Second-Half Push Propels Dartmouth over Providence
from press release
HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth men's
lacrosse team netted five second half goals to break away from a
3-3 tie with Providence to earn an 8-4 win over the Friars in
non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon.
Dartmouth (3-7) got a great effort from senior captain Brian
Koch (Rye, N.Y.) as he tallied a game-high four goals to go
along with an assist for five points on the afternoon.
Sophomore Jack Steele (Longmeadow, Mass.) had his best
game in a Big Green uniform with a career-high two goals, while
junior Josh Gillam(Peterborough, Ont.) chipped in with a goal
and three assists for four points. Senior Kyle
Lagratta owned the face-off X against Providence, winning
12-of-15 face-offs, which led to break outs for Dartmouth.
Freshman Fergus Campbell(New Canaan, Conn.) earned his second
win of the season with five saves. It was the first time since he
became the Big Green's starter in net that he didn't have push
aside at least 13 shots.
Providence (5-5) had trouble getting any offense started as the
Friars had four different goal scorers. Robert Bryan got the start
in net and posted 10 saves in the loss.
Providence got on the board first as Ryan Vermette scored his first
of the season, 2:32 into the contest to give the Friars an early
1-0 lead. Dartmouth answered with 9:42 remaining on a man-up goal
from Koch with the assist going to Gillam to tie the score at 1-1.
For Koch, it was his team-leading 14th of the year and his fifth on
the man advantage. Gillam followed his assist to give Dartmouth a
2-1 at the end of the first quarter with junior Ari
Sussman (New Haven, Conn.) getting the assist.
Pete Wujciak knotted the score for Providence as he tallied his
first of the year, 58 seconds in the second frame. Steele came back
and tallied his first of the season to make it 3-2 in favor of the
Big Green. Gillam assisted on the play for his second of the
afternoon. The Friars fought back again as Ryan Reidl scored his
first of the year, coming unassisted with 8:52 left in the half. He
was the second long-stick defender to score a goal for
Providence.
The second half began on a positive note for the Big Green.
Lagratta won the face-off easily and sprinted into the zone. He
found Sussman, who passed it along to Koch and he beat Bryan to the
near post to give Dartmouth a 4-3 lead, a lead that the Big Green
would not relinquish. Koch then added his third of the game and
16th of the season with 11:26 left in the third quarter and Steele
pushed the lead up to 6-3 to end the quarter for the Big
Green.
Providence cut the lead down to 6-4 as Danny Ryan posted his
seventh of the season just under 14:00 remaining, but Koch and
sophomore Rhett Miller (Dallas, Texas) added empty net
goals to close out the game for Dartmouth as the Big Green earned
its third victory with an 8-4, outscoring the Friars 5-1 in the
second half.
Dartmouth dominated in the shot column with a 40-14 advantage and
held a 38-23 margin in ground balls. The face-off X was where the
Big Green made its mark today, winning 12-of-16 with all 12 wins
coming from Lagratta. Dartmouth was perfect on its man-up
situations with two goals in two chances, while holding Providence
scoreless in two opportunities.
The Big Green will be back in action this coming Saturday as
Dartmouth jumps back into Ivy League play with Cornell coming to
Hanover for a 1 p.m. start at Scully-Fahey Field.
