The Dartmouth Sports Weekly 3/5/18

The Weekend Roundup p. 2–3

3.5.18 With 13-2 record, men’s tennis has best start in program history p. 8 Skiing team has high potential to place athletes atop podiums at NCAAs p. 7 One-on-one with Paralympian Staci Mannella ’18 p. 7 Griffith’s Got Stats: Anything Can Happen During March Madness p. 6 Men’s hockey defeats St. Lawrence University to advance in postseason tournament p. 6 Winter brings highs and lows for the Big Green p. 4-5 EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 2

MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018

Men’s HOCKEY

The weekend Roundup Compiled by SABENA ALLEN, LUKE GITTER, ANDREW WRIGHT AND ERIC VAUGHN

Basketball

The women’s basketball team finished its season away this weekend splitting games against Columbia University and Cornell University. On Saturday, the Big Green beat Columbia 88-77. While the Lions outscored Dartmouth 28-25 in the fourth quarter, the Big Green took command at the outset and went up by as many as 21 points in the game. Kate Letkewicz ’18 had 24 points, while co-captain Emily Slagle ’18 added 14 and Cy Lippold ’19 and Isalys Quiñones ’19 contributed 13 each.

In the last game of the season on Sunday, the Big Green fell in a close game to Cornell 51-49. Despite the close result, the Big Red outscored the Big Green in three of the four quarters.

The Big Green came close to besting the Big Red as it led by seven midway into the fourth quarter; however, a handful of three-pointer shots by Cornell’s Dylan Higgins and Danielle Jorgenson closed the gap. Letkewicz finished her Dartmouth career scoring 17 points, and Lippold added 12 more.

The women finish their season 15-12 overall and 7-7 in Ivy play, finishing fifth in the Ivy League.

The men’s basketball team closed out its season this past weekend with games against Columbia and Cornell. On Friday, the men had a thrilling victory over Columbia 80-78,

preventing the Lions from securing a berth in the Ivy League Tour nament. The Big Green had an early 14-5 lead due to three pointers by co-captain Miles Wright ’18 and James Foye ’20.

Dartmouth led by 11 at halftime, but Columbia staged a monumental comeback, outscoring the Big Green 50-41 in the second half. The game was neck-and-neck at 78-75, and Taylor Johnson ’18 sank two free throws to give the Big Green some extra breathing room. In the final few seconds, Nate Hickman of Columbia threw up a three-point attempt, but it fell short and the Big Green maintained its two-point lead.

Wright contributed 21 points to the victory, with Brendan Barry ’20, Adrease Jackson ’21 and Taylor Johnson ’18 each adding double digits to boost the team.

Unfortunately, on Saturday, the men could not follow up with the success and fell to Cornell 86-75 on senior night. With all four seniors in the starting lineup, Johnson and Wright finished with a combined 35-point effort.

But the Big Red could not be stopped as five of its players contributed double digits, helping the team secure the fourth and final berth to the Ivy League Tournament.

The men close out their season 7-20 overall and 3-11 in Ivy play and finished eighth in the Ivy League.

Ray Lu ’18 Editor-in-Chief

3.5.18 Vol. CLXXIV No. 194

Philip Rasansky ’18 Publisher

Kourtney Kawano ’18 Executive Editor

Nathan Albrinck ’20 Samantha Hussey ’20 Evan Morgan ’19 Chris Shim ’18 Sports Editors

Saba Nejad ’18 Tiffany Zhai ’18 Photography Editors

EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Shane Sellar ’20 brought the Big Green even with St. Lawrence University in Friday’s game.

This weekend, the No. 5 men’s hockey team played in the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference playoffs in a three-game series against No. 12 St. Lawrence University, where the Big Green walked away victorious, 2-1.

Dartmouth got a scrappy 2-1 victory in the first game against the Saints. With both teams held scoreless in the first period, St. Lawrence struck first in the second period, leading 1-0.

Dartmouth struck back not once but twice, with two goals 53 seconds apart later that period. Shane Sellar ’20 scored first assisted

by Will Graber ’20 and Quin Foreman ’21, and the second goal was scored by captain Kevan Kilistoff ’19 assisted by Charley Michaelowski ’20 and Daniel Warpecha ’20.

In the second game, the Big Green fell to the Saints 4-2. Despite leading 1-0 in the first few minutes of the game thanks to Ryan Blankemeier

’20, St. Lawrence responded with two goals in the first and second periods and added two more unanswered goals in the final frame. While the Big Green had more shots on goal with 28-22, the team could not get past St. Lawrence goalkeeper Arthur Brey, who blocked 26 shots.

With each team coming into the third game with a win apiece, this matchup proved heated.

Both teams went scoreless in the first quarter, but in the middle of the second period, Graber helped the Big Green go up 1-0. Unfortunately, with about a minute left in the second period, on a turnover behind the net, the Saints tied the game up 1-1. Early in the third period, Corey Kalk ’18 responded with a goal to boost the Big Green to a 2-1 lead that remained unanswered for the remainder of the game.

The Big Green extends its season and is set to play Harvard University this weekend in the quarterfinals.

BASEBALL

The Big Green competed in the Snowbird Classic at North Charlotte Regional Park in Port Charlotte, Florida over the weekend.

Dartmouth bested Villanova University 12-7 on Saturday but fell 10-8 in its second game of the day to Northeastern University. The win over Villanova came behind a strong seven inning effort by co-captain Cole O’Connor ’19, who struck out 10 batters, a new career-high. It was the Big Green’s first win of the season.

Against Northeastern, Dartmouth led 8-5 heading into the ninth inning but gave up five runs to surrender the game to the Huskies. Each team managed 18 hits in the contest. Batting leadoff, Matt Feinstein ’19 racked up four hits and knocked in a run along the way.

Dartmouth will play the University of California, Santa Barbara on March 14 and California State University, Bakersfield in a four-game series March 15 to March 18.

MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018

Women’s lacrosse beat Columbia University 20-10 on Saturday in Hanover in its Ivy League conference opener. The home game was a rematch for the Big Green, who lost its game last year against Columbia 17-10. Dartmouth is now 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Ivy League play. Campbell Brewer ’19 and Ellie Carson ’20 led the Big Green’s strong offensive play, with each scoring five goals. Dartmouth scored

20 goals for the sixth time in program history, and the first time ever against Columbia, although the Big Green had scored 19 goals against the Lions five times before. Dartmouth took 32 shots compared to Columbia’s 20, and nine Big Green players scored points.

The Big Green will play next in Hempstead, New York against Hofstra University on March 16.

Men’s LACROSSE

EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Ben Martin ’20 (left) put in four goals against Wagner University and now leads the team with nine on the season.

The men’s lacrosse team pulled off a massive comeback Saturday, scoring six consecutive goals in the second half to defeat Wagner University 9-8. The win, the first for the Big Green over the Seahawks in three years, brings the team’s record to 2-2 on the season. The Big Green was led by Ben Martin ’20 with four goals, while several other players contributed multiple points to the total, including George Prince ’21 with one goal and two assists and Richie Loftus ’18 with two goals and one assist. George Christopher ’20 stood in net all 60 minutes for Dartmouth, finishing with 12 saves in the win.

The first half began slowly for the Dartmouth men, as a penalty goal seconds into the matchup helped jump the Seahawks to a 2-0 lead by the

midpoint of the quarter. By the second period, the Big Green had equalized on goals from Martin and Prince. However, Wagner scored four unanswered goals following another by Martin, taking Dartmouth into the half down 6-3. In the third quarter, the Big Green began to turn things around, allowing zero points from the Seahawks while scoring three goals of its own. This success continued into the fourth quarter, with Dartmouth finding another three unanswered goals in a four minute span. Wagner finally responded with two goals turning the game into a slim 9-8 Big Green lead, but a clutch save

by Christopher with 15 seconds remaining secured the victory for Dartmouth.

The men’s lacrosse team will take on St. John University away on March 17.

its strong play headed into singles, clinching the victory with three straightset wins. Abigail Chiu ’21, Chuyang Guan ’20 and Lyn handily swept their matches, while Mathis and co-captain Julia Schroeder ’18 narrowly defeated their opponents in the No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively, winning their matches in super breakers.

The women’s team will head to California over spring break to face Fresno State University, Long Beach State University, Pepperdine University and San Diego State University and will return March 31 to start Ivy play against Harvard University.

The men’s and wo m e n’s s q u a s h t e a m traveled to Washington D.C. to compete in the Individual Championships this weekend to end the season. Co-captain Alvin Heumann ’18 defeated St. Lawrence University’s Karim Ibrahim 9, 7, 2 in the men’s national championship pool to advance to quarters but fell to Harvard University’s David Ryan

9, 10, 3. Carson Spahr ’19 competed in the Molloy East bracket, advancing to the finals before losing to St. Lawrence University’s Belal Nawar. Janel Gaube ’18 lost to Hayley Hughes of Drexel University in the first round of the Holleran South bracket, and cocaptain Becky Brownell ’18 and Anne Blasberg ’20 were unable to advance beyond the first round of the Holleran West bracket.

The Dartmouth softball team spent this past weekend at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, coming away with two wins and three losses through three days of competition. On Friday, the Big Green initially found success, defeating Central Connecticut State University 5-3 but tripped up in its game against host University of Arkansas, falling 12-3. On Saturday, Dartmouth narrowly fell to the University of Northern

Colorado 3-2, and again in a much closer matchup against the Razorbacks, this time 2-1. However, the team was able to finish the weekend off on a high note Sunday mor ning, again defeating Central Connecticut State, this time by a score of 7-2.

The perfor mance through the weekend brings the record for the Big Green to 2-8 on the season. The team restarts play March 17 at the Houston Tournament in Houston, Texas.

The Dartmouth sailing team competed in the Sharpe Team Race, hosted by Brown University, this past Sunday.

Peninah Benjamin ’20, Eloise Burn ’21, Max Clapp ’21, co-captain Sophia Diserio ’18, co-captain Erik Weis ’18 and Duncan Williford ’18 represented the Big Green and took sixth out of eight teams with a record of 2-5.

The Big Green lost to the host team, along

with Harvard University, Massachusetts Insitute of Technology, Tufts University and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, but the team managed to turn a corner and finished the day with a win against the University of Rhode Island.

Dartmouth sailing will take the next few weeks off over the spring break and restart competition the weekend of March 24.

sailing

EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Dartmouth readies for a free-position shot late in the second period against Columbia University.

Wo m e n ’ s t e n n i s defeated the University of Massachusetts 6-1 at the Boss Tennis Center this Saturday, bringing the team’s overall record to 6-5 on the season.

The Big Green came out swinging in doubles as Dartmouth won three of four matches. Co-captain Kristina Mathis ’18 and Racquel Lyn ’20 easily took the No. 2 position 6-1. Maddie Hwang ’21 and Allison Chuang ’19 followed suit, taking the No. 3 position 7-5. Shannon Mukerji ’18 and Jasmine Abidi ’21 closed it out in a close match in 7-6 to put Dartmouth up 1-0.

Dartmouth continued

SOFTBALL

Squash

Women’s Lacrosse

WOMEN’S TENNIS

SW 3

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 4

Winter brings highs and

A recap of the 2017–2018 w

BY JAKE JOHNSON, JUSTIN KRAME

The Dar

Men’s squash finished its season 13-5 and ranked No. 5 in the College Squash Association’s national rankings after beginning the season at No. 10. The Big Green’s regular season was highlighted by five top-10 wins, including two 5-4 wins over Ivy League rival Princeton University.

Dartmouth competed in the Potter Cup for the College Squash Association National Championship where it lost 9-0 to St. Lawrence University in the first round but beat Princeton 5-4 and Rochester College 5-4 to win the consolation bracket.

Co-captainAlvinHeumann’18 had a great season, playing at the No. 1 slot and going 11-4 in regular season matches. For his efforts, he was selected to the All-Ivy First Team for the third-straight year; however, this year, his selection was unanimous. Heumann advanced to the quarterfinals of

The 2018 season was the best carnival campaign in recent memory for the Big Green. Men’s alpine and women’s Nordic led the way as Dartmouth separated itself from the University of Vermont and the rest of the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association, winning its second straight conference title.

Bad weather and scheduling q u i rk s l e d t o a s l i g h t l y u n c o nve n t i o n a l f i r s t t wo carnivals. The Nordic and alpine teams alternated weeks racing at the Colby College Carnival and St. Michael’s College Carnival to open the season. Warm temperatures and rain canceled the classic races at Colby, while high winds forced race organizers to postpone the slalom. At St. Michael’s, sloppy conditions shortened the classic course. Despite tough conditions, the Big Green came out ahead. Men’s and women’s alpine won both carnivals, and Dartmouth took the overall win at Colby.

Men’s alpine had a rough first day at the UVM carnival as Dartmouth’s top three skiers crashed out in the giant slalom, but the three other teams held up to help Dartmouth spoil the home team’s day in Stowe. The following week, the Big Green ran away with the lead in its home carnival. The Catamounts

the Men’s Individual National Championship before falling to eventual national champion David Ryan of Harvard University.

Women’s squash finished its season 7-10 overall and 1-6 in the Ivy League. The Big Green’s lone conference win came over then-No. 10 Brown University on the road. The win was also Dartmouth’s only victory over a higher ranked team. The Big Green also bested then-No. 12 George Washington University 7-2 in a matchup on Dec. 2, 2017 that featured five four-set matches.

After competing in the Kurtz Cup, the championship tournament for the ninth-to16th-ranked teams in the country, the Big Green finished the year ranked No. 10 after losing to Drexel University 6-3 in the finals. In the cup, Dartmouth beat Middlebury College and Williams College.

barely edged Dartmouth in the women’s giant slalom and the men’s slalom, but the Big Green clobbered UVM in every other event.

At the Williams College Car nival, the penultimate carnival of the season, the men’s alpine team went 1-2-3 in the giant slalom and Dartmouth got additional team wins in the women’s slalom and women’s 5-kilometer classic to win its third straight carnival. To close out a strong season, Dartmouth won three of four events on the first day of the NCAA Regional Championship and two more the following day en route to a definite victory with a 138-point lead over second-place finisher UVM. The All-East teams were heavily green and white. Three Big Green women’s Nordic skiers made the All-East first team, while Dartmouth’s top two Nordic men also made the first team. On the alpine side, five Dartmouth men and women landed on the All-East first team. The Big Green heads to Steamboat, Colorado with high expectations and the potential to earn a national title. With a lot of talent and a dose of luck, the team stands a good chance to bring home an individual event title and claim several All-American spots.

Men’s basketball finished its season this weekend after matchups with Columbia University and Cornell University. The men finished the season 7-20 overall, the same record it finished with last season, and 3-11 in Ivy League play.

This season, the team consistently performed much better at home versus away, going 6-6 in home games and 1-14 in away games. The season was highlighted by a 16-point victory over Princeton University to snap a 10-game losing streak from Dec. 30, 2017 to Feb. 9. The win was the Big Green’s first over the Tigers in the last seven matchups.

Through all the season, the team distributed the scoring well, with Brendan Barry ’20, Taylor Johnson ’18, Chris Knight ’21 and co-captain Miles Wright ’18 all averaging more than 9.8 points per game.

Because the men finished in last place in the Ivy League, they were eliminated from postseason contention. Only the top four teams can play in the Ivy League Tournament for a chance to compete in the NCAA National Championship.

“The end of the season is always very emotional,” Ian Sistare ’20 said. “A lot of people, coaches, players and trainers put in a ton of time to try and help our program succeed. Although the results this season weren’t what we were hoping for, the effort of our team was never in question. We are definitely going to miss our seniors, and we need to continue the hard work that they established here.”

The 2017-2018 season was a major step toward success for the Dartmouth women’s basketball team who had its best overall and home records since its 2009 season, when it won the 2009 Ivy League title. Though the 15-12 overall record and 7-7 Ivy League mark left the team just short of the Ivy League Tournament, the fifth-place finish exceeded its last-place preseason projection.

The women’s push for an elusive Ivy League tournament bid began this past September, when the team had its first meeting of the season in the locker room.

“On that day, our seniors stood up, and they introduced the theme of the year: ‘Our vision is to get to the Palestra and earn an 18th championship.

We’re going to do whatever it takes to put ourselves in the best position to do that,’” head coach Belle Koclanes said.

The team embodied the “whatever it takes” mentality from the start, racing to a 4-0 record.

“The culture [the seniors and coaching staff ] have helped create is whatever it takes, we’re going to be the most prepared, we’re going to live out our values — respect, attitude and preparation — every single day, and we’re going to compete at the highest

level and let the chips fall where they may,” Koclanes said. “We’ve done that this year.”

Particularly meaningful wins in the early going included its first ever win over an Atlantic Coast Conference team against Boston College, a victory against the in-state University of New Hampshire and a triumph at Marist College on the road.

Most signif icant was the 81-75 win at the University of Colorado, the team’s first against a Pacific-12 team in program history.

“To do it on the road was pretty awesome,” Koclanes said. “I will forever remember that locker room celebration afterwards, so a major accomplishment there.”

Conference play opened up with a 63-56 victory at home versus Harvard University, and Dartmouth remained in close contention for a tournament bid after defeating Yale University and Brown University on the road for a then-6-4 record.

L osses at home aga inst t he Un iversit y of Pennsylvania and Princeton University, the top two Ivy League teams, on Feb. 23 and 24 dropped Dartmouth out of the running for the postseason.

The team had three double-digit scorers on the season: Kate Letkewicz ’18, Cy Lippold ’19 and Isalys Quiñones ’19. Letkewicz led the pack with 14.0 points per game, finishing seventh overall in Ivy League scoring, second in three-point percentage and third in three-pointers made per game among qualifiers.

Upon stepping into the starting point guard role, Lippold exploded this season with 12.3 points per game while pacing the league with her 144 assists and finishing fifth in steals per game with 2.0.

Koclanes discussed Lippold’s meteoric rise. “[Lippold] is clearly our most improved player from a year ago to now,” Koclanes said. “It’s because she has put in the time and effort to earn that. She’s a major part of the reason for our success this year.

[Lippold] has had a fantastic year, and she’s still getting better.”

Other key contributors included center Olivia Smith ’18 who averages 6.0 rebounds per game, guard co-captain Emily Slagle ’18’s .407 three-point percentage in 81 tries and guard and forward Paula Lenart ’20’s .688 field goal percentage in 48 shots.

Koclanes is thrilled with how her team has improved and will continue to improve in years to come.

“We’re going to make mistakes but we’re going to learn from them,” Koclanes said. “We’re going to grow from them, but we’re not going to beat ourselves up over it for too long because that’s counterproductive.”

MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 5

d lows for the Big Green

winter season for 13 sports

ER, MAYA MOTEN AND SABA NEJAD

rtmouth

Men’s swimming and diving began its season in early November with a win over Boston College in a dual meet and losses to Harvard University and Cornell University in a tri-meet.

Women’s swimming and diving began its season a few weeks later when it joined the men’s team at the Big Al Invitational.

Cathleen Li ’21 and Connor LaMastra ’21 each placed their names into the record books, breaking the program record in the women’s 100-yard fly and men’s 200-yard fly, respectively.

At the inaugural Tate Ramsden Invitational, the men’s and women’s teams honored their former teammate with two wins. Women’s co-captain Hayley Winter ’18 set a pool record in the 1,650-yard freestyle with her time of 17:07.10. LaMastra also broke the pool and Dartmouth record in the 200-yard butterfly.

The men’s and women’s track and field teams began their indoor seasons in early December and finished on Feb. 25 at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in Hanover.

The women notched a four-meet win streak in a string of home meets early in the season. The women earned their first win in a meet against the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Vermont. The meet was highlighted by Cha’Mia Rothwell ’20’s first-place performances in both the 60-meter dash and the 60-meter hurdles and Katie Laskoski ’21’s first-place showing in the 400-meter dash. The women’s team carried its momentum into the next few meets, winning the Dartmouth Relays, a quad-meet with Brown University, Maine and Vermont and a tri-meet with Columbia University and Yale University.

Men’s track and field also performed well at the start of the indoor season, earning an exciting first victory of the season in a meet with Brown, Maine and Vermont,

The women culminated its season at the Ivy League Championships where the team finished in last with a score of 475 points. The team was led by Mackenzie Stumpf ’21 who finished second in the 200-yard breaststroke and set the school record with her time of 2:12.61.

Completing its season the following week at the Ivy League Championships, men’s swimming and diving was also met with a last-place finish. The 800-yard freestyle relay team of Carter Jacobsen ’19, Bruno Korbar ’18, LaMastra and co-captain Tony Shen ’18 began the meet by breaking the school record by over three seconds. In addition, both LaMastra and co-captain Henry Senkfor ’18 made NCAA B cut times. LaMastra qualified in the 500-yard freestyle, 400yard individual medley and 200-yard butterfly, and Senkfor in the 200-yard individual medley.

in which the Big Green edged out Maine by just two points. The team managed to steal first when the 4x400-meter relay team comprised of Amos Cariati ’18, Alec Eschholz ’19, Max Frye ’21 and Parker Johnson ’19 won the final event of the meet.

Donovan Spearman ’21 ran the second fastest time in program history in the 60m dash with a time of 6.82 seconds.

The men’s and women’s teams ended the indoor season by taking fourth and third respectively when they hosted Heps for the first time in four years. The weekend was marked

by Rothwell’s record-breaking performances in 60m hurdles and the long jump. She set a new Ivy League and New England record at 8.20 seconds in the 60m hurdles.

After scoring nearly a third of the women’s teams points, Rothwell earned herself the distinction of Female Field Performer of the Meet.

Other winners for the Big Green were Julia Valenti ’20 in the pole vault, Justin Donawa ’19 in the triple jump and co-captain Benjamin Ose ’19 in the heptathlon.

After a 2-2 start to the season that included wins over Ivy League rivals Brown University and Yale University, men’s hockey went winless in its next seven games to begin the season 2-8-1. Despite taking a while to find its stride, the Big Green went on an 11-6-1 tear to end the regular season. Then-No. 2 Cornell University narrowly edged off the Big Green in a 3-1 contest on Jan. 27. In that close matchup, the Big Red sealed the game with an empty net goal, but up until the last minute, Dartmouth was very much in the game. In that game, Tim Shoup ’18 scored in his 100th career game for the Big Green, becoming the 100th member in program history to play 100 games.

Special moments were plentiful this season; a fan favorite came in mid-January when the annual Princeton University tennis ball game yielded nine total goals on the night. Just the day before, Big Green fans were given a show when Will Graber ’20 scored for Dartmouth to take the lead over Quinnipiac University with just under 10 seconds to go in the game.

Devin Buffalo ’18 had an outstanding season, posting a .910 save percentage and averaging just 2.69 goals against per game.

In the Eastern College Athletic Conference, the team finished with a final record of 11-10-1, earning a 5-seed in the ECAC playoffs. The Big Green took on 12-seeded St. Lawrence University in the first round.

St. Lawrence could not hold pace with Dartmouth

Men’s tennis had an exceptional start this winter in advance of a tough spring break slate — during which it will face Oklahoma State University, Wichita State University and the University of Memphis — and its spring conference opener against Harvard University on March 31.

In its first contests of the new year, the Big Green dominated each match, blanking Binghamton University, Quinnipiac University, the University at Buffalo and St. John’s University at home. The men maintained their momentum, powering to a 12-0 record, including a narrow 4-3 victory over Indiana University on the road in early February. Their efforts earned them the program’s first Eastern College Athletic Conference Indoor Championship and No. 14 rank in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s rankings with only a three match weekend in Hanover left to wrap up its winter term schedule.

On Feb. 24, underdog Iowa University scraped by with a 4-3 victory to hand Dartmouth its first loss of the season. Charlie Broom ’20 and Casey Ross ’21 each lost tight third sets in what have been impressive seasons thus far for both of them.

With a second loss the next day to Old Dominion University and a win against Boston University, Dartmouth’s overall record dropped to 13-2. Currently, the Big Green is ranked No. 19.

Dartmouth has had several players ranked in the ITA’s Division I men’s national rankings this season. Broom ranked No. 100 in the preseason rankings but has since fallen out of the top-125.

Meanwhile, Dan Martin ’21 has fought his way

in the first game and lost by a close margin of 2-1.

While trying to finish the series in a two-game sweep, Dartmouth let the second game slip away late in the third period, losing 4-2.

In the deciding game of the series on Sunday, Dartmouth refused to let its season end. Led by Corey Kalk ’18, who assisted on the first goal of the night and found the back of the net in the third to take a lead that the Big Green would hold for the rest of the night, Dartmouth prevailed 2-1 to lock up a trip to Harvard University for the ECAC quarterfinals.

Netminder Buffalo had another amazing game, stopping 26 of 27 shots on goal.

The Big Green will face Harvard in a three-game series this Friday, Saturday and if necessary, Sunday.

Women’s hockey finished its season with a 5-19-3 overall record, failing to qualify for the eight-team ECAC playoffs after finishing second to last in the conference, ahead of only Brown University. Against Brown, the Big Green lost its first matchup 3-2 at home but won its second matchup 3-2 on the road.

The Big Green faced an incredibly tough schedule down the stretch, playing four top-10 opponents twice in its last 12 games and losing each game by at least two goals.

Christine Honor ’19 had a great season in net and received All-Ivy League Honorable Mention accolades after setting the program record for most saves in one season with 818, besting a record that has stood since the 1997-98 season.

to No. 101 after going 12-5 in singles this season.

Broom and partner David Horneffer ’20 have gone 10-3 in doubles to earn the No. 17 ranking.

Led by senior co-captains Kristina Mathis ’18 and Julia Schroeder ’18, women’s tennis ended its winter season with a 6-5 overall record. Mathis and Schroeder make up the No. 1, No. 2 punch at singles for Dartmouth, and both have provided steady play for Dartmouth at the top of the lineup.

Mathis even cracked the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Division I women’s national singles rankings at No. 78 on Nov. 15, 2017.

The Big Green opened its winter season with wins against Boston University and Liberty University and a hard-fought 4-3 loss to the University of Denver. A 4-3 win against the University of South Florida brought Dartmouth to a 3-1 overall record, but a two-loss weekend versus Boston College and the College of William and Mary evened the Big Green’s record at 3-3.

At the Eastern College Athletic Conference Indoor Championship, Dartmouth took its first two matches 4-1 against Ivy League rivals Columbia University and Cornell University, but a loss to Princeton University in the championship finals followed by a 7-0 beatdown by No. 4 ranked Duke University the next weekend brought them even again.

Dartmouth took down the University of Massachusetts on Saturday to break past .500 yet again, and the team will look to build upon momentum during its four-match spring break slate in La Jolla, California.

Conference play begins March 31 at home versus Harvard University.

MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 6

Men’s hockey defeats St. Lawrence University to advance in Eastern College Athletic Conference postseason tournament

By JAKE PHILHOWER The Dartmouth Staff

This past weekend, the men’s hockey team played in its first playoff series of the postseason against St. Lawrence University, winning 2-1.

Dartmouth was the highest seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference that did not receive a bye, so the men played the lastranked Saints in the first round.

Dartmouth swept the regular season series against the Saints, winning the first game 3-2 and the second 3-1. The Big Green looked poised to make a run in this year’s ECAC tournament, but St. Lawrence proved to be a team that should not be overlooked.

In the first game on Friday, Dartmouth came out strong, outshooting the Saints 9-5 in the first period. However, the Big Green could not get the puck past Arthur Brey, and Devin Buffalo ’18 saved all five shots, leaving the game scoreless in the first period. St. Lawrence struck first in the second period, but the Big Green responded with two important goals from forwards Shane Sellar ’20 and captain Kevan Kilistoff ’19. The third period was full of hustle as the Big Green clung

Griffith’s Got Stats with Evan Griffith ’18

Anything Can Happen During March Madness The best month of the year has finally arrived, and the college basketball world is already feeling the madness. Rutgers University, seeded dead last at 14th in the Big Ten, managed to beat two games against the 11-seed University of Minnesota on Feb. 28 and 6-seed Indiana University the next day before losing to 3-seed Purdue University on March 2. Syracuse University picked up its first win over a ranked opponent when the Orange beat No. 18 Clemson University 55-52 on Saturday.

T h e m e n’s I v y L e a g u e

onto its one-goal lead. With a solid performance from the defense, Buffalo made 12 saves in the third period, proving to be just enough to get the Big Green the crucial first win in the series.

Dartmouth would not fair nearly as well in game two as St. Lawrence played to keep its season alive. Ryan Blankemeier ’20 netted an early goal for the Big Green in the first period, but St. Lawrence scored the equalizer with just over six minutes left in the period. After the Saints jumped ahead in the second period, River Rymsha ’18 scored a goal to bring the score to 2-2, but St. Lawrence scored two decisive goals in the third period, tying up the series and forcing an elimination game on Sunday.

With tensions high at Thompson Arena, both teams came to play in game three. The first period featured a series of saves from Buffalo, who kept his team in the game. Dartmouth produced several chances on the offensive side of the ice but failed to capitalize. Though play was fairly chippy, the first period had no penalties and seemed to be evenly matched. Finally, in the second period, Dartmouth was fortunate enough to find themselves

in a 5-on-3 power play situation, during which Will Graber ’20 sent a slap shot from the blue line past the St. Lawrence goalie. Dartmouth did a good job maintaining this lead throughout much of the second period, but a careless giveaway behind the goal led to a fairly easy St. Lawrence goal just before the end of the period.

“The second period was probably the best second period we played in this building all season,” head coach Bob Gaudet ’81 said after the game.

“I thought we were really good. [St. Lawrence] made a good play and put it in our net, but our kids weren’t down in between periods.”

In the third period, play was as intense as it has been all season for the Big Green. On a breakaway early in the period, Corey Kalk ’18 scored in a mad rush to the net.

After a review of the goal because the net moved out of place during the rush, the ruling was in favor of the Big Green. The puck crossed the goal line prior to having the net knocked off, thus giving the Big Green an instrumental goal.

As time ticked away in the third period, the team had a strong push to the finish. The Big Green outhustled the Saints, allowing

very few shots on goal. The team was the standout player for Team also cleared the puck several times USA in Pyeongchang after scoring after St. Lawrence pulled its goalie, nearly half of the team’s goals. If effectively keeping the Saints’ Dartmouth wants to make it to the sharpshooters at bay. final four in Lake Placid, it needs to One of the keys for the Big Green play its best hockey in Cambridge in the elimination this weekend. game was remaining

With this road d i s c i p l i n e d “Once game trip to Cambridge a n d a v o i d i n g time hits, you falling on the same confrontation. In date as the start of between the whistles, have to just finals, the men will t h i s g a m e w a s focus on the have almost no time physical, but the Big to spare between Green consistently game and pre paring for the skated away from put whatever biggest games of the St. Lawrence players season and doing well when faced with work you have in the classroom. adversity.

“It’s going to be a behind you.”

“I think we matter of trying to get were focused on as much of our work staying disciplined -WILL GRABER ’20 done as we possibly in between the can during the week,” whistles,” Kalk said.

Graber said. “Once “Last night, we took a couple stupid game time hits, you have to just penalties, and it cost us, but tonight focus on the game and put whatever we did a better job and I think that work you have behind you.” will help us as we move forward in With this first round win in its the playoffs.” pocket, the Big Green has a bit of The Big Green are slated to play momentum going into next week’s Harvard University next week in the games against Harvard. The puck ECAC quarterfinals. Harvard had a is scheduled to drop for Game 1 in very strong season this year behind the series this Friday at 7 p.m. in star forward Ryan Donato, who Cambridge.

Tournament is also set for this weekend, featuring Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University and Cornell University. I’m picking Penn to win it all this season; home field advantage goes a long way.

Wi t h s o m e c o n f e re n c e championships already underway, and the rest looming in the coming weeks, I found some shared characteristics among all recent NCAA tournament champions. Starting off, nearly every champion since 1989 has been a 4-seed or better in the postseason tournament. There is one outlier however: the 2014 University of Connecticut basketball team was a 7-seed and an unlikely candidate for the championship team. However this shows that anything can happen in March.

Using data from bracketmatrix. com, an aggregate website that consolidates bracket projections, the following teams are in play for the championship so far, along with their current ranking on KenPom in parenthesis (data as of March 4): 1-seed: the University of Kansas (12), Villanova University (2), the University of Virginia (1) and Xavier University (15) 2-seed: Duke University (3), Michigan State University (6), the University of North Carolina (7)

and Purdue University (5) 3-seed: Auburn University (11), the University of Cincinnati (4), the University of Tennessee (13) and Wichita State University (17) 4-seed: Clemson University (18), Texas Tech University (10), the University of Michigan (9) and the University of West Virginia (14) There are 16 teams in championship contention right off the bat. Also, since 2002, each champion has been ranked in the top-15 on KenPom on Selection Sunday. Conveniently, the additional 10 teams from KenPom’s current top-25 are all seeded five, six or seven, except for two. Butler University, ranked 24th, is a 9-seed, and Saint Mary’s University, ranked 25th, is a 10-seed. The respective five and six seeds include: 5-seed: the University of Arizona (26), Gonzaga University (8), the University of Kentucky (23) and the Ohio State University (16) 6-seed: the University of Florida (21), the University of Houston (19), the University of Miami (36) and Texas Christian University (22) There are 26 teams in championship contention.

Including being a 4-seed in the tournament or higher and having a top-25 KenPom ranking, each of the eventual tournament champions since 2002 have met most of the

following criteria: ranked in the top 20 in adjusted offensive efficiency; ranked in the top 60 in adjusted defensive efficiency; shot better than 37 percent from three; had a frontcourt player average more than 12 points per game; had four players averaging at least 10 points per game; held opponents to less than 45 percent shooting from two; held opponents to a free throw rate of less than 31 percent; won its conference tournament; had a head coach who’s been to the Sweet 16 before; and ranked in the top 90 in offensive rebound percentage.

Let’s look at the Final Four in the past two years to see how the participants fared in these 12 categories. In 2017, Gonzaga met 11 of 12, the University of Oregon met 10, UNC met eight and the University of South Carolina met four. In 2016, UNC met 11, the University of Oklahoma and Villanova met nine and Syracuse met 5.

This year, the following teams meet at least eight of the 12 stat criteria: Cincinnati, Duke, Michigan State and Purdue meet 11 of 12; Gonzaga, Kansas and North Carolina meet 10, Auburn and Tennessee meet nine; and TCU, Arizona, Wichita State, Virginia and Villanova meet eight.

Twenty-six teams down to 14.

We can trim the list down even further if we look at the KenPom statistics. Arizona, TCU and Wichita State all have defenses that rank outside the top 60, and Cincinnati, Tennessee and Virginia all have offenses that rank outside the top 20. Using the KenPom criteria and the offensive rebounding criteria, the five teams that statistically line up with previous champions are: Auburn, Duke, Gonzaga, Michigan State and North Carolina.

T here are a few notable omissions from this list. Xavier, for example, is currently projected to be a 1-seed in the tournament and has clinched the Big East title outright, even after losing badly to Villanova twice this season.

However, Xavier only meets seven out of the 12 criteria. Even though the Musketeers are currently the second luckiest team in the nation according to KenPom, it doesn’t look good come tournament time.

Au bu r n s t a r t e r A n f e r n e e McLemore recently underwent surgery for torn ligaments in his ankle, and since his departure, Auburn has lost two of its last four games. I’ll be monitoring Auburn during the Southeastern Conference Tournament, but if the Tigers lose early, I have my Final Four set.

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018

ONE ON ONE

with Staci Mannella ’18

By JAKE PHILHOWER The Dartmouth Staff

Staci Mannella ’18 is a member of the U.S. Paralympian team that will be competing in Pyeongchang, South Korea beginning on March 9. Mannella suffers from achromatopsia, which causes partial blindness and sensitivity to light. In 2014, Mannella finished sixth in slalom and giant slalom at the Sochi Paralympic Games. Last year, she earned her first podium at the World Championships with a bronze medal finish in the super combined. In addition to skiing, Mannella is a member of the Dartmouth equestrian team.

How did it feel to qualify for the

Paralympics in Pyeongchang?

SM: I was pretty stoked. I had sort of a weird season with some injuries, so I wasn’t really sure. I was definitely qualified to go; it was just whether or not I was going to be healthy enough to ski.

Making the team was definitely exciting because I have gotten through a lot of different things. My goal has been to make the team for a while now. I skied at Sochi and have been skiing with a new guide since I started at Dartmouth, right after Sochi. Obviously qualifying is always the goal, but I was lucky that I was in a position that I wasn’t too worried about qualifying.

What was your favorite memory or moment from Sochi?

SM: I think what sticks out most is kind of cliché but walking into the opening ceremonies was a really cool experience. To be able to walk in with your country and to have that much energy in the room was amazing. I think realizing how bigger than life being at the Paralympics and being part of an event that brings so much energy and so many people together is just exciting for me. We don’t get to see that too often on the normal World Cup circuit. Being a part of something that everyone in the world is interested and is so unifying is really powerful. It brings everyone together for a common goal.

What is it like balancing c o m p e t i t i ve s k i i n g, t h e equestrian team and your schoolwork?

SM: I think a lot of people view their social life as a break from studying.

I do that to a certain extent, but I

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use my gym time and my time that I go to practice as time that I spend away from studying. Other than that, I work really hard. Everyone does; you have to or you don’t pass.

I study a lot, and sometimes I’m a little compulsive about how much I’m studying. Sometimes I need to take a step back and take a little bit of a break. It’s always a time management struggle.

W hat is it like being on the equestrian team and riding horses with a vision impairment?

SM: They give me a little bit of freedom because a horse can see, and a horse isn’t going to purposely run into a wall. They’re going to jump over the fence they’re not going to crash right through it, so that’s nice for me. I can see a little bit and so usually when I’m riding a horse as I approach the jump I

can start to see, which is helpful. I love the horses. They’re not going to run into something. When I ski, I’m following someone, so I have an extra pair of eyes that are never going to fail me.

Do you have any expectations or goals for this year’s games?

SM: The goal is to be on the podium. I really want to be happy with my performance. I’ve been working really hard. I was a bit off this past season, but I’ve come a long way in the last four years and I’m hoping that that will show in our results. Ultimately, I want to be on the podium, and I want to win ­— every athlete wants to win. I want to walk away feeling like I skied my best and left it all out on the hill out and enjoyed the moment too.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Skiing has high potential to place athletes on podiums at NCAAs

By EVAN MORGAN

The Dartmouth Senior Staff

The Winter Olympics wrapped up a week ago, but the Olympics of collegiate skiing are on the horizon.

The Dartmouth ski teams traveled to Steamboat Springs, Colorado this past weekend, where the NCAA Skiing Championships will begin on Wednesday. Here are eight questions you might be asking before tuning in to the live stream: Who is Dartmouth racing against?

Although athletes from 23 teams will be at NCAAs, only a handful of schools are contenders for the national title, including eastern rival the University of Vermont and western rivals the University of Alaska Anchorage, the University of Colorado, the University of Denver, Montana State University, the University of New Mexico and the University of Utah.

Western teams have dominated collegiate skiing since it began, attracting top talent from the United States and Europe. Utah won its 11th championship last season, but 19-time champion Colorado and 23-time champion Denver may be the teams to beat this year after finishing first and second Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association.

What matters at NCAAs, individual scores or team scores?

They both matter, but NCAAs is one of the few times during the season when the overall team score will be a priority for athletes.

During the carnival season, athletes are typically more focused on their individual results and on qualifying for the NCAA Championships than with overall performance in a given carnival.

The national championship is different because the big prize is the overall title.

“It puts a lot more emphasis on consistency because everyone needs to finish,” men’s alpine skier and captain Thomas Woolson ’17 said. “The stakes are just higher.”

Skiers will also be gunning for team and individual titles. The top five finishers in each race are named firstteam All-Americans, while the next five make the second team.

At NCAAs, Big Green Nordic skiers will be able to watch the alpine skiers and vice versa, making the championship a special event. During regular-season carnivals, the Nordic and alpine teams race on the same days but at different locations, so they learn about the team results only after racing is finished.

How does Dartmouth stack up?

The Big Green has been the top team in the east this season and has a shot at the overall title. But Dartmouth has historically been an underdog against stiff western competition. Colorado, Denver and Utah have top Nordic teams, while Colorado, Denver and Montana State have been the best alpine teams in the west.

Dartmouth does not race against western teams during the regular season, but athletes and coaches have some sense of how the teams stack up. Collegiate skiers compete against one another on the North American Cup circuit and in International Ski Federation races throughout the season.

Alexa Dlouhy ’19 estimates that she has already raced this season against 60 percent of the skiers she will face at the NCAA Championships.

Who could end the week as an All-American?

Dartmouth has been so strong this year that any skier in Green and White has a good chance to crack the top 10 of any race.

Men’s Nordic skier and captain Luke Brown ’18 made the second team in

freestyle last season, and teammates Callan DeLine ’18 and Gavin McEwen ’19 finished the carnival season among the top 10 freestyle skiers on the eastern circuit. Men’s freestyle looks to be a good bet for the Big Green. The team has been improving in classic skiing, head coach Brayton Osgood ’03 said. Brown and DeLine finished fourth and sixth in the east, respectively.

Nordic skier Katharine Ogden ’21 has a serious chance to make the podium in both events. After recovering from illness, Ogden consistently beat UVM’s Alayna Sonnesyn — who made the podium in both Nordic races at the 2017 championship — to win the last five carnival races. Lauren Jortberg ’20 was a second-team All-American in the classic last season, while Lydia Blanchet ’19 will hope to rebound from a difficult outing at last year’s championship.

The women’s alpine team is seeking to improve upon its impressive 2017 showing in the slalom, which saw Peterson and Dlouhy each finish as All-Americans. Peterson failed to finish the giant slalom, her top event, at the 2017 championship. That’s unlikely to happen a second time. Steph Currie ’20, who raced at the World Junior Ski Championships and has been a consistent two-event threat all season, is racing at the national championships for the first time.

Dartmouth might be the favorite to take the men’s alpine title. Tanguy Nef ’20 and Brian McLaughlin ’18 have been two of the top skiers in North America this season as Nef has taken a step forward. Nef and Woolson were All-Americans in the slalom last season, and McLaughlin made the podium in the giant slalom. Expectations will be even higher this time around.

“We have three guys who should all be top 10,” men’s alpine coach Peter Dodge ’78 said.

What races will be run?

Alpine skiers will race a slalom and a giant slalom, as they do at every carnival.

But this slalom has a twist: It will be raced at night, with races beginning at 4 p.m. and lit by floodlights.

“There’s a little hill, and you’re looking right over the town so it’s really cool,” Dodge said. “It’s a little bit different skiing in the lights because you get different shadows.”

The night slalom also gives the skiers’ day a different rhythm.

“Usually you have your routine where you wake up, get a little breakfast, and you’re on the hill and you just get right into it,” Woolson said. “To wake up and realize, ‘Oh I have until 4 p.m.,’ it’s a very different feeling for us.”

The NCAA Championship will feature a typical lineup of Nordic races, according to Osgood. The teams will have individual start classic races on Thursday — 5 kilometers for the women and 10 kilometers for the men.

The championship will conclude on Saturday with a 15-kilometer mass start women’s freestyle, while the men will race the same event on a 20-kilometer course.

How does the national championship differ from a normal carnival?

The NCAA Championship is the biggest race of the collegiate season, and the added size brings more noise for the skiers to tune out.

“It’s not at the scale of the Olympics, but the same thing where you go there and all of a sudden it’s not just a bigger race but things are done differently,” Dodge said.

For Dartmouth skiers who grew up on FIS races, which often have just a few parents watching and which Woolson describes as “very low-key,” the cameras, fans and banquets at the NCAA Championship can up the pressure.

The altitude is another difference.

Steamboat sits at more than 6,000 feet above sea level, and the Nordic teams have to take the altitude into account during training. Dartmouth’s Nordic skiers traveled to Colorado on Thursday to begin the acclimation process. Come race time, McEwen said he does not expect the altitude to be much of a concern beyond the beginning of a race.

“It’s not really high,” McEwen said of Steamboat. “But it is definitely noticeable when you’re going hard, so I think it’s pretty key to not go out too hard.”

How do the athletes take final exams?

Finals don’t stop for national championships. Dodge said he is prepared to proctor several exams during his time in Colorado.

Woolson recalled taking a biology exam the morning before the night slalom at the 2016 NCAA Championships.

“I had to sit and take the three-hour exam and then get lunch, and I’m feeling after the exam like I’ve been stressed and your body kind of shuts down and then I realized I had to race in four hours,” Woolson said.

Where will Dartmouth stand when the dust clears?

Coaches and athletes were wary of making predictions, but the team agrees that there are high hopes.

“I’m pretty excited about this team,” women’s Nordic head coach Cami Thompson Graves said. “The chances are good, but I’m always going to be really cautious about my predictions.”

Dartmouth should expect to have athletes on the podium and in contention for event titles. And a national title, the first since 2007, is within reach.

“Expectations are quite high, very high, but I think they’re justified by our results this year and simply the way we’re skiing,” Dodge said.

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 8

SPORTS

MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018

TODAY’S LINEUP

NO EVENTS SCHEDULED

With 13-2 record, men’s tennis has best start in program history

By CAITLYN MCGOVERN The Dartmouth Staff

After a historic start to the 20172018 season, the Dartmouth men’s tennis team is on track to continue its success through the spring. The team ended its winter season with a 13-2 overall record. Currently, the team is ranked No. 19 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, having lost only to then-unranked Iowa and No. 46 Old Dominion University.

The men are led by head coach Chris Drake, who is in his eighth season at the helm of the program.

Going into this season, Drake held an overall Dartmouth coaching career record of 101-64 and an Ivy League record of 28-21. He was honored as Coach of the Year for the 2015-2016 season.

“I think one of the things we’ve done well this year is we’ve been very mentally tough and competitive throughout our lineup,” Drake said. “We haven’t really had any holes in our lineup where guys aren’t competing at the level we expect them to.”

The success of the team can also be attributed to the depth of its players.

“There have been matches where we’ve done well at the top of the lineup, there have been matches where we’ve done well in the middle and the bottom and same thing with our doubles,” Drake said. “I think if you look at the records, all the guys have played pretty well and we have some guys that haven’t played as many matches that are really good players as well.”

Sophomore standout Charlie Broom ’20 has continued forward with the momentum from his freshman season, where he climbed to the No. 1 singles position on the team after starting in the fourth slot. Broom ended the 2016-2017 season 23-6 in singles and 18-7 in doubles.

B r o o m w a s n a m e d I TA Northeast Region Rookie of the Year last season, the first Big Green player to be recognized with the award. His outstanding performance also earned him the title of Ivy League Rookie of the Year, which Dartmouth players have won in three of the past four years, and a spot on the All-Ivy First Team.

Broom said he noticed

differences between his freshman and sophomore seasons.

“I struggled with balancing the work and the tennis a little bit last year, and I think this year I’ve stayed a little bit more on top of that,” Broom said. “I think that’s just allowed me to perform better on the court.”

Nearly half of the 12-man team is made of first-years, with Peter Conklin ’21, Gilbert Jaeger ’21, Dan Martin ’21, Casey Ross ’21 and John Speicher ’21 bringing young talent to the court. Conklin was the New England sectional doubles champion and a member of the United States Tennis Association junior leadership team; Jaeger claimed the Swedish national doubles championship title twice ; Martin took home bronze at the U18 Canadian Championship; Ross was the No. 1 ranked player in Colorado and won the state’s championship in singles twice, winning four state titles for his high school along the way; and Speicher was ranked 34th in the nation.

Hailing from Webster, New York, Speicher made his Dartmouth debut this season, and has gone 18-5 so far. Speicher is optimistic about the season so far and the dynamics of the team.

“I think the team gets along really well, and we’re really close, so I think it just builds a lot of trust with each other and we can work together as a team,” he said.

At the Eastern College Athletic Conference Indoor Championship held at Yale University from Feb. 16 to Feb. 18 , the Big Green claimed the title for the first time after defeating Harvard University 4-1 in its final matchup. While then-No. 19 Broom and David Horneffer ’20 were unable to beat the Crimson in No. 1 doubles, the Big Green defeated Harvard in the second and third slots. In singles, No. 3 Horneffer, No. 4 Max Fliegner ’18 and No. 5 Ciro Riccardi ’18 were victorious. While Martin lost in No. 2 and Broom and Conklin did not finish, the team was still able to clinch the title.

“Last year, we felt more pressure, but this year we didn’t feel any pressure going into anything,” Broom said. “[We] didn’t have any expectations, and we just sort of took each match as it came and learned from each match. Even

COURTESY OF DAN MARTIN

Last year, the men’s tennis team finished with an 11-14 overall record, and this season, the team boasts a 13-2 record.

though we were winning, there were still things we needed to improve upon and we worked on that in the week during training.”

Against Iowa on Feb. 24, the team fell 4-3 in its first loss of the season. Then-No. 17 Broom and Horneffer lost 7-5 in the No. 1 doubles slot and Roko Glasnovic ’19 and Ross lost 6-3, while Fliegner and Conklin defeated Iowa in the No. 3 position. In singles, Iowa claimed victory in the No. 1, 4 and 6 positions, while Horneffer, Fliegner and Conklin were able to hold strong for the Big Green in the No. 2, 3 and 5 positions, respectively.

The team looked to rebound against Old Dominion on Feb. 25 but fell short at 4-1. Broom and Horneffer fell short in the No. 1 doubles at 7-5, but Glasnovic and Ross were able to secure a 6-3 win in the No. 2 slot. Fliegner and Conklin helped put Dartmouth ahead by one by defeating the Big Blue 7-5 in the No. 3 position.

While it was a close match, the team was not able to hold its lead through the singles matches.

Broom fell 6-2 and 6-1 in the No. 1 slot; Martin lost 7-5 and 7-5 in the No. 2 position; and Horneffer came short at 6-1 and 7-5 in No. 3. Fliegner and Conklin did not finish their matches in the No. 4 and No. 6 slots respectively and Riccardi fell 6-3 and 6-1 in the No. 5 position.

Drake took the loss as a learning opportunity for the team to continue its success for the remainder of the season.

“I think Old Dominion played great, probably the best tennis we’ve seen all year, and I think we’re definitely very motivated to play,” Drake said. “I think having a bit of a target on your back with the ranking we have been getting used to how well teams are gonna play when they play us, but I don’t think we were overly focused on our ranking or our kind of undefeated start to

the year.”

Despite the losses, Broom stayed optimistic about the growth of the team for the remainder of the season.

“While those losses were disappointing, I think it’s actually going to be good for us going forward [in the season],” Broom said. “We’re playing some really good teams over spring break and we could easily be in that situation again. We’re going to be ready for it, we’re going to be prepared.”

Looking ahead, the team will be taking on No. 15 Oklahoma State University in two weeks.

“Oklahoma State is a great team,” Drake said. “They are ranked No. 15, but they are probably a top 10 level in the country team. That will be a good test and Wichita State and the University of Memphis after that are very strong teams too, so it’ll be a good challenge that week.”

Overall, the men’s tennis team looks to refocus itself from recent losses and shift the momentum back in its favor after a strong 12-0 start.