The Dartmouth Sports Weekly 02/02/15

2.2.15

MEN’S HOCKEY BEATS DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPS

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL DROPS TWO

MEN’S HOCKEY COMPLETES SEASON SWEEP OF UNION

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 2

BY THE NUMBERS

43 Career-high 43 saves for goalie Robyn Chemago ’17

716 Skiing placed second at St. Michael’s Carnival with 716 points

0

Zero wins for basketball teams in four games this weekend

1

1st career goal for Carl Hessler ’18 was the game winner against Union College

Women’s basketball drops to 1-3 in Ivy play B y ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN The Dartmouth Staff

After defeating Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts to kick off Ivy League play on Jan. 10, the Dartmouth women’s basketball team suffered three consecutive home losses to Ivy League opponents, seeing its strongest start to a season in nine years come to a sour end. After suffering their first loss to Harvard in a rematch on Jan. 24, the Big Green will now look to regroup after losses to the University of Pennsylvania, 55-39, and Princeton University, 83-65.

While the margins of defeat were nearly identical, Dartmouth’s performance in the two games was far from so.

Whether it was the aftershock of a heartbreaking loss to Harvard or the result of a transition into a more rigorous Ivy League slate, the Big Green simply looked unrecognizable on Friday against Penn, the reigning Ivy League champions.

A woeful shooting performance — 26.8 percent from the field, the worst mark all season — impaired Dartmouth’s chances from start to finish in the demoralizing loss.

Fanni Szabo ’17 opened the scoring with a short jumper 20 seconds into the game, but the game continued to go downhill from there for the Big Green. Over the next two minutes, Penn went on a 6-0 run, taking a very methodical approach and showing early signs of its dominance near the basket that would prove pivotal. After the visitor’s sixth point, neither teams scored for the next four minutes, a period which saw Dartmouth commit five turnovers and miss five shots.

The Big Green managed to keep pace with Penn well into the first half, tying the game at eight with 11:33 remaining. After building an initial advantage, the Quakers curiously left the method by which they built their lead — eating up the shot clock and ferociously pounding the low block — and instead resorted to shooting three-pointers, missing five attempts and allowing Dartmouth to creep back into the game.

At the 11th minute, however, Penn would regain momentum, jump-

Katie McKay ’16 Editor-in-Chief

02.02.15

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 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 produced nine defensive rebounds in loss to the University of Pennsylvania Friday.

starting a 12-2 run over the next six minutes that would eventually feed into a 24-14 advantage at halftime.

Penn’s sophomore center Sydney Stipanovich, the team’s top scorer for the night, enforced her will near the rim effectively, notching six of her eight first-half points in the paint and recording three blocks.

As for Dartmouth, evidence of the prototypical “off night” had become very clear. The team shot a dreadful 21.4 percent for field goals at the half, making only six goals in an attempted 28 and failing to convert any of its seven three-point attempts, many of which came on open looks.

Moreover, the Big Green posted its lowest first-half point total all season with only 14, well below its 28.3 first half average.

“We had great looks [and] a lot of shots, they just didn’t go into the basket,” head coach Belle Koclanes said about her team’s shooting troubles.

“So that’s the next lesson you learn, what kind of team are we going to be when the ball’s not going into the basket, because that’s only one side of the floor. And there’s so much more in the game that we have to continue to improve on.”

The second half would further tilt the contest in the Quakers’ favor.

Lakin Roland ’16 — whose struggles from the Jan. 24 matchup against Harvard persisted in a 0-for-6 effort from the field in the first half against Penn — netted her first points of the game on two foul shots just over two minutes into the second half, trimming the team’s deficit to 27-18. Seconds after her first points of the game, a leg injury sidelined the junior for the next eight minutes, and as a result, Roland suffered another disappointing outing, going 2-for-11 on the night.

Penn maintained control of play over the course of the second half.

With 5:30 left in the game, Penn senior Kathleen Roche hit a layup to extend Penn’s lead to 51-28, its largest of the night. Penn didn’t hit a field goal for the rest of the game, but still won by a comfortable margin.

The Big Green made a push toward the end of the game, but the victory was long decided by then. Szabo led Dartmouth with 14 points on the night, but she — along with her teammates — posted an uncharacteristically poor shooting performance for most of the contest.

In addition to shooting much worse than its 38 percentage from the field on the season, the team failed to develop three-pointing shooting accuracy, making a paltry 16.7 percent

of its shots from beyond the arc, again well below its 31.4 percent average for three-pointers over the rest of the season.

Dartmouth’s coach pointed to an inability to complete offensive plays as a source for the team’s struggles rather than a lack of offensive production.

“I was actually really happy with our ball movement,” Coach Koclanes said. “We got really good looks. We got post touches, short corner touches, our shooters got looks when they wanted them. So it wasn’t a lack of creativity at all, it was just the ball not going into the basket. We were looking for a spark offensively and we just didn’t find it.”

A 44-28 total rebounding edge further demonstrated Penn’s post area control. The Quaker’s only average a +3.4 margin on the glass, while Dartmouth averages 36.8 total rebounds per game.

“From a rebounding standpoint, they outworked us,” Coach Koclanes said. “Rebounding has been a major emphasis for us all season long. We need to improve defensive and offensive rebounding, we don’t get many second chance opportunities.”

Less than 24 hours later, the Big Green faced the toughest team on its schedule in the Princeton Tigers,

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 3

THE

RUNDOWN Men’s Basketball SCHOOL

IVY

OVERALL

YALE HARVARD PRINCETON COLUMBIA CORNELL PENN DARTMOUTH BROWN

4-0 3-1 2-1 2-2 2-2 1-2 1-3 0-4

15-6 13-5 9-10 10-8 10-10 6-11 8-10 9-12

Women’s Basketball

WEIJIA TANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Fanni Szabo ’17 dropped 18 points against Princeton University and 14 against University of Pennsylvania this weekend.

ranked 19th in the country in the Associated Press Top 25 and one of the last two teams with an undefeated record alongside South Carolina University. The night brought yet another defeat, but the final count on the scoreboard belied Dartmouth’s play.

One can’t help but think what a difference one day can make.

In a striking contrast from the night before, Dartmouth came out of the gates with renewed energy on offense, defense and in transition. After a few shot attempts barely rattled out of the rim, the Big Green settled in nicely with excellent ball movement — always key in any and all offensive success — that helped the shots fall much more easily. Szabo in particular had a blazing start, scoring eight points in the first six minutes, helping her team stay within two points of Princeton. “[Saturday night] was better, much more enthusiasm, much more energy across the board,” Coach Koclanes said about her squad’s strong start. “And that’s something the starters are really embracing, that it’s their responsibility.”

Despite the strong start for the Big Green, Princeton began to inflict more damage on the other end of the court.

Through the Tigers average 7.16 converted three point shots per game, Princeton relied much more heavily on drives towards the basket for their offense against Dartmouth.

The visitors held a 52-6 points in the paint edge over Dartmouth on the night, much of which resulted from effective passing that led to penetrations into the post area followed by easy lay-ins. This offensive theme persisted all night, largely unimpeded by the Big Green’s defensive efforts.

The Tigers attained their largest lead of the half at the 4:58 mark, leading 37-23. Dartmouth would not relent, and outscored its opponent 12-7 in the remaining time, highlighted by Tia Dawson’s ’15 buzzer-beater at the end to cut the deficit to single digits.

After the previous evening’s debacle of a shooting display, Szabo noted that in past back-to-back games “if our shots were not falling in the first game, then they were falling in the second game.”

The Big Green shot 45.5 percent from the field in the first half, showing a resiliency and an ability to bounce back from the poor performance of the prior night. Szabo herself had a very efficient first period, composed of a 4-6 field goal clip and 10 total points.

As for the away team, Princeton would ride its high conversion on shots near the basket to a 69.2 percent first half mark from the field. Forward Annie Tarakchian paved the way both in the low block and beyond the arc, posting 12 points. A -3 turnover margin was the only blemish on a pinpoint shooting performance.

The second half started poorly for Dartmouth, as Princeton torched the Big Green with a 4-10 run in the first three minutes. Junior Alex Wheatley netted eight of Princeton’s points on the run in a dazzling array of layups and foul shots, earned by powerful moves toward the basket.

In the first five minutes of the new period, Daisy Jordan ’16 converted two jumpers, which complemented her strong performance in the post consisting of 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting for the night.

“I just felt confident, and I knew that once we went on runs and get a couple of shots up, it really fires us up,” Jordan said.

Coach Koclanes also spoke to her center’s determination and improvement near the rim on Saturday.

“Daisy and I had an awesome conversation after the Harvard game last week,” Koclanes said. “She came into my office and told me [she] wanted to be the go-to post player for this team, for everyone. She is so motivated, she continues to raise her level in practice every day, which is where it starts. I had a feeling she was going to

have a great night [Saturday].”

Princeton grabbed its largest lead of the game, 65-45, with 12:30 left to play in the second half. Princeton’s swift drives attacking the rim were essential in extending the team’s lead.

Roland, who was held to six points on the night, hit two free throws eight minutes into the second half for her first points of the night, marking the second consecutive night Dartmouth’s second leading scorer was held scoreless until the second half.

“It happens with players,” Coach Koclanes noted about Roland’s slump.

“They go through a lot with confidence and strength. Lakin contributes so much to this basketball team in so many ways, and we’re going to have a great week of practice with her, I know it.”

While Dartmouth began to play a lot sharper as the half progressed and generated plenty of defensive stops, Princeton’s offense started to collect more offensive rebounds that would be absolutely crushing for the home team on its comeback trail. The Tigers snatched 10 offensive boards in the second half, compensating for the slight cooldown of its hot shooting to 51.9 percent.

The game concluded as an 83-65 loss for the Big Green. Szabo led all scorers on the floor with 18 points on 6-17 shooting.

Guard Amber Mixon ’18 played well on both ends of the court, adding nine points and showing how offensively constructive she can be when given the opportunity.

Princeton followed all-around fantastic play en route to victory, as the team shot 60.4 percent from the field for the game and produced a dramatic overall rebound advantage of 41-19 over Dartmouth.

Princeton starters Tarakchian, Wheatley and Blake Dietrick combined for 47 of the team’s 85 total points.

Dartmouth women’s basketball returns to Leede Arena with games against Yale and Brown Universities on Friday, Feb. 6 and Saturday, Feb. 7, respectively.

SCHOOL

IVY

OVERALL

YALE PRINCETON CORNELL PENN DARTMOUTH HARVARD BROWN COLUMBIA

4-0 3-0 3-1 2-1 1-3 1-3 1-3 0-4

10-8 19-0 12-6 11-6 10-8 8-10 7-11 6-12

Men’s Hockey SCHOOL

ECAC

OVERALL

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

11-2-1 10-4-0 8-4-2 7-5-2 7-5-2 6-5-3 7-6-1 6-6-2 7-7-0 5-8-1 1-12-1 1-12-1

16-8-2 14-10-2 15-5-2 12-6-3 10-12-4 14-9-3 9-9-3 9-8-4 9-18-1 13-11-2 4-16-1 3-15-2

Women’s Hockey SCHOOL

ECAC

OVERALL

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

12-2-2 12-3-1 10-3-2 10-3-2 10-3-2 9-6-1 6-8-2 7-9-0 4-10-1 3-12-1 1-13-2 2-14-0

21-4-3 15-4-2 16-8-3 12-7-3 12-7-3 11-10-2 10-10-2 10-12-1 7-19-1 5-19-4 4-19-5 5-18-0

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 4

ONE

ON

ONE

WITH FABIAN STOCEK ’17

B y LILY GORDON The Dartmouth Staff

This week I sat down with Fabian Stocek ’17. The skier won his first Carnival race in the 10K at the St. Michael’s Carnival at Sleepy Hollow and Smuggler’s Notch this weekend, helping the Big Green finish in second place after the first day of competition.

How did you first get into skiing?

FS: I’m originally from the Czech Republic. My parents were big skiers there, as were most of the people. So I began when I was around five or six, and then I’ve just been skiing ever since. I did biathlons for a few years and then came to the U.S. five years ago — first to a public school, then to a private school and then ended up here at Dartmouth.

come up every month.

As a sophomore, what has it been like transitioning into a more mature role on the team?

FS: We have a lot of ’17s on the team, especially on the men’s side. There’s about seven of us that came in. We definitely feel that our leadership role has stepped up a bit since freshman year, especially in our relationship with our coach. I was fortunate to form a really good relationship with him over the past year and a half.

But, we also have started to take on more responsibilities to cultivate better team dynamics.

Can you tell me a little about the St. Michael’s Carnival?

FS: It’s at a really small place. The St. Michael’s [College] coach actually owns the whole property. She let us stay there, which was really nice because we were the only college that got to stay there. It’s just this Did you play other sports grow- classic, little New England place with nice tracks that ing up? we didn’t have to FS: In the summer We have a lot of go wide for skating. we ran and mountain traditions that It was my type of biked a lot. I also did course. There were a few biathlons, but come along with lengthy hills that’s a combinaDartmouth carnival, long, that weren’t that tion of running and so we are getting steep, so I could shooting. ready for that...Last focus more on my What has been year, we also had an form and technique. your favorite part unfortunate accident H ow a r e yo u about the sport?

FS: New England ski- and lost a teammate gearing up for ing has a good men- on one of the races. next weekend? tality about it. The We will definitely FS: We have a lot of traditions that come people are disciplined and hard working, but be paying tribute to along with Dartalso like to have fun. him and honoring mouth Carnival, so we are getting ready That has definitely his memor y. for that. Last year, a been my favorite part lot of people dyed about the skiing. their hair green, What made you choose Dart- for instance. Last year, we also had an unfortunate accident and lost a mouth?

FS: The ski team was a large part of teammate on one of the races. We my decision, but also the neurosci- will definitely be paying tribute to ence program. I was highly interested him and honoring his memory. I in that, and I am currently working think we are really going to get closer in a lab right now doing some really together and focus on the traditions high level research. But, I can also go that we all really enjoy. out into the woods because there are Aside from skiing, how do you some really great trails here. like to spend your time on Has there been anything that campus?

FS: I like to diverge myself from has most surprised you?

FS: My first year I lived with a host skiing sometimes, especially in the family, so they introduced me to a lot spring after the season is over. I of American traditions and habits. work at the sustainability office, and But, I was mainly just surprised I also fix bikes around campus. I lead that there were not many traditions Dartmouth College students on the themselves in the U.S.A. as opposed Counsel on Climate Change, and to living in Eastern Europe where then I also do neuroscience research there has been a more established on campus.. culture that has been there for a while and there are traditions that This article has been edited and condensed.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

Men’s hockey goes 2-0 on weekend B y GAYNE KALUSTIAN The Dartmouth Staff

The feeling, centerman Carl Hesler ’18 said, was indescribable.

“I’m still kind of shaking from it,” Hesler said.

In his 21st collegiate game, Hesler netted the go-ahead goal to cement Dartmouth’s comeback 3-2 victory over the defending national champions, Union College, on Saturday night.

The goal was the first of his collegiate career, only one in a long list of firsts for Dartmouth this weekend.

The Dartmouth men’s ice hockey team pulled off its first back-to-back wins in a weekend since its victories against American International College and then No. 1 Boston University on Nov. 29 and 30.

The Big Green defeated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 3-1 on Friday night — the first time it has beaten RPI by more than one goal since Nov. 2012, despite facing off with the Engineers seven times since then. The first goal of the game came on the first power play situation, ricocheted off the pipes by alternate captain Eric Neiley ’15 who has accrued seven points over the course of the last three games.

On Friday night, wing Troy Crema ’17, having recently returned after nursing a nagging high ankle sprain sustained last season, notched his first goal — and point — of the 2014-2015 season. The goal came for Crema off a slight deflection on a powerful shot from the blue line by Geoff Ferguson ’16 who was originally credited with the goal.

Later in the third period, solidifying the Big Green’s control over the contest, Kyle Nickerson ’17 also notched his first collegiate goal on a penalty kill, and Josh Hartley ’17 had his first assist of the season. Not a first, but still worthy of mentioning, Hartley, without a stick, cleared a dangerous puck out of the slot by throwing his body onto the ice and

swinging it away with his hand.

The third period opened with an RPI power play after defenseman Ryan Bullock ’16 was penalized for holding with one second left in the second.

The team was especially aware of the precarious one-goal lead they held, head coach Bob Gaudet said, knowing that they would come on to fresh ice a man down. Playing aggressive on the forecheck, Nickerson followed a loose puck into the crease and plucked it out from in between the goaltender’s legs to move Dartmouth ahead 3-1.

“Getting the shortie there at the start of the third was awesome because that was a key point of the game,” he said.

“I couldn’t see the puck from where I was, but obviously it was behind the goalie. The goalie didn’t know it either.

To follow the play up especially killing the penalty was really good.”

Hot off a win, Dartmouth returned to the ice on Saturday to find itself trailing Union after the second period for the second time this season. An early deflection off a save by goaltender Chuck Grant ’16 was brought around the back door and shoved in by Union center Max Novak 10 minutes into the game.

Dartmouth was able to tie the game later in the first, mid-shift change, as Brad Schierhorn ’16 came off the bench for Brandon McNally ’15 and nailed a shot in the net seconds after coming on the ice, still playing with the rest of McNally’s line. Less than 10 seconds into a penalty kill in the second period, however, Dartmouth lost the lead again.

Dartmouth entered the third period down by one and played the opening minutes of the stanza on Union’s terms.

A scuffle by Neiley in front of the Bulldog net five minutes into the period lent a spark to the Big Green who would take it and turn it into a wildfire.

After the scrap, Hesler and Corey Kalk ’18 led Dartmouth to victory. Kalk tied the game 7:46 into the third.

“I came down the wing, calling for

the puck from Carl — we practice it in practice all the time,” Kalk said. “It was a 2-on-1. He gave me a nice pass, [and I] caught it perfectly. The play slowed right down, the goalie opened up, and I just ripped it low. It doesn’t happen too often so it feels good.”

Hesler sealed the win with his first ever goal in the green and white with less than a minute-and-a-half left to play.

A hit after the whistle by McNally put Dartmouth on a penalty kill, just as Dartmouth had taken the lead late. twenty seconds later Ferguson went down on the ice and was slow to get up, suffering after a ruthless charge by Union, which relinquished the team’s one-man advantage.

With 39 seconds remaining, Union pulled its goalie to gain a 5-4 man advantage over Dartmouth. With four seconds left in the game, the crowd’s low cheering grew to a thunderous roar, not waiting for the clock to signal Dartmouth’s come from behind win, already knowing the end result as Neiley snuffed out Union’s last opportunity to snap off a shot.

After the game, the two freshmen on the fourth line who ferried Dartmouth to its third consecutive win credited their teammates for their success.

“I got to give it to every line,” Kalk said. “Both the previous lines that went out battled hard in the o-zone and tired the other team out. It’s a team effort.

Like coach always says, if one guys scores the whole team scores.”

The Big Green, having broken out of a rough stint of games in January, popped back up in the receiving votes category on USCHO.org’s Division I hockey rankings with one vote after beating Cornell University and tying Colgate University two weekends ago.

Next weekend, Dartmouth will be traveling to Providence, Rhode Island to play Brown University and to New Haven, Connecticut to take on Yale University. The Bulldogs beat the Big Green 4-1 early in the season.

ELIZA MCDONOUGH/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Men’s hockey topped both Renssalear Polytechnic Institute and defending national champions, Union College.