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Men’s basketball hits new year on high note after good December p. 2 Pucks in Deep: John Tavares is a Leaf p. 8 The Redshirt Senior: Ivy League Basketball Preview p. 9 Ski teams poised to build on strong 2018 efforts p. 12
Ten sports see action over winter break p. 6-7 EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019
Men’s basketball hits new year on high note after good December
By CAITLYN McGovern The Dartmouth Staff
After playing seven games in three states and two countries in one month, the men’s basketball team is currently 9-7 with a 0.562 win percentage. In November, the team traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to compete in the second Belfast Classic. Dartmouth was one of eight schools competing and faced off against both Marist College and the State University of New York at Albany. “I think it really helped grow our sense of brotherhood and made us become better teammates, get to know each other better, and because we spent pretty much the whole day together so we got to know each other even better than we already did,” said Ian Sistare ’20. “It was a whole bunch of fun.” The team took on Marist on Nov. 29 in their first international game, falling 76-58. While Chris Knight ’21 scored 16 points with a field goal percentage of .538 to try and keep the Big Green in the game, the team was knocked out of the tournament. The team then played Albany on Nov. 30 and had a strong showing, outscoring Albany 49 to 32 in the first half of the game. Brendan Barry ’20 scored seven 3-pointers and led the team with 25 points. Knight and James Foye ’20 followed closely with
20 points each. The team ended up beating Albany 91-77 before heading back to the States to kick off December. December opened with a 64-59 loss against Quinnipiac University, a team Dartmouth has not defeated since 2006. While the team was not able to lose its losing streak to the Bobcats, Knight achieved a career high 23 points. The Big Green was able to rebound against the University of Maine just three days later with a 78-52 win, and took this momentum with them to take down Sacred Heart University, Boston University and Albany in the following week. The team rounded out the month with a 76-68 win against the University of New Hampshire on Dec. 30. Dartmouth held a two point lead at the end of the first half of play at 35-33. While UNH took a 49-41 lead during the second half, the Big Green was able to come back to win. Sistare scored a career-high 21 points in the victory. “UNH tried to pressure us and they kind of opened up a few driving ranges, and I was lucky enough to draw some fouls, but overall it was a hard fought game,” Sistare said. “UNH played really hard and I think it was just great for us to be able to come out with a win, especially around the holidays. We had a great crowd at home that
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The Big Green ended December with a 5-2 record, winning all but one home game.
night.” Sistare also reflected back on the team’s performance during the month overall. “It’s helped us become more aware of our individual roles,” he said. “In order to help the team, everyone has an important role on the team and some are a little bit different than others, but all are of equal value. I think this past month has kind of helped shape what the roles are going to be for this year, which hopefully we can just continue to work on and
improve.” The team ended December with a 5-2 record, winning all but one home game they played. This season, the team is 6-1 at home and 2-5 away for an overall record of 9-7. “Playing at home is great,” Foye said. “It’s where you’re comfortable, and we really get energized playing in front of our home crowd. They’re loyal and they’re really supportive of us, which just makes it easier and easier to play. The road games are tough.
COURTESY SEAMORE ZHU
I think that playing at home makes you appreciate that and then at the same time, with students coming back this month and hopefully getting a good amount of them to our games will only be an even bigger boost going into Ivy League play.” Heading into Ivy League play, Dartmouth will take on Harvard in back-to-back match ups on January 12 at home and January 26 in Cambridge before continuing on against their other Ivy League opponents.
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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
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Seniors Quinones and Lippold lead women’s basketball team and averaging 9.1 points per game, Lippold had never been a consistent The Dartmouth starter or key contributor before last After breakout 2017-18 seasons, year. However, after former starting forward Isalys Quinones ’19 and point point guard Amber Mixon ’18 opted guard Cy Lippold ’19 have returned not to play her senior season and an to the court in a similarly dominant early injury struck point guard Annie fashion. This year’s women’s McKenna ’20, Lippold was called basketball team captains, they are upon to assume the starting point two of the team’s leading scorers, guard role. averaging 13.5 “I was really the and 8.9 points only one left, p e r g a m e , “I know if I have a and I was kind respectively. of thrown in the question I can always Last season, fire and tried Lippold was go to [Quinones], but to make things the B i g I also think she does work,” Lippold Green’s second said. “I think that a really great job of leading scorer, just having that averaging just leading by example.” opportunity is 1.7 fewer points what gave me my per game jump start there. t h a n K a t e -ANNA LUCE ’21 Coach was able Letkewicz ’18, to see what I was who received able to do without Second Team really any other All-Ivy honors backups.” at the end of the season. Quinones Last year’s success has spilled was just behind Lippold on the list into this season’s campaign as of scoring leaders. well; after hitting seven shots from While Quinones was a key behind the arc against University contributor in her sophomore season, of Massachusetts at Lowell on Dec. nearly leading the team in blocks 12 and walking away with a career-
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high 25 points, Lippold was named DartmouthSports.com’s Athlete of the Week. Her seven 3-pointers fell just one short of tying the Dartmouth single-game record. This season, Lippold is one of four starters who stand under 6 feet tall, rounding out a smaller, quicker offense than what the Big Green has seen in the past. Accordingly, head coach Belle Koclanes has changed to a faster, transition-style play. Lippold, the team’s smallest player, said that she thrives off of this style of play. And, despite standing 6 feet 3 inches tall, Quinones doesn’t mind it either. “I’ve always been pretty fast,” Quinones said. “There are some bigger people who are back-to-thebasket post players, but we don’t have many of those on our team.” Quinones said she knows that, depending on the lineup, she needs to assume different roles in order to best lead her team to victory. “If we’re playing a small lineup where I’m the biggest player and there are four other guards around me, then I need to do the majority of the rebounding, whereas if we have a bunch of defensive players on the floor at one time, then I need to
do more of the scoring,” Quinones “Some teammates, I need to kind of said. “So it’s kind of finding my spot encourage them a little bit more, less within the lineups that we have.” of what they need to do but a ‘you got Given Quinones’ versatile role it next time’ kind of thing. That’s the and high level of play, other players hardest part for me in being a leader, look to her as a leader on the team. is finding what works for people and “[Quinones doesn’t work has] been a great f o r p e o p l e, “I definitely want to mentor and leader and how to get to me,” forward make it to the [Ivy people excited Anna Luce ’21 League] tournament, and motivated said. “If I’m to play and struggling with for starters, and to bring something, she then hopefully from everything will definitely they have.” there, the NCAA help me out. I After know if I have tournament.” falling just one a question I can win shy of an always go to her, appearance but I also think she -ISALYS QUINONES ’19 in last year’s does a really great Ivy League job of leading by tour nament, example.” Lippold and Lippold, as a point guard, is Quinones hope that their leadership looked to as the more vocal leader will be enough to be contenders for of the pair. However, she said that the conference championship this she doesn’t try to lead each player in year. the same way, and knows that each “I definitely want to make it to player responds to a different style the [Ivy League] tournament, for of coaching and leadership. starters, and then hopefully from “Some teammates, I can yell there, the NCAA tournament,” at them, and that’s the way to Quinones said. “That’s our main motivate them,” Lippold said. focus right now.”
Halfway through the season, men’s hockey is uneven but dangerous
“I would say the highlight of the first half was the very first The Dartmouth game of the year, beating Harvard The Dartmouth men’s hockey in overtime in a wild game,” said team has proven multiple times defenseman Brendan Demler ’21. throughout the first half of this “Last season we started off on the season that it can compete with any road against them and lost 5-0, team in the country. However, after so being able to start off on the some recent disappointments, it is right foot led to a string of good looking to get back on track with performances in league games for more consistent play going into the us.” second half of the season. Dartmouth went 4-3 in its With legendary coach Bob first seven games, including 2-1 Gaudet ’81 at against ranked the helm, the Big “Once the break opponents. Green has been addition, came, we hit a bit of a In dangerous as all four of its usual. Dartmouth struggle. We had a few w i n s c a m e b e a t t h e t w o letdowns in games I against ECAC best teams it opponents, p l a y e d , N o . think we all would like with three of 15 Quinnipiac to have back.” them coming University and a g a i n s t No. 16 Cornell traditional Ivy U n i v e r s i t y , -WILL GRABER ’20 League rivals. and it boasts The Big Green a n i m p re s s i ve dominated 4-2-1 record Quinnipiac in the Easter n 5-1, making College Athletic a significant Conference. However, the Big statement to the ECAC. Green is still a mediocre 5-7-2 for “It was the exact start we the season due to a few uninspiring wanted,” said forward Will Graber performances against beatable ’20. teams. T h e t e a m ’s 3 - 2 v i c t o r y The Big Green started the season over Cornell was critical for on a great note, and its 7-6 victory many reasons. It was a major over Harvard University set a strong accomplishment to knock off a precedent for the games to come. ranked opponent and the defending
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ECAC regular season champions, but it was especially significant for Gaudet. The victory made him Dartmouth’s all-time wins leader with 309, which was a critical milestone for not only Gaudet but for the players. “The amount of passion he brings to our locker room is unparalleled,” said goalie Adrian Clark ’20. “His success has made him a living legend for the Dartmouth hockey program, and it’s truly an honor to be able to have him as a mentor during my time here.” But since the victory over Cornell, the team has struggled to play as effectively. The Big Green has only won one of its last seven games, losing four and tying two. Dartmouth also dropped back-toback contests to unranked New Hampshire, which was a beatable opponent. “Once the break came, we hit a bit of a struggle,” Graber said. “We had a few letdowns in games I think we all would like to have back.” While the Big Green has struggled as a team lately, many individuals have played well throughout the season. Graber leads the team in points with 13, while forward Drew O’Connor ’22 has already scored seven goals in his rookie campaign and Quin Foreman ’21 has done the same in his second season. This trio of
forewards will anchor the offensive top four team in the ECAC to earn attack for the remainder of this a bye and home-ice advantage in season and for next season as well. the second round,” Demler said. Additionally, Clark has had a “That means we are going to have solid start in net for the Big Green. to go on the road and play some real Clark has put up 321 saves, and good hockey, which we are more he has a solid than capable of . 8 9 9 s a v e “We all believe we doing.” p e r c e n t a g e should be a top four The Big Green this season. put themselves “ A d r i a n team in the ECAC to in position to h a s b e e n earn a bye and homecontend in the outstanding ECAC with its i n n e t t h i s ice advantage in the strong start, but season,” said second round. That it will need to forward Jeff o n t i nu e w i t h means we are going to cconsistent Losurdo ’22. play in “He’s bailed us have to go on the road the conference in out a couple of and play some real order to position times already itself well for good hockey, which we the conference this year.” The talent are more than capable playoffs. may be there, “It really comes of doing.” but the focus down to showing now turns to up every game, b e i n g m o re -BRENDAN DEMLER ’21 and, whether consistent as we win or lose, Ivy League putting up play ramps up. perfor mances Dartmouth every single night has to travel to take on top-tier instead of once a week,” Graber teams like Princeton University, said. “I don’t think we’ve strung Cornell and Harvard, although together back-to-back wins all year, they’ll also get some marquee home and that’s something that needs to matchups including back-to-back change.” games against Yale University and Look for the Big Green to bring Brown University on Feb. 22 and more energy and consistency to 23. what should be an exciting second “We all believe we should be a half of the season.
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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019
Ten teams see actio
Hockey and basketball teams are poised to enter conference play, w
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The Dar
Swimming: Leko and LaMastra headline early meets
Women’s hockey: Big Green has tough December
EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
The swimming and diving teams escaped frigid Hanover to train in Key Largo, Florida.
Before a training trip to the Florida Keys, the Big Green swimming and diving teams traveled to Brown University and Bates College for a pair of meets after Thanksgiving. First-year Mia Leko ’22 highlighted the three-day Bruno Invitational, which began Nov. 30, for the women. She opened the meet on the first day by finishing second in the 500yard freestyle and finished on the third day with an NCAA B-cut time of 1:58.99 in the 200-yard butterfly. With that time, the second-fastest in the Ivy League this season according to SwimSwam, Leko broke a nineyear-old program record. Connor LaMastra ’21 was the top Big Green swimmer on the men’s side, winning the 500-yard freestyle and the 200yard butterfly and breaking the program record in the 100-yard butterfly with an NCAA B-cut time of 47.33. The men finished fifth of seven teams, behind Brown and Princeton
University, and the men finished last of six teams. Both programs scored easy wins against Bates the following week. The Big Green men won 10 of 12 events while the women scored wins in 11 of 12. After traveling to Florida, the teams saw their first action of the new year in a tri-meet against the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University. Though the men’s team fell to both the Bulldogs and the Quakers, Justin Sodokoff ’21 came in first place on the 1-meter board (315.20) and third on the 3-meter board (287.60). LaMastra was second in the 200-yd freestyle, 200-yd butterfly and 500-yd freestyle. The women lost to Yale but came within 30 points of beating the Quakers. Leko finished second in the 200-yd butterfly, and Mackenzie Stumpf ’21 came away with second in the 100yard breaststroke and fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Women’s squash: No. 9 women’s squash drops first two away matches but wins a pair at home Standing at 2-2, the Big Green opened the season with a close 5-4 loss to Drexel University in Philadelphia. After bouncing back with a 7-2 win at home over George Washington University, the team suffered a tough 9-0 loss at No. 1 Harvard University. In Cambridge, only Emma Roberts
’19 was able to extend her match to four games; after taking the first game 11-9, Roberts dropped the next three. Roberts, Julia Potter ’20, Elizabeth Gildea ’22 and Ellie Gozigian ’21 all secured wins against Drexel, GW and Williams. The team takes on Columbia next on Jan. 12.
Bailee Brekke ’20 takes the puck down the boards in the second period of a 5-2 loss to No. 6 Princeton.
The women’s hockey team is off to a tough 3-12-1 start to the season, enduring a five-game losing streak going back to its last win against Union College on Nov. 30. The team has struggled on the road, winning only one game at Quinnipiac University, but has not fared much better at home with a 2-5-1 record. Over the weekend, the Big Green dropped two home games against Quinnipiac and No. 6 Princeton University, although goalie Christine Honor
’19 made 51 saves against a tough Princeton offense. The team has seen solid offensive play this season from defender Tess Bracken ’19 and forward Sara McClanahan ’22, who are tied for the team lead at eight points each, with six of McClanahan’s points coming in conference play. The Big Green plays next against Harvard on Jan. 11, followed by two more games at home against Cornell University and Colgate University.
Men’s squash: Strong home play propels No. 6 men’s squash to solid start The men’s squash team is off to a 4-1 start to its season, winning its first three home matches over the United States Naval Academy, George Washington University and Williams College while beating Drexel University on the road for the season opener but falling to No. 2 Harvard University in Cambridge on Dec. 5. Dartmouth’s
four wins were lopsided at 7-2, 8-1, 7-2 and 8-1 but the team was walloped at Harvard 8-1. The lone match win at Harvard came from Jack Bell ’22, who secured a come-from-behind 3-2 victory and now leads the team with wins in all five matches. The Big Green will play next against Columbia on Jan. 12.
Track and field: Men and women compete in early-season meets The men’s and women’s track and field teams opened the indoor season on December 1 at the non-scoring Boston University Season Opener and returned home a week later for a meet with the University of New Hampshire, University of Vermont and University of Maine. The Dartmouth women edged UNH by 13, but the UNH men got the better of the home team by two points.
Donovan Spearman ’21 took second in the 60-meter dash at Boston University, then won the 60-m and the 200-meters the following weekend. The men’s team won six more events at the home meet. The Dartmouth women went 1-34 in the high jump at BU, with Abigail Burke ’22 getting the win. Back in Leverone Field House, the team picked up nine event wins.
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on over winter break
while squash, track and field and swimming are just getting started
redman and Evan Morgan
rtmouth
Men’s hockey: Men’s hockey off to decent ECAC start but struggles on the road
SUNNY TANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Dartmouth teams spent time in California, the Florida Keys, Canada and Ireland in the month of December.
Women’s basketball: Fruitful homestand follows difficult road trip The women’s basketball team finished just under .500 over winterim, going 5-6. The Big Green started the break just after Thanksgiving in Las Vegas, where they left with a pair of losses to Middle Tennessee University and the University of California Santa Barbara. The team then traveled further west, taking close losses at California State University Fullerton and the University of San Diego. But the trip home brought better fortune. The women went 4-1 at home over the next five games, earning wins against competition including Boston University, the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the University of New Hampshire. Dartmouth takes a 7-6 record into the winter quarter. The next three weeks will be critical for the team. With no games until January 19th, the women will look to stay focused in preparation for Ivy League play, which begins with an away date at Harvard.
Men’s basketball: A little Irish luck kickstarts the Big Green’s season The men’s basketball team opened winterim with perhaps its toughest challenge of the season, allowing 110 points — the most since the 1974-75 season — in a loss to No. 22 State University of New York at Buffalo. After Thanksgiving, the team traveled to the University of San Francisco, where a small halftime deficit ballooned into a 19-point loss. The Big Green then went international, traveling to Northern Ireland for the Belfast Classic, which was televised on the CBS Sports Network. The men finished the trip at .500, earning a 14-point win over the State University of New York at Albany but falling short to Marist College. Back on the other side of the pond, the men stumbled against Quinnipiac University before reeling off a four-game win streak to finish the break 5-3 overall.
After a 3-2 start to the season, men’s hockey struggled during winter break — winning only two games while dropping five and ending two in overtime ties — and brought their record to 5-7-2. The team so far is 1-3-1 on the road, with its only win coming against Yale University on Nov. 10, but its home record is only slightly better at 4-4-1. Despite this, the team’s wins against Yale, Harvard University, No. 15 Quinnipiac University and No. 16 Cornell University have kept it at a solid 4-2-1 in ECAC conference play. The Big Green endured a tough stretch during the second week of December, dropping back-to-back games against the University of New Hampshire in Hanover and Durham and then falling to Boston University on the road. The team bounced back with a win against the U.S. Military Academy during the 30th Ledyard Classic in Hanover but lost to Providence, 3-5. The men had a disappointing conclusion to non-conference play on Saturday at Bentley University. After the Big Green took a 2-0 lead in the second period, Bentley answered with two goals that period, eventually tying the game at 3-3 with only 19.4 seconds left in regulation after Dartmouth retook the lead in the third period. The game ended in a tie with neither team scoring in overtime. The team will be back in action on Jan. 11 at Quinnipiac, kicking off a four-game road stretch as conference play comes into full swing.
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Pucks in Deep
with Sam Stockton ’19 Pucks in Deep: John Tavares is a Leaf I’m guessing you at least caught a glimpse of the picture. Granted, it came out around the time LeBron James signed with the Lakers, so your timeline may have been otherwise occupied. Of course, you might have been in the camp that claimed without supporting evidence, which is to say predicted or perhaps believed, that LeBron’s signing with the Lakers needed only an authorizing signature to be made official well before last July and therefore paid little attention to the formal announcement of the signing. Or perhaps you are a Star Wars fan willing to overlook the letdown that was “The Phantom Menace” whose eyes were drawn to the image by virtue of the model
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of the sweet Naboo-defending yellow model spacecraft piloted by a young Anakin Skywalker to free the planet from galactic tyranny. If this lede hasn’t provided you hints sufficient to evoke the particular image I have in mind, I apologize. Please forgive my indulgence; I’ll stop playing around. T he picture, which I believe without supporting evidence to be not entirely different from many taken around the same time around the same place, is from the mid-90s somewhere near Toronto. It is of a young boy, lying asleep on a bed with Toronto Maple Leaf sheets with the aforementioned Star Wars model on his pillow above his head. Of course, it is unique from all those other pictures because the sleeping child from the photo is John Tavares,who brought the photo to the public light in the early afternoon of July 1 via Twitter with the caption “Not everyday you can live a childhood dream.” The National Hockey League’s public relations incompetence differs from that of the National Football League and Major League Baseball in that the NHL does not hold, nor has ever held, television or radio audiences captive across America. On top of that, the average American sports fan does not live in the Greater Toronto Area. As such, said sports fan likely, and quite forgivably, misses the resonance of the words “John
Tavares is a Leaf,” recognizing neither the cultural relevance of the franchise nor just how bad it has been for fans of the team for the past 50 years or so. Without this knowledge, the seven-year, $77 million contract may seem pedestrian, or perhaps even embarrassingly meager relative to the other major sports if you consider that it is being signed by a superstar and the richest franchise in the league. Because of course, what the words “John Tavares is a Leaf ” signify is terrifying to every Leafs fan who has suffered wounds ranging from the stunning shot of a devastating postseason loss to the drawn out, indelicate descent into devastation at the hands of regime after regime whose respective five- and 10-year plans scarcely provided so much as a glimmer of hope. Forgive my inclusion of the tawdry details, Leaf fans, but, to stick to atrocities of relatively recent vintage, there was a 3-goal lead in the third period of Game 7 in Boston. And again Leafs fans, forgive me, for I write these words dutifully and self-congratulatorily out of unflinching journalistic obligation. But I must mention that the last time the Leafs won the Cup was 1967, the final season in which the NHL had just six teams. So why then is the Tavares signing, doubtlessly the most notable in the franchise’s history, so concerning to Maple Leafs’ fans? To begin with, in the wake of a recent rally in Grant Park, a parade down Broad Street, and a now-no longer particularly recent Duck Boat ride, followed by three more to the point that the first one seems to have lost an awful lot of sentimentality and that by the time the last one came around, which was of course only a few months ago, the duck boats themselves have started to seem gluttonous; in the wake of all that, it seems hard to deny that the Maple Leafs’ is the most starved fan base in North American sports. But this alone
does not encapsulate the fear induced by Tavares’ signing. Tavares isn’t the first NHL player with the opportunity to realize a boyhood dream by returning to Toronto. By virtue of Canada’s dominance over the sport and the high population density of the Greater Toronto Area and southern Ontario, seemingly every NHL player grew up cheering for the Leafs. Instead, he is unique in that the opportunity to realize that dream coincides with a period in Leafs’ history in which doing so is actually appealing. Like the other major sports, the NHL ensures that its players cannot hit true free agency for as long as possible, whether through collectivelybargained regulation or the subtler cultivation of a “team-first” culture in players and fans alike, and accordingly many NHLers subscribe to the idyll of spending their entire career with the team that drafted them. And then there is the fact that Toronto represents the most robust media market in the NHL, which of course includes its share of Baylesses and Cowherds. And of course, that other stuff I was talking about earlier, the whole, haven’t won a playoff series since ’04, devastating mediocrity and failure thing. Because so many players grew up cheering for the Maple Leafs, there have been many recent instances of a premier free agent or potential future free agent being connected to the Leafs based on their childhood fandom. Jeff Carter, Tyler Seguin, Steven Stamkos. None of them chose to actually join the Leafs, and Leaf fans could hardly blame them due to their franchise’s collective state of disarray. But, as shocking as it may seem, John Tavares joins a Toronto Maple Leafs organization as stable as any around the league. Tavares signed the contract with the Leafs’ wunderkind or boy genius general manager, depending on whether you mean to deride him for the
rapidity with which he turned himself from another analytics nerd in glasses to general manager of, and I will stress this again, the franchise subjected to the most punditry in the league at just 31 years old, Kyle Dubas. Under the direction of Dubas and coach Mike Babcock, Tavares joins a forward corps with a legitimate claim to being the league’s best. The homegrown triumvirate of Matthews, Marner and Nylander, all of whom were born in 1996 or later, spearhead a group that has anything you could possibly want from a forward unit. In Matthews, they boast a top-end sniper; in Marner, one of the league’s flashiest playmakers; in Nylander, a beautifully smooth force in transition. Among their depth players, many of whom would garner top-six minutes on a team with ordinary forward depth, they offer shift-altering straight line speed in Kasperi Kapanen, veteran leadership and dependable goal scoring in Patrick Marleau, and, as proves necessary in the looselyregulated vigilante justice of the playoffs, a pest who can provide offense in Nazem Kadri. So why exactly is the Tavares signing scary to the largest fan base in the sport? Put differently, why should you care about a picture of a Canadian kid who was into Star Wars and the Leafs and the realization of his improbable dream? Because “John Tavares is a Leaf ” holds more elocutionary power than just the announcement of a player acquisition. Instead, it establishes a standard — that over the course of Tavares’ sevenyear deal, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the same Toronto Maple Leafs who have blown two thirdperiod, Game 7 leads in Boston in recent memory (Can you believe I almost forgot they did it last year also?), who have never won a championship in league with worse odds than one-in-six — the expectation is that those Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
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The Redshirt Senior with Evan Griffith ’18
The Redshirt Senior: Ivy League Basketball Preview This college basketball season has certainly provided a fair share of excitement. Duke’s star freshmen have been providing dunk highlights to Instagram pages throughout the season, the Pac-12 seems to be getting worse after the three schools in the NCAA Tournament last season didn’t make it past the first round, and Syracuse has once again spent this break giving me hope and letting me down (how do you lose to Old Dominion?). The Ivy League has even pulled off a few upsets on top-tier teams as well, with the University of Pennsylvania defeating Villanova University 78-75 for the first time since 2002, and Princeton University upsetting Arizona State University 67-66 immediately after the Sun Devils defeated top-ranked University of Kansas the week before. The transitive property holds here, right? Fortunately, the start of winter term at Dartmouth aligns with the start of conference play in the Ivy League. These games are what really matter for the Ivy League Tournament and for a potential postseason berth. As such, I want to highlight some players from each school, so you know who to look for during these conference games. A quick recap of Dartmouth’s season so far: the Big Green is currently 9-7 on the season, although that record could easily be 11-5 if two one-possession games against Davidson College and Bryant University went the team’s way. Davidson is a very good team and the fact that Dartmouth almost upset them, especially after leading for most of the second half, speaks volumes to the team’s potential this season. Although we can talk for hours about potential, Dartmouth doesn’t have a signature win to show for it. The two best teams on Dartmouth’s non-conference schedule, No. 20 State University of New York at Buffalo (13-1) and University of San Francisco (14-2), both beat the Big Green by double digits, with
Buffalo winning by 39. The team’s best win arguably was at home over an 8-7 Boston University team expected to finish in the middle of the pack in the Patriot League. Dartmouth’s strength is its threepoint shot. Three of Dartmouth’s starters — point guard Brendan Barry ’20, shooting guard James Foye ’20 and shooting guard Ian Sistare ’20 are all shooting .480 or above from three, which ranks among the top five in the Ivy League. Dartmouth opens conference play against Harvard next Saturday, January 12th. Harvard University: Freshman point guard Noah Kirkwood Two of Harvard’s returning starters, last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year Seth Towns and 2017 Ivy League Rookie of the Year Bryce Aiken, have not played at all this year due to injuries. Freshman Noah Kirkwood has performed in a major way to fill the role at guard that Aiken left. Kirkwood, as a freshman, has scored 20 points twice this season and is currently one of two players leading the Crimson in three-point shooting percentage, shooting 44 percent beyond the arc. His best game was a home matchup against George Washington University, where he came off the bench and led the team in minutes played (30), points scored (20) and assists (6) to help Harvard defeat the Colonials 75-61. Yale University: Junior guard Miye Oni Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has said of Yale forward Miye Oni, following a 91-58 win over the Bulldogs in which Oni had 12 points and nine rebounds, that he should be a first round pick in the NBA draft. Since that comment, Yale has won five straight games, in four of which Oni scored in double figures. The 6-foot-6 guard was also instrumental in Yale’s 77-73 win over ACC powerhouse University of Miami, leading the team with 29 points. Oni will be a player to keep an eye on this winter and in the future if he ends up going pro. Penn: Junior power forward AJ Brodeur Another 2018 First Team AllIvy Selection, junior AJ Brodeur has scored in double figures in all but two games for Penn this season and led the team with 16 points and six rebounds when Penn beat No. 17 Villanova earlier this season. It’s safe to say that the Penn offense runs through Brodeur. Brown University: Sophomore guard/forward Desmond Cambridge Last year’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Desmond Cambridge is the kind of hybrid player teams
must be wary of. Measuring 6 feet 4 inches and 180 pounds, Cambridge played more of a small forward role last season with the Bears but has been getting more playing time as a guard this year. Head coach Mike Martin has complimented Cambridge’s length, mentioning he can play great defense (averages 1.7 blocks per game) and can shoot the ball well (averages 18 points per game with a field goal percentage of .452). Cambridge has scored 15 points or more in his last six games, and he’ll look to continue that momentum into conference play. Princeton University: Senior guard/forward Devin Cannady Cannady, a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week this season, is Princeton’s leading scorer averaging 19.5 points per game with a .445 shooting percentage. Cannady is playing his way into the record books at Princeton; he currently has 1,438 career points, and is on pace to finish second all-time in scoring at Princeton behind Olympic gold medalist and former New Jersey U.S. senator Bill Bradley. A common trend among these players is scoring in double figures; the only time Cannady hasn’t put up a double figure game this season was against Duke, when the Tigers lost 10150. Princeton has only made the NCAA Tournament once during Cannady’s time as a student — he’s looking to change that with his play. Columbia University: Senior guard Quinton Adlesh Quinton Adlesh is returning for his senior season after leading the Ivy League in three-point shooting percentage last year (.442) and currently leads the team with 12.8 points per game. He’s kept up similar production from last year with a .440 shooting percentage from three and looks to be a bright spot for a Columbia team that sits 4-9 on the season. Cornell: Senior point guard Matt Morgan This is one player I know for a fact can make an impact, as I saw him almost singlehandedly dismantle Syracuse in the Carrier Dome this December in a 63-55 loss (26 points while shooting 60 percent from three). Morgan tested the NBA waters after last season and decided to return for his senior year; it looks as though it’s paid off so far. Morgan averages fantastic numbers with 22.6 points per game with a .502 field goal percentage and 1.1 steals per game on a statistically mediocre Cornell team. Cornell and Columbia are currently the only Ivy League teams that have below a .500 record, but the Big Red could make some noise with a playmaker like Morgan.
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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019
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ONE ON ONE
with Sandy Ford-Centonze
B y Jake Philhower The Dartmouth Staff
The women’s track and field team took third at the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Championships last season to match its best Heps performance since 2014. As the indoor season gets underway, Jake Philhower sat down with longtime head coach Sandy Ford-Centonze to discuss her expectations for 2019. How do you expect the team to progress headed into the indoor season?
some good performances and good seasons with Maria Garman ’19 our captain. She’s a multi event athlete, so she does the pentathlon indoors and then she does the heptathlon outdoors. She is also a very strong high jumper who has qualified for regionals in the high jump. Another one of our captains is Cha’Mia Rothwell ’20. She has done very well for herself in her two seasons here. She’s a junior who has won several titles at Heps and is looking to continue on that path.
We also have some very strong SF-C: I think we have potential to ladies who had phenomenal have a have a strong season and cross-country seasons [including perform well G e o r g i a Fe a r in the meets. ’20 and Lauren N o t h av i n g “Track and field is very Sapone ’20]. I re a l l y d o n e different — we can’t would think that a ny t h i n g, I those are really necessarily set a win c a n’t re a l l y the nucleus of p r o j e c t o r goal heading into the our team. We even say. This season, but I think also have some weekend is very strong firstgonna be the even when we come years that have first time we’ve in to fall preseason performed well, seen some of and so we’re in September, we’re the athletes looking for them c o m p e t e a t talking about the to add onto those the relay. We Heptagonals, and veterans that we did have two have. meets over the that meet is not until winter break February. For us, we’re W h a t g o a l s [the Boston have you set looking to perform at University for the season? S e a s o n every meet and get Opener and better at every meet.” S F - C : Tr a c k a home meet and field is very against New different — we E n g l a n d -SANDY FORD-CENTONZE can’t necessarily foes] and we set a win goal had a strong heading into the showing there. s e a s o n , bu t I If we look think even when at that and we come in to the athletes fall preseason in prog ressing September, we’re according to how they competed talking about the Heptagonals, and in those two meets, I think we’re a that meet is not until February. very strong team. For us, we’re looking to perform at every meet and to get better at Are there any standouts from every meet. You’re always looking last year which the team will to try to improve your skills while have a tough time replacing? also motivating your peers to train harder. We’re always looking to SF-C: Our team was fairly young contend for the Heptagonal title in all areas last year. That’s one of any time we step on the track or the reasons why I think we could on a cross-country course. Our look forward to a very strong season cross-country team finished second this year. We’re a little bit older in the northeast region this year, so and definitely much more mature. that bodes well — bringing in the We’re used to strong competition so runner-up team with those folks that should bode well for us. We are because those are our distance kids. bringing back a very strong team. I think we just want to perform at a high level. We want to focus in Who in particular are you and not look past any meet and looking to have a big season? build upon every meet going into the titles. SF-C: Well I mean, we have a few upperclassmen who I think This interview has been edited and should perform well. We’ve had condensed for clarity and length.
TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
The men’s and women’s indoor track and field seasons are set to begin.
MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
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SPORTS
TODAY’S LINEUP
Ski teams poised to build on strong 2018 efforts By Evan Morgan
The Dartmouth Senior Staff
The Dartmouth ski team racked up a laundry list of accolades last season. Men’s alpine skier of the year? Yep, that was Tanguy Nef ’20, honored by the United States Collegiate Ski Coaches Association last April. Women’s Nordic skier of the year? Check — Katharine Ogden ’21 was a shoo-in after sweeping the Nordic races at the NCAA Skiing Championships. How about alpine and Nordic coach of the year? Yes and yes, won by Dartmouth’s Peter Dodge ’78 and Cami Thompson Graves, respectively. Only two of the USCSCA’s six yearly awards went to athletes or coaches outside of Dartmouth, a sign of how well-positioned the team is entering 2019. Women’s alpine Though World Cup racer Foreste Peterson ’18 graduated last spring, this squad still has quite a bit of speed. Two of the three athletes Dartmouth sent to the 2018 NCAA championships, Steph Currie ’20 and captain Alexa Dlouhy
’19, will return to provide veteran leadership. Slalom specialist Dlouhy finished last season as the fifth-ranked skier in the east with five podiums to her name, while Currie finished sixth in the east. Claire Thomas ’21 was the next member of the Big Green on the NCAA qualifier list. Though Thomas has no NCAA championship experience, she can mix it up with the best skiers on the team — in North American Cup racing last week, she got the better of Currie in both the slalom and giant slalom. Also in the mix is Stephanie Lebby ’20, who was among the top 10 slalom skiers in the East last season. Men’s alpine With the departure of Brian McLaughlin ’18 and Thomas Woolson ’17, Nef is the only remaining member of the three-man men’s alpine team that won the team title in Steamboat Springs, Colorado last March. But his decision to compete for Dartmouth for another year gives the Big Green a leg up on its EISA opponents. Nef finished on the podium in nine of 12 races last season before winning the NCAA slalom title.
He returns to campus having notched two top-15 World Cup slalom finishes in the past two months and figures to be the favorite to wear the leader bib all season in the slalom and giant slalom. David Domonoske ’20 will likely be next down the slope after Nef. Domonoske had the best outing of his collegiate career at last season’s Dartmouth Carnival, taking fifth in the giant slalom and sixth in the slalom. A pair of fast sophomores, Kalle Wagner ’21 and Peter Fucigna ’21, had top-10 finishes last season and will look to keep improving. Women’s Nordic The women’s Nordic team remains extremely deep in 2019. Ogden won both the classic and freestyle NCAA titles by more than 30 seconds and is the first Dartmouth skier to win multiple NCAA titles in 56 years. Now that she has proven herself as the fastest collegiate skier in the nation, Ogden will be a threat to podium — or win outright — in every carnival race this season. Lydia Blanchet ’19 and Lauren Jortberg ’20 were both second-team All-Americans in 2018, Blanchet in
the 5-kilometer classic and Jortberg in the 15-kilometer freestyle. Other Big Green skiers will be hot on their heels during the carnival season. Veteran Taryn Hunt-Smith ’19 skied at the NCAA championships two years ago and finished agonizingly close to the podium in a string of carnivals last season. Leah Brams ’20 is another name to watch after she was the second fastest Dartmouth skier in the 10-kilometer classic at the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships on Thursday. With strong first-years Molly Gellert ’22, Rena Schwartz ’22 and Callie Young ’22 also on the roster, the competition to make the carnival team will be intense. Men’s Nordic Fast seniors — first Fabian Stocek ’17, then Luke Brown ’18 — have led the men’s Nordic team each of the past two seasons, and Callan DeLine ’18 will be asked to do the same in 2019. At Steamboat Springs, DeLine made the All-America first team in the 20-kilometer freestyle and the second team in the 10-kilometer classic. He has the legs to be a weekly podium
threat this season. Gavin McEwen ’19 was a consistent top-10 finisher in freestyle races last season and skied in Steamboat Springs with Brown and DeLine. He returns for his senior season. Behind DeLine, Hanover native Adam Glueck ’21 is quickly rising up the ranks. Glueck skied well at the Dartmouth Carnival last season and was the second-fastest Big Green skier in the 15-kilometer classic and classic sprint at U.S. Nationals. Koby Gordon ’19 had a pair of top-10 carnival finishes in 2017 and will look to break back into the top 10 this season. Using carnival points as a yardstick, the men’s Nordic team was the weakest of the four Big Green teams last season — although that says more about the overall quality of Dartmouth’s skiing program than it does about the men’s Nordic team. But the team competition will be stiffer this season. The University of Vermont, Dartmouth’s main eastern rival, adds first-year Ben Ogden, who has numbered among the top collegiate skiers at U.S. Nationals this week. Ogden will make the Catamounts a much tougher team to beat in 2019.
1
51
19.4
6
number of saves made by women’s hockey goalie Christine Honor ’19 against No. 6 Princeton
number of seconds remaining in regulation before Bentley University forced a tie with Dartmouth men’s hockey
The men’s squash team’s ranking in the College Squash Association
22
10:21.86
.526
number of points scored by women’s basketball forward Isalys Quinones ’19 against the University of Vermont on Nov. 11
time Mia Leko ’22 completed the finished the 1000-yard freestyle at a swim meet on Jan. 5
the percentage of 3-pointers made by Brendan Barry ’20 this season for men’s basketball