The Dartmouth Swimming and Diving Team’s pool in Alumni Gym.
Skiing:
The Dartmouth Ski team is off to a promising start, having placed second in the first two races of the season. The team has carved past most of the competition, and has put themselves in a great position for the rest of the season. This weekend, both the men’s and women’s squads will travel to Stowe, VT, to take part in the University of Vermont carnival event. The team seems poised to do well in this competition because of its fast start to the season. Their season culminates with the Dartmouth Carnival at the Skiway in early February, and the team is anxiously anticipating the event.
Women’s Basketball:
The Dartmouth Women’s basketball team is off to a (10-5) start, and is (1-0) within the Ivy League. The team is coming off of an electrifying win this past Saturday, having overmatched rival Harvard (76-61). This exciting win is a fantastic start to Big Green’s Ivy League play, and they host Harvard this Saturday for a rematch. The team will close out the season solely against their conference opponents and this final stretch will be a defining moment in their season. The team has been off to a fast start, and looks poised for another great season in the Ivy League.
Men’s Basketball:
The Dartmouth Men’s Basketball team is off to a mediocre start at 7-8, but is coming off a 62-53 win vs. NJIT. The game versus NJIT was Big Green’s last out of conference matchup, and it was particularly significant for the team as they pulled even against non-conference competition (7-7). Now, the team has to focus on tough games against their Ivy League opponents, starting off with a rematch this Saturday versus Harvard in Cambridge. Big Green put up a tough fight against Harvard in their first game, but ultimately lost that game (46-57). The rest of the season will bring lots of excitement, stemming from the tough competition against the rest of the Ivy League. Big Green’s season will be made or broken as inter-league play begins this weekend, and they seem to have a good shot at winning the conference.
Hockey:
“The season so far has been up and down,” writes Dartmouth hockey assistant captain Eric Neiley ’15 via email. The team has shown great strength and skill against the nation’s top teams, with convincing wins again Union, Boston University and Denver. At the same time, with 10 games gone of a 22-game conference season Dartmouth sits at 10th place in the elite 12-team Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
The hockey team started with a balanced November, beating Brown and coming from behind to beat defending national champions Union but falling to Yale and Harvard, who are respectively ranked 14th and 3rd in the nation. Dartmouth was 3-3-1 in all games heading into November 30th, when it hosted Boston University, who was then ranked No. 1 in the nation, here in Thompson Arena. The Big Green dealt the visitors their first and only shutout loss of the year, 0-2; starting Dartmouth goalie James Kruger ’16 made 23 saves and Dartmouth skaters managed 36 shots on goal in that game. “Any time you can play the top ranked team in the country, especially at home, you know it is going to be a fun game,” Neiley noted, “And to keep out on top in that one was definitely a great moment for the team.”
After the impressive victory over Boston University, Dartmouth traveled on December 5th for a hard-fought road loss against current conference leaders Quinnipiac. The Big Green followed up the next night with a thumping 4-2 victory at rivals Princeton in front of a large and lively contingent of traveling Dartmouth supporters. Team captain Tyler Sikura ’15 nearly managed a hat trick in that game after scoring twice in the first two periods; it was the first multi-goal outing for the captain in his high-scoring career.
The new year has so far featured the same flashes of brilliance we have come to expect from Dartmouth hockey, as well as a sense that the team is right on the cusp of hitting its stride. Dartmouth started off the 26th Annual Ledyard Classic tournament on January 2nd here in Hanover with a shootout victory over national No. 11 Denver, before narrowly losing 2-3 to national No. 15 Boston College the next evening. The Big Green tied its game the following week, at home to out-of-conference New Hampshire, before losing to another strong out-of-conference visitor, Vermont, two days later.
Dartmouth’s January 16th and 17th home games against St. Lawrence and Clarkson were heavily anticipated, as they marked a return to conference play after 40 days’ intermission. The first night’s game, against St. Lawrence, got off to a difficult start as the visitors jumped out to a 3-0 lead after a shorthanded goal and two long-range efforts. In the second half of the game, Dartmouth began to battle back, and assistant captain Eric Neiley ’15 scored his sixth season goal with minutes to play in the second period. Dartmouth’s Brandon McNally ‘15 scored near the end of the game to make it 3-2, with a pulled goalie, but a last-minute round of shots off the post was not enough to close the gap. The second evening game was not so close, as Dartmouth fell 5-2 to visiting Clarkson.
“We have been playing good hockey, but haven’t been getting the results we want yet,” Neiley observed. “If we can put together complete games and battle for a full 60 minutes the same way we have been playing in spurts, we will start to get some wins and gain momentum heading down the stretch.”
This team’s conference standing is certainly unrepresentative of the roster’s giant-slaying record. Dartmouth hockey fans are confident that the obvious quality they have seen this season so far can be refined and reproduced on a consistent basis. Neiley agrees: “The goals for the rest of the season remain the same as at the start. Especially for us seniors, this is our last chance to leave a legacy for this program so we are aiming to string together some wins and hopefully be able to raise some banners by the end of the year.”
Track and Field:
The Men’s Track and field team is off to a fast start this winter, having placed in either first or second in every race this season. In fact, they have gotten first place in their past two races. A freshman on the team even said, “We started off with a strong showing at the Dartmouth relays and we’re hoping to carry the momentum of our current success to the Ivy League Championships this season”. The team, judging by their times so far, looks poised to do just that. Their next race is against Yale and Columbia in New Haven, and the team looks prepared to take on that tough challenge. Big Green is starting off the season on the right foot, and hopes to continue the success that they have had so far.
Men’s Squash:
The Men’s Squash Team is off to a fantastic start this season, despite many injuries. Jack Harvey, a freshman on the team said, “Even with a bunch of our top players injured, we started off the season strong. We made it all the way up to 8th in the country before falling to 11th due to our loss at Princeton. We plan to get all of our players healthy and continue to get better in the second half of the season”. Even though the team has fallen out of the top ten, they have matches against more of their Ivy League opponents, and are in great position to climb back into that elite category.
Women’s Squash:
The Women’s squash team has been squashing the competition. The team has had an awesome start to the season, with freshman Becky Brownell saying: “Last weekend, our team (ranked #10) pulled off two major upsets, beating #8 Stanford and #7 George Washington. Amazingly, we achieved our team goal of being in the top 8 in the country! We hope to continue playing at this level and our next key matches will be against Brown, Columbia, and Cornell. Overall, we are very optimistic about the remainder of the season and we have a great chance to play for the national championship!” This upbeat attitude has electrified the team, and their season looks to be more than promising.
Women’s Swimming and Diving:
The Women’s Swimming and Diving team has lost their first two competitions of the season, but seems to be hitting their stride. Freshman Lydia Jabs even said that “The Dartmouth swimming and diving team works hard every day. We are driven by our love for the sport and commitment to the team”. This commitment translates into long practice hours, and a team dedicated to victory.
Men’s Swimming and Diving:
The Men’s swimming and diving team has begun the season losing its first two competitions, but has closed the gaps in its losses. The team looks as though it is on the right track, and will bounce back from a rough start to the season. Big Green kicks off the weekend with the Dartmouth invitational, which takes place on January 23rd and 24th. The invitational is an out of conference match up, but will help to prepare the team for its next Ivy League match up against Columbia.
Harrison M. Maidman also contributed to this report.
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