The Dartmouth Sports Weekly 01/26/15

1. 26. 15

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL FALLS IN FINAL MINUTE

WOMEN’S HOCKEY DROPS TWO ECAC MATCH UPS

MEN’S HOCKEY GOES 1-1 ON WEEKEND ALLISON CHOU, KELSEY KITTELSEN, ALISON GUH/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 2

BY THE NUMBERS

69 Women’sbasketball ledHarvardforallbut thefinal69seconds

22 Season high 22 free throws made by men’s basketball

12 12 years since men’s hockey’s last penalty goal until Saturday

27 27 Dartmouth shots on goal in women’s hockey’s shutout loss to Colgate

Women’s basketball falls to late Harvard run B y ALEXANDER agadjanian The Dartmouth Staff

After putting themselves on the scoreboard with Amber Mixon’s ’18 layup only seconds into the game, the Dartmouth women’s basketball team led the Harvard Crimson for all but 1:01 of the remaining 40 minutes of action on Saturday night. However, a furious late-game comeback by the visitors would change all of that.

Clawing back from a 14-point deficit with just over six minutes to go and igniting a 12-2 run in the final one and a half minutes, the Crimson (8-8, 1-1) would hand a stunning defeat to the Big Green (10-6, 1-1) by a final count of 75-69. After a dominating first-half effort, Dartmouth would see its offensive effectiveness wear off in the final 20 minutes.

Looking to extend a season-high fivegame win streak, the Big Green headed into Saturday’s marquee matchup facing off against the same squad it played two weeks ago. Having already handily beaten Harvard 76-61 in Cambridge, Massachusetts then, the team now sought to complete the season sweep against one of its most formidable Ivy League foes.

The contest could not have started better for Dartmouth, as it ripped off an 8-0 advantage in the first 42 seconds of the game that would force a Harvard timeout. For the remainder of the half, the Crimson would narrow the margin to no closer than four points. The electrifying opening stretch proved emblematic for the team’s first half performance, as a brazen display of energy would define play on both ends of the court.

Offensively, persistent and creative ball movement would develop excellent scoring opportunities and angles on the basket. The Big Green would capitalize on most of those opportunities, but left some on the table, with Fanni Szabo ’17 collecting 12 points and Mixon adding seven by halftime. The three-point line helped to extend the difference for Dartmouth as well, as the team converted four threes while Harvard failed to make any in the first half.

When not in possession of the ball, a tenacious defense — established from the onset with a full-court press — heav-

Katie McKay ’16 Editor-in-Chief

01.26.15

MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015

Luke McCann ’16 Executive Editor

Henry Arndt ’16 Katie Jarrett ’16 Sports Editors

Natalie Cantave ’16 Photography Editor

Justin Levine ’16 Publisher

Jessica Avitabile ‘16 Executive Editor

WEIJIA TANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Lakin Roland ’16 goes up for a contested shot during Saturday’s last minute loss to Harvard University.

ily disrupted the Crimson’s ability to settle into the game. Upon completion of the first 20 minutes of action, the Big Green produced a turnover margin of positive three. Furthermore, the hosts would not allow a single made field goal in the final 7:28 of the first half, as the team carried a seemingly insurmountable 39-26 edge into the break.

“I think Dartmouth’s pressure set us on our heels,” said Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith about the defense her team encountered. “We weren’t getting stops on the defensive end so we were on our heels on the offensive end.

Nothing felt good, we didn’t execute.”

Even three-fourths of the way into the second half, the course of the game seemed as auspicious as ever for the home team. The two squads continued to trade blows, but Dartmouth still maintained a 62-48 up until the 5:55 mark, matching its largest lead in the entire game. However, in a perplexing four-second sequence that would follow, Harvard would slice that gap in half, gaining a momentum boost in the process.

Crimson junior Shilpa Tummala attacked the paint and drew contact on a made basket. After missing the free throw attempt, Tummala would receive the ball again and drain a three pointer at the top of the key. However, the officials would call a foul on Dartmouth center Olivia Smith, situated away from the play in the paint, and give Harvard an additional two good free throws on top of counting the three-pointer.

After three consecutive easy layups missed by Harvard 20 seconds later, Mixon would assist the Dartmouth’s season-leading scorer in Szabo on the other end of the court to land a layup.

The exhilarating play snapped a 5-0 Crimson run, and gave momentary

relief to the squad and Leede Arena supporters.

Nevertheless, Harvard would remain firmly in contention and cut its deficit to four points with less than four minutes to play. A Big Green three at the 3:22 mark would make it 67-60, after which the visitors would grab complete control, as the three was the team’s final score until a jumper with 18 seconds left in the game.

As the Crimson further whittled down Dartmouth’s advantage with an imposing paint attack, it finally the cracked the upper side of the scoreboard — for the first time all night — with 1:01 remaining. After Tummala converted the first but rattled out the second of two free throws, teammate Erin McDonnell would corral the rebound and give the guard another opportunity. Tummala would then knock down a three pointer on the left wing to permanently hand her team the lead. “[Tummala], who has been overcoming some major surgeries, has started to come on strong for us,” said Delaney-Smith of her player. “We haven’t been able to play her for two years, so we’re just waiting for [Tummala] to be [herself]. And, there was a little bit of it tonight.”

Even after this heartbreaking moment and an additional two free throws good for a 70-67 Crimson edge, the Big Green still had a chance of coming back.

But with 28 seconds left and coming out of a timeout, forward Lakin Roland rushed a shot attempt on a poor look on basket, eventually proving to be the team’s last true opportunity.

This juncture in the game was significant for two reasons. The forced three-point attempt capped a substandard and unbecoming performance for Roland, especially for someone two

weeks removed from her best collegiate game (25 points, 9 rebounds) against the same team she saw tonight. Coach Belle Koclanes benched her early on in the first half, in which Roland played a mere five minutes, and the junior could not develop consistency thereafter.

Secondly, it epitomized the abandonment on the part of the entire Dartmouth team of what keyed first-half success — efficient and continuous ball movement. Offensive creativity evaporated for the most part in the second half, as the team would excessively rely on Szabo for generating offense. While she ended the game with a sublime 25-7-5 stat line, the sophomore was 1-4 on field goals with one turnover in the crucial final five minutes, indicating a need for greater all-around team effort.

Ultimately, balanced scoring among Harvard’s starters would pave the way to the unlikely resurgence and victory. 45 of the team’s 49 points would emerge from this core unit, headed by forward AnnMarie Healy, whose 17 points scattered nearly evenly across both halves allowed Harvard to stay within striking range.

A progression towards taking more high-percentage shots also keyed the way for the Crimson. Already a strong suit for the team, Harvard focused more on penetrating the area near the basket, notching 12 more points in the paint than it did in the first half. Such a trend amounted to an exceptional 55.2 field goal percentage in the second half.

The Big Green will be back in action 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday hosting the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University, respectively.

Nick Guerriero, assistant director of varsity athletics communications, declined to make athletes available for comment by presstime.

MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

Men’s hockey splits conference pair

B y gayne kalustian The Dartmouth Staff

Center ice, pressure on, alternate captain Eric Neiley ’15 goes right, left, right and comes back left to bury the puck in the back of the net — the Big Green’s first goal off a penalty shot in 12 years. Just over a minute into the first period, Neiley’s shot gave Dartmouth its first goal, setting the tone for the 5-2 win over Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. “[The penalty shot] was huge,” wing Grant Opperman ’17 said. “A lot of emphasis should go on that, I think, because when you start off like that with a big goal it’s easy to keep momentum going, and that’s what we did.”

When asked about the shot — which played an inarguable role in establishing a rhythm for the game — Neiley didn’t start by talking about the pressure an early goal places on the opposition, the flagrant trip he suffered on the breakaway or the joy of putting it through the five hole. Instead, he focused on the help he had to make such a strong play.

“Brandon McNally [’15] gave me a beautiful pass right up the middle,” Neiley said, referring to the play leading up to the penalty.

While players and fans remember the glory of the goal, the chemistry of Opperman, Neiley and McNally was the real story of the game. The line scored four of Dartmouth’s five goals on the night, two coming from Neiley.

Comprised of hard-hitters in Neiley and McNally and sped up on the wing

by Opperman, the line realized its full potential by playing to each others’ strengths, Neiley said, which the trio has come to know after large parts of two seasons together.

The line, which played together late last season, had only played together in

three other games this season leading up to this weekend — against Union College, Rensselaer Polytechnic University and American International College. Of the eight goals scored in those three games, the line was responsible for only one — Neiley’s third period goal against AIC. Pointing to the Brad Schierhorn ’16, captain Tyler Sikura ’15 and alternate captain Eric Robinson ’14 line as the source of most of the team’s points, Neiley hopes to complement that first line in order to make the team’s offense a more dangerous threat for its opponents, he said.

“Opperman is a perimeter guy,” Neiley said. “I mean he can get in there, too. He can battle in the corners, but more of his game is speed up the wing. He’s got a good shot he can finish. Me and McNally will get in the corners and battle a little more.

We really like to get involved in the little scrums that are going on, so we all can make plays. McNally’s vision is unbelievable. So when you’re out there and he has the puck, you know that if you find some open ice, [McNally] is going to find you.”

The three will have to prove that Saturday night’s showing against Cornell will be closer to the rule than the exception moving forward, but the threatening second line couldn’t have resurfaced at a better time for Dartmouth, looking down the stretch toward the playoffs, Robinson said.

“I think there’s just a sense of confidence,” he said. “I think we have struggled to produce offensively this year, and I don’t think anyone has been able to put their finger on it as to why we’ve been struggling. Knowing that there are a number of guys that can score four points, like Neiley, gives us a lot of confidence going into any game.”

Neiley’s second goal came early in the second period and caused the referees to take a delayed look at the goal line, ruling the shot a goal 40 seconds after it occurred on a power play.

Defenseman Ryan Bullock ’16 took a shot that sailed wide and rebounded to Neiley off the boards with enough space for Neiley to be able to pop his shot off. The review found the puck crossed the crease before the goalie could pull it out.

“We thought the goalie just made a great save, and at the bench we couldn’t believe we didn’t score,” Neiley said.

The slanted victory over Cornell came one night after the team tied No. 15 Colgate University 2-2. Colgate is the third team Dartmouth has played ranked 15 at the time. Dartmouth has been unable to secure victories in any of the previous match-ups. Falling behind 2-1 early in the third period, Dartmouth fought back for a tie with a goal from Schierhorn 10 minutes into the third, which, Robinson said, showed an important come-frombehind ability in Dartmouth.

The three-point weekend came at a critical time for the Big Green, which hadn’t won a game since its Jan. 2 shootout victory over then-No. 11 University of Denver. While it feels good to have cut through one of its less impressive stretches of hockey this season, the team, Opperman said, is still searching to be better.

“You want to win, especially when you have chances to win, and it felt like we should’ve won that game,” he said. “A tie is never really satisfying.

The Cornell game was satisfying, though — to beat those guys in their rink and get that three-point weekend on a road trip was good. Four points is ideal, though, and four points is realistic, so there is a little bit of an unsatisfying feeling.”

SW 3

THE

RUNDOWN Men’s Basketball SCHOOL

IVY

OVERALL

YALE PRINCETON HARVARD COLUMBIA DARTMOUTH CORNELL PENN BROWN

2-0 1-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-2

13-6 8-9 11-5 9-7 8-8 9-9 5-10 5-10

Women’s Basketball SCHOOL

IVY

OVERALL

CORNELL YALE PRINCETON DARTMOUTH HARVARD PENN BROWN COLUMBIA

2-0 2-0 1-0 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-2 0-2

11-5 8-8 17-0 10-6 8-8 9-6 6-10 6-10

Men’s Hockey SCHOOL

ECAC

OVERALL

QUINNIPIAC HARVARD ST. LAWRENCE CLARKSON COLGATE RPI YALE CORNELL DARTMOUTH UNION BROWN PRINCETON

10-2-0 8-3-2 9-4-0 7-4-2 6-4-2 7-6-0 6-5-1 6-6-0 4-6-2 4-7-1 1-11-0 1-11-0

15-8-1 12-4-2 13-10-2 10-11-4 14-8-2 9-17-1 11-6-2 8-9-2 7-8-4 12-10-2 4-15-0 2-14-1

Women’s Hockey

ELIZA MCDONOUGH/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Men’s hockey came back from a 2-2 tie at Colgate University to defeat Cornell University 5-2 this weekend.

SCHOOL

ECAC

OVERALL

QUINNIPIAC HARVARD CLARKSON ST. LAWRENCE CORNELL PRINCETON DARTMOUTH YALE RPI COLGATE BROWN UNION

11-1-2 11-2-1 9-2-2 8-3-2 8-3-2 8-6-0 6-7-1 6-8-0 3-10-1 3-10-0 2-12-0 1-12-1

20-3-3 14-3-2 15-7-3 14-8-3 10-7-3 10-9-1 10-9-1 9-11-1 5-17-4 6-19-0 5-16-0 4-18-4

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 4

ONE

ON

ONE

WITH JULIENNE KEONG ’16

B y LILY GORDON The Dartmouth Staff

This week I sat down with women’s tennis player Julienne Keong ’16.

Keong contributed a doubles win to Dartmouth’s victory over Brown University this weekend.

When did you first start playing tennis?

JK: I first started playing tennis when I was about six or seven, but I only started playing competitively at the age of 10. Even then it was only a few tournaments a year.

What is your favorite part about the game?

JK: C ​ ompeting is really fun, especially playing on a team. There is nothing like the atmosphere in the tennis center when it is 3-3 and it comes down to the last singles match to be the decider.

What has been your favorite part about playing for Dartmouth?

JK: Playing on a team with nine other wonderful women has been an honor and so much fun. Especially coming from juniors where you’re playing for yourself and by yourself, it is a great experience to represent Dartmouth and to compete alongside my teammates where you are playing for something that is bigger than yourself.

How has your winter season been so far?

JK: We’ve had a great start to our winter season. Just coming off today’s match against Mississippi State [University], we’ve moved to 3-0.

Compared to the past two years, we’ve had a great start to our winter season.

We’ve played some tough teams but managed to come out on top which I think shows that we have gotten a lot better as a team and continue to improve physically and mentally.

How does this vary from fall/ spring tennis?

JK: In the fall, we mostly play individual tournaments, whereas in the winter we play dual matches, which is school vs. school, and it is a build up to our Ivy League season in the spring. In the winter, we try to play teams that are outside of our conference so that we can be exposed to other types of players and teams and gain more experience from it moving into Ivy season.

Can you tell me a little bit about your match this weekend?

JK: We played Brown yesterday afternoon, and Mississippi State this morning. I think against Brown we

got off to a good start by winning the doubles point. It was a little tough to feed off of Brown’s energy because they were a little quieter than most teams, but I think we managed to create our own energy and feed off of one another and the fans. But Mississippi State was a much more vocal team with a stronger presence on the court today.

Even though they secured the doubles point, we showed our mental toughness and bounced back by winning four out of six of the singles matches. Even though Mississippi State was a little intimidating with their presence, I think everyone on the team did a great job of staying very focused and holding their ground.

What did your coach have to say after the match?

JK: Our coaches said it was a great team win in that while not everyone played at their best today and won their matches, it is the cumulative effort that matters in the end where we managed to win four out of six singles matches to clinch the match as a whole team. People will remember that Dartmouth won the match, and not which individuals won or lost.

What, specifically, are you working on in the coming weeks?

JK: For me, just working on closing out important points and staying relaxed throughout the match while maintaining focus so as to eliminate lapses in concentration where I lose a string of points in a row.

MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015

Women’s hockey goes 0-2 on weekend

B y haley gordon The Dartmouth Staff

Women’s ice hockey dropped two this weekend in a tough homestretch against conference rivals Cornell and Colgate Universities. The Big Green’s record moved to 10-9-1 overall, and 6-7-1 in conference.

Friday night Dartmouth came out strong in the first period, intent on capitalizing on No. 10 Cornell’s (10-7-3, 8-3-2) short bench. Dartmouth had several scoring chances, including a shot off the pipe by Zoe Brennan ’16, but was unable to get on the board. Despite 15 shots on goal by the Big Green in this period alone, Dartmouth remained scoreless when the first period came to an end.

In the second period, Dartmouth let up in intensity, and Cornell began to control possession. The game remained scoreless until Cornell’s Taylor Woods intercepted a Dartmouth pass and sent the puck to Jess Brown outside the net. Brown was able to put the puck away with a minute and a half remaining in the period.

“We stepped back and let them take control of the game,” Ailish Forfar ’16 said. “We needed to play a full 60 minutes and that second period killed us.”

In the third, the Big Green reenergized but unfortunately could not break Cornell’s lead. Cornell managed to increase its lead to two by scoring in the seventh minute of the third.

Laura Stacey ’16 got Dartmouth on the board in the 13th minute of the period with a hard shot from the blue line, after passes from Kennedy

Ottenbreit ’17 and Eleni Tebano ‘17.

This was Stacey’s seventh goal of the season.

Dartmouth’s offense produced 29 shots total, more than Cornell’s 25, but unfortunately could not find the back of the net again. The game ended with a Dartmouth loss, 2-1.

“They’re a really skilled team, and they work well together,” Forfar said. “They’re definitely a good team — they’re really hard to compete against. We tried to shut them down positionally, which worked in the first and third periods.”

In Saturday afternoon’s match, the Big Green faced Colgate (6-19, 3-10). Both teams got off to a slow start, with neither getting on the board until the second period.

In the second period, Dartmouth again produced several convincing scoring chances, including a shot by Ottenbreit that hit the post, but could not get the shots past Colgate’s goalie.

“In the second period we really picked it up, and we started getting back to the game plan. We started winning races to the puck.” Robyn Chemago ’17 said. “When we win the races to the puck it works.”

Colgate had its own chances, including a scramble in front of the Dartmouth net with players from both teams trying to connect. The Dartmouth defense was able to clear that attempt, but in the sixth minute of the second Colgate scored.

Period three opened with both teams at high energy. Colgate’s Kayla Haus was able to take advantage of a quick transition to score in the first minute.

The third period continued with

strong offensive pressure from both teams. Dartmouth’s offensive line never stopped pushing, with forwards Lindsey Allen ’16 and Emma Korbs ’17 particularly active in producing challenges to the net.

“We did start a little shaky,” Korbs said. “As the game went on we got stronger and stronger.”

The match was a physical one, and the referees were largely content to let the players duke it out without much interference. Even so, eight minor penalties combined were called in the game.

“They were definitely a more physical team than we had encountered in the past,” Korbs said. “They were a really gritty team. They would do anything to get the puck.”

Despite significant pressure on the Colgate defense, Dartmouth did not score in the third period. The game ended in a 2-0 loss for the Big Green.

As the Big Green readies for a big weekend away, the team will focus on taking ownership of individual actions on the ice.

“I think we just need to work on taking accountability for our actions out there,” Forfar said. “We can’t allow ourselves to have one period off or a couple shifts off because the other team is going to capitalize on it.”

Dartmouth takes the ice next weekend in another double matchup, playing Princeton Univeristy at Princeton, New Jersey on Friday and Quinnipiac University at Hamden, Connetticut on Saturday. The Big Green will next play in Hanover on Friday, Feb. 6 against Brown University.

Is there any advice you would give your freshmen that you wish you had known in hindsight?

JK: To have fun and enjoy being on the team because time flies very quickly, and to try to get involved with things other than tennis when possible.

Off the court, how do you like to spend your time at Dartmouth?

JK: Because being on the team is a big time commitment, I’m normally trying to catch up on school work when I’m not on the court. Aside from that, a handful of us on the team participate in Big Green Readers where a group of student-athletes go to Mt. Lebanon Elementary School every Tuesday morning to help the kids improve on their reading skills.

I also really like getting coffee with friends and just catching up with them especially when everyone is really busy, so it’s always nice to sit down and have a chat.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

ELIZA MCDONOUGH/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Women’s hockey dropped two ECAC conference games to Colgate and Cornell Universities this weekend.