciplinary issues. Additionally, there is so much parity in the Ivy League that, according to senior quarterback Mike Fritz ’07, “You can usually just throw out those preseason polls one or two weeks into the season”. Look for Dartmouth to play the Crimson tough, potentially grinding out a victory against an uncomfortable opponent on an unwelcome trip north. Such an upset result would be huge for the team’s Ivy League ambitions. As Fritz says, the Indians should be “in a good position [going into the season], picked low in the league, to sneak up on people and surprise them with our progress.” All Dartmouth football supporters certainly hope that this is the case.

Note: On Homecoming (10/14, Holy Cross) freshmen are reminded to rush the field.

Rugby

The Dartmouth Rugby Football Club has certainly enjoyed more success in recent years. The last two years have seen the club win back-to-back Ivy League Tournament titles and earn berths in consecutive National Sweet Sixteen tournaments, advancing to the Elite Eight last year. This year’s team must overcome the loss of a large group of graduated seniors, included among them an all-American and numerous all-Northeast and all-Ivy selections. Despite these losses, the club returns a solid mix of senior leaders and sound underclass contributors, all with the stated goal of again advancing to the national tournament while upholding the finest traditions of the club.

A change in the divisional alignment of New England rugby has resulted this year in the opportunity of seeing the men in green take on two traditional Ivy rivals in the friendly environs of the Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse. The club opens its season against Yale (9/16, 1:00), a team that Dartmouth dispatched 96-0 last fall. This year’s match up promises to be a closer contest, as both teams will be in early season form, and should be fun to watch. Foremost on every ruggers’ mind is the club’s Homecoming fixture against Harvard (10/14, 11:00). This will be the first time that the two sides will meet on Dartmouth’s new turf, and both teams will likely be battling for Northeast playoff position. Look for this one to be testy. Should the club’s regular season prove successful, it will potentially host a number of NERFU Playoff (TBA) games with its national ambitions at stake. These matches should present some of the finest rugby in the Northeast for the spectators who come out to cheer on the men in green.

Soccer

In recent years, Dartmouth has fielded a very competitive soccer side. The team, though largely unheralded, always seems to be competing for the Ivy League title and a berth in the national tournament. The season’s home opener against Brown (9/23, 3:00) could go a long way in determining whether the Indians will repeat their Ivy crown.

Men’s Hockey

Though mainly thought of as a winter sport, two of the hockey team’s most important home games actually occur during fall term. Boasting NHL draft choices among its current and former stars, and a certain undeniable sweetness, hockey is a pretty big deal around here. If in need of proof, the first game of the season against Harvard (10/27, 7:00) should provide it. When the Indians and the boys from Cambridge square off, both sides are out for blood. The last time home contests against Harvard in both football and hockey occurred on the same weekend, hockey actually outdrew football for the first time that anyone could remember. The game filled Thompson Arena to its fire capacity, forcing this Reviewer to stand outside in the cold futilely hoping to get in, while listening to the roar of the crowd inside and watching the lunar eclipse. It was a strange scene demonstrating conclusively that in the cold months around here, hockey is king. This is a game not to be missed.

The Indians’ home contest against Princeton (11/24, 7:00) provides one of the most enjoyable, innocent, and (thus of course) persecuted sporting traditions. In each of these contests, when Dartmouth scores its first goal, the ice is pelted with tennis balls raining down from the student section. This is all fairly harmless, considering that when the tradition started it was dead fish being hurled at the Princeton goaltender, but it still apparently just cause for an S&S pat down before entry. Also, in the last three years, the ECAC has been imposing a minor penalty for anything thrown on the ice during a game, and the team has taken out letters in the Daily D discouraging the practice. Despite these measures, the tradition endures and it is an essential part of the Dartmouth sporting experience. Hiding tennis balls in your armpits at the gate works well.

Women’s Hockey

Prior to last season, Dartmouth women had appeared in three of the last four NCAA Frozen Fours. In ‘05-’06, they finished a disappointing 12-13-4, and were bumped out of the playoffs in the first round by Brown. Look for that to change this year, as Dartmouth returns four Olympians, including three of the Olympics’ top four scorers, and three Under-22 national team members to its roster. Dartmouth is aiming for nothing less than an appearance in the National Championship game in Lake Placid in March. To see the offensive powerhouse in action, check out their first conference game, against Union (10/28, 2:00 PM), a perennially bottom-dweller sure to be used as a punching bag.

Fall Season Sports Primer

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