02.04.19
Women’s tennis seeks to improve on previous season’s effort p.4 Men’s basketball drops pair of tough Ivy games over weekend p.5 The Accidental Fan: Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in the Ivy League anymore p.6 Men’s tennis looks to repeat Ivy championship p.7
U.S. ski team alum Duffy impresses in debut season p.4 GIL TALBOT/COURTESY OF THE DARTMOUTH ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT
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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
The weekend Roundup
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2019
men’s Basketball
Compiled by THE DARTMOUTH sports STAFF
W basketball
In its first weekend of back-toback games of Ivy League play, the Dartmouth women’s basketball team (8-9, 1-3 Ivy) took on Brown University (9-11, 1-3 Ivy) and Yale University (13-6, 3-1 Ivy) on the road. The Big Green picked up its first win of conference play on Friday night in Providence, beating Brown by a score of 81-61. Saturday, the Green and White traveled to New Haven, where they fell to the Bulldogs 49-64. After a slow first quarter against Brown, in which the Bears outscored the Big Green 15-11, Dartmouth eclipsed 20 points in each remaining quarter. The Big Green’s forwards proved to be its biggest weapons on Friday. Anna Luce ’21 led the team in scoring with 22 points, a career high for the second-year. Following her were Paula Lenart ’20 and Isalys Quinones ’19, who put up 14 and 13 points, respectively. The Big Green hauled in five more rebounds than the Bears and limited
them to just a 19 percent 3-point field goal percentage, 12 percentage points lower than their average. These successes, combined with an impressive fourth quarter in which Dartmouth outscored Brown 24-7, were the keys to the team’s first win of Ivy play. But Dartmouth was unable to carry the momentum from its strong finish on Friday into Saturday’s game against Yale, as the Bulldogs outscored the Big Green by ten points in the first quarter. The Big Green struggled on the boards throughout the game, with Yale grabbing 18 more rebounds than Dartmouth. Cy Lippold ’19 led Dartmouth’s offensive effort with 14 points, and first-year Georgia Alexander ’22 scored some of her first points in the green and white, tallying seven by the end of the game. Next weekend, the Big Green travels to New York to face Columbia University and Cornell University.
track & field The women’s track and field team had a strong weekend, finishing second at the New England Indoor Championship meet in Boston, MA. Cha’Mia Rothwell ’20 finished second in the 60m hurdles final with a time of 8.50 after taking third in the semifinals. The 4x800m relay team took second with a time of 9:10.77, while the 4x400m team likewise finished in the second spot with a time of 3:48.85. Folasade Akinfe ’20, Kathryn Laskoski ’21and Nicole Deblasio ’19 finished sixth in the triple jump, 400m and 200m, respectively. The men’s team likewise competed
in the New England Indoor Championship, finishing in seventh place overall. Donovan Spearman ’21 boosted the team with a time of 21.76 in the 200m, but he fell just fourhundredths of a second behind the lead racer to take second place. Meanwhile, the 4x800 relay team finished third with a time of 7:39.49, while the 4x400 team finished fifth with a time of 3:17.98. In the 60m hurdles, Shawn Ohazuruike ’20 placed fifth with a time of 8.22. The men’s and women’s team will hit the road again next weekend to compete in the Fastrack Invitational in Staten Island, NY.
Zachary Benjamin ’19 Zachary Benjamin ’19
Zachary Benjamin ’19 Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief
Hanting Guo ’19 Hanting Guo ’19
Vinay Reddy ’20 Publisher Publisher Interim Publisher
Ioana Solomon ’19 Ioana Solomon ’19
2.04.19 Vol. CLXXV CLXXV No. No. 27 126 4.30.18 4.23.18 Vol. 21
Amanda Zhou ’19 Amanda Zhou ’19 Ioana Solomon ’19 Executive Editors Executive Editors Executive Editor
Mark Cui ’19 Mark Cui ’19 Mark Cui ’19 Alex Fredman ’20 Justin Kramer ’21 Justin Kramer ’21 Samantha Hussey ’20 Samantha Hussey ’20 Evan Morgan ’19 Associate Associate Sports Sports Editor Editor Sports Editors Sports Editors Divya Kopalle ’21 Divya Kopalle ’21 Divya Kopalle ’21 Michael Lin ’21 Michael Lin ’21 Michael Lin ’21 Photography Photography Editors Editors Photography Editors Jaclyn Eagle ’19 Jaclyn Eagle ’19 Hattie Newton ’21 Templating TemplatingEditor Editor Editor Templating
EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Chris Knight ’21 had 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting in Saturday’s loss to Yale.
The Big Green fell in two difficult home games this weekend, losing to Brown University on Friday night and Yale University on Saturday night. In the Brown game, the Big Green turned the ball over 20 times and only made five three-pointers yet remained close throughout and led for much of the second half. However, the team’s defense, which was phenomenal for almost the entire game, faltered down the stretch as Brown overcame a seven-point deficit with 3:15 to play to win 60-58. Guilien Smith ’19 barely missed what would have been the game-winning 3-pointer, after Dartmouth gained possession of the ball with eight seconds
left and down by two. Against Yale, the offense was more effective, but the defense struggled mightly to contain the Bulldogs’ high-powered offensive attack. Yale shot 53.8 percent for the field en route to 89 points, while the Big Green offense couldn’t keep pace. The team only made five three-pointers against Yale, making for a disappointing weekend overall in terms of long-range shooting. With the losses, the team falls to 1-3 in conference play. Next up is a homestand against Cornell University and Columbia University, providing a great chance for the team to climb back into Ivy League contention.
M & W squash Returning to Ivy League play after three nonconference games, No. 5 men’s squash was blanked this weekend by No. 3 University of Pennsylvania and No. 8 Princeton University. It was the first time the team has lost to a lower ranked team this season. Facing the Quakers, Reg Anderson ’21 and Jack Bell ’22 won their matches in four games, while Tucker Martino ’22 won his in five. But Penn nicked Dartmouth in the remaining six matches and took a 6-3 win. Princeton, coming into Sunday at 4-6, looked stronger than its No.
8 ranking in an 8-1 victory. Anderson, Martino and Bell fell in four games and Carson Spahr ’19 lost in a competitive five-game match. Sam Epley ’19 was the only Dartmouth player to get a win. No. 10 women’s squash moved to 4-5 with a loss to No. 5 Penn on Saturday. Julia Potter ’20 and Emma Roberts ’19 swept their opponents and each stand at 7-2 on the season. Darden Gildea ’22 also won in four games, but it was not enough to take down the Quakers, who overcame the Big Green 6-3.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
Men’s Hockey T h e m e n’s h o c k ey t e a m allowed three third-period goals in a 4-1 loss to rival No. 19 Harvard University on Friday night. The Big Green dominated the first period, outshooting the Crimson 14-3. The Big Green got on the board first with a goal from Connor Yau ’19 in the twelfth minute of the game. Harvard responded at the beginning of the second period with a goal of its own. The Big Green missed an opportunity when it failed to score on a five-minute power play in the middle of the second period. The team’s penalty kill held the nation’s top power play scoreless on three power plays and entered the third period tied
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M & W TENNIS
at one. The Crimson scored the go-ahead goal in the third minute of the period and never looked back. Another goal was added six minutes later, and an empty-net goal put the game out of reach. After falling to No. 10 Clarkson University on Jan. 26, Friday’s loss to Harvard marked the first time since December that the Big Green lost consecutive games. The Big Green (8-11-2, 7-6-1 ECAC), who have only lost three straight games once this season, will look to get back in the win column with two home games against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union College next weekend, followed by two games on the road the weekend after.
skiing The men’s and women’s ski teams journeyed to the other side of the Connecticut River this weekend for the University of Vermont Carnival, where, after two days of close competition, the Catamounts came out just 20 points ahead of the Big Green to win the event. On the first day, Drew Duffy ’21 won the first run of the giant slalom with a time of 1:01.81 and then in the second run barely finished in the lead by a margin of 0.09 seconds. In the women’s 5k freestyle, Big Green skiers finished second through sixth place, led by Emily Hyde ’19 (15:15.1) and Molly Gellert ’22 (15:18.2). Although Vermont’s Evelina Sutro won the race, the combined Big Green effort helped them win the event overall with 132 points. The Big Green
finished the day with 469 points, second to Vermont’s 510. Although the Big Green was able to close some of the gap with Vermont on the second day, they fell just short in the end. Tanguy Nef ’20 dominated the men’s slalom with a combined time of 1:46.70 over two runs to win the gold. Alexa Dlouhy ’19 did the same in the women’s slalom with a combined time of 1:56.29, followed right behind by Stephanie Currie ’20 (1:57.59). But the strong Big Green effort on the slaloms was not enough to overcome Vermont’s times on the trails, as the Catamount men took the top six spots on the men’s 20k. The Big Green are set to host Winter Carnival next weekend at the Dartmouth Skiway and Oak Hill Cross Country Ski Center.
W ICE HOCKEY The women’s hockey team picked we were getting chemistry,” said up a win this weekend for the Tess Bracken ’19. “It was great.” first time since Nov. 30, slapping But all good things must come Brown in a 5-2 win on Friday. to an end, and the win streak was The Big Green did not waste any halted after just one game in a 0-2 time getting on shutout to Yale the scoreboard, U n i v e r s i t y. l o o k i n g t o “Lines were starting It was not c a p t a i n to click and we were for a lack of Christina opportunities, Rombaut ’20 getting chemistry.” however. The to get things Big Green started just o u t s h o t -TESS BRACKEN ’19 25 seconds Yale, 32-30, into the first including a period. For the couple of first time all season, the goals excellent one-timers from Bracken kept pouring in all night long. on a power play in the third, but Dartmouth dropped a pair in the the Yale goalie was having a career first, again in the second and then night. Dartmouth looks to pick a fifth in the third. up another victory against Union “Lines were starting to click and College next weekend.
LORRAINE LIU/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
The men’s tennis team, led by No. 27 Charlie Broom ’20 (right), are off to a 3-2 start this season.
After the men’s tennis team played the University of Louisville to a 2-2 tie, the Cardinals grabbed two more singles matches to nip the Big Green 4-2 at home. Dartmouth got off to a good start by snagging the doubles point, and No. 27 Charlie Broom downed his mark at No. 1. But Louisville got the better of Casey Ross ’21 at No. 5 and Dan Martin ’21 at No. 2 to pull itself even. Peter Conklin ’21 and Sid Chari ’22 both fell in the second set to give the visitors the win. The women’s tennis team split its weekend matches, losing 4-3 to Boston University on
Friday and winning 4-2 against St. John’s University on Saturday. The Big Green went up 2-0 against the Terriers after winning the doubles point and getting a win from Chuyang Guan ’20 at No. 5. BU answered with a point at No. 1, and although Nicole Conard ’22 won her match at No. 3, BU won the next three singles matches in three sets to clinch. After St. John’s got the doubles point the next day, Catherine Cable ’20 won 6-1, 6-0, Guan won 6-0, 7-5 and Dartmouth — assisted by a St. John’s forfeit at No. 6 — went on to win the match 5-2.
Swimming & diving After securing victories during last week’s Tate Ramsden Invitational, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams took on Columbia University in their final dual meets of the season. The women’s team was defeated in its meet on Saturday, 174-125. Sarah Minnigh ’22 won big in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:26.43, finishing a full 12 seconds ahead of her competition, while Sarah Finlay ’20 came in fifth in that race. Minnigh also won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:03.07, while Ashley Post ’22 (5:05.89) and Molly Brickman ’19 (5:10.00) came in at second and fourth, respectively. In the 100-yard breastroke, Mackenzie Stumpf ’21 took first with a time of 1:04.90, followed by Maggie Deppe-Walker ’21 in fourth and Kenna Van Steyn ’21 in fifth with times of 1:07.51 and 1:08.84. Meanwhile, on the 3-meter diving board, Isabella Lichen ’22 and Maggie Pionzio ’20 took
second and third, and then Pionzio secured a victory on the 1-meter board later in the meet. The men’s team fared worse, dropping their match 182-115. But Justin Sodokoff ’21 managed to set a pool record on the 1-meter diving board with a score of 357.82, a record that had been in place since 2007. In the 500-yard freestyle, Connor LaMastra ’21 came in first (4:31.86), followed by Joe Moll ’22 ain second (4:35.87). Moll also came in first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.26) and finished second in the 200-yard IM (1:53.58). The team also came in second (1:26.22) and third (1:28.02) in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The men’s team, now 2-7 on the season, next play in the Ivy League tournament in Providence, RI starting on Feb. 27, while the 5-5 women’s team also have the Ivy League tournament next, which starts on Feb. 20 in Princeton, NJ.
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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2019
Women’s tennis seeks to improve on previous season’s effort B y KAITLYN LEES The Dartmouth
Motivated by some recent close defeats, the women’s tennis team comes into this season hoping to build on recent years of strong play that consistently places them as one of the best teams in the Ivy League. Last year, the team finished tied for third in the Ivy League. In 2017, following back-to-back second place finishes, the team tied for first in the Ivy League, earning the team an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, where they lost in the first round to the University of Kentucky. Kristina Mathis ’18 was the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year last year and competed in the NCAA Singles Championship. Returning sophomore Abigail Chiu ’21 earned a spot on the Ivy League first team for doubles last year also along with Julia Schroeder ’18. Head coach Bob Dallis said that this year’s team has 10 strong players, providing the team with
strong depth and the ability to play a variety of people. Dallis added that lone senior Allison Chuang ’19 has stepped up as a leader for the team this year. “[Chuang is] someone who’s just a really caring person and also a really good player and great contributor,” Dallis said. Three first-years, Nicole Conard ’22, Nina Paripovic ’22 and Jingyi Peng ’22, have also made an impact, Dallis said, “putting their stamp with their personality and their work ethic on the team.” Both Chuyang Guan ’20 and Paripovic spoke about a great bond between team members that contributes to their success. “After we finish our match, we continue to stand on our court to cheer our teammates on,” Guan said. “I think that type of support is what drives us to be successful.” This kind of team support has been a constant for the Big Green. Guan remarked that this was something she noticed as a recruit compared to other schools she
visited, and it proved a motivating factor in her decision to come to Dartmouth. In the fall season, the Big Green played matches against H a r va rd U n i ve r s i t y, B row n University, Boston University, the University of Notre Dame and Texas Tech University. Chiu and Madison Hwang ’21 also competed in doubles among the best women’s players in the country at the Riveria/ITA Women’s All-American Championship in October. From the fall season, Paripovic said, the team is looking to focus on their energy during practice, noting that when the team had “good energy and everyone was really positive leading up to matches we did well.” Guan emphasized the impact of injuries toward the end of the season leading to just her and Paripovic being able to compete on the final day of the fall’s Big Green Invitational. She said the team is coming into the winter with the intention of optimizing
their performances by taking the best care of themselves. “Collectively, what we’re always talking about as a team is our overall competitiveness, our overall stick-to-itiveness, our overall as a team and individuals how to deal with the adversity that may come your way within a match,” Dallis said. “The tougher that you can make that on the other team and on your personal opponent that day is sort of the difference between a team reaching its ultimate ceiling and not.” The team also used the fall season to experiment with the lineup and find the best position for each player. “Within the next few weeks, we’ll start solidifying the lineup so people can get used to playing at their position,” Paripovic said. Playing a challenging schedule, Dartmouth started the 2019 season with tough 6-1 losses against Boston College and the University of Iowa before bouncing back with a 7-0 win over the University
of Connecticut. The team split its matches this weekend with a close 4-3 loss to Boston University followed by a 5-2 win over St. John’s University. Against both BU and Iowa, three lost singles matches went to three sets. Guan said these recent matches could have gone either way, but she feels as though “it only makes us stronger as a team.” The Big Green will move on to the important Eastern Conference Athletic Con feren ce In door Championship next weekend in New Haven, Connecticut. Away matches against Marquette University and Michigan State University and a Mar. 2 home match against the University of Massachusetts Amherst will round out the winter season. The Big Green then travels to Texas during spring break to compete against Rice University, Texas Christian University and Southern Methodist University, and begins Ivy League play Mar. 30 against Harvard University.
U.S. ski team alum Duffy impresses in debut season expect to win, I just wanted to get top 10.” But win he did, shocking spectators who’d assumed the race Drew Duffy ’21 has been had already been won by the man sensational for Dartmouth in his with bib 7, Olympian and World debut season, with four wins in six Cup racer Steve Nyman. Duffy beat races. The collegiate carnival scene Nyman’s time by 0.04 seconds. might be new to him as of this year, It was an incredible end to what but he’s certainly not wanting for had been a particularly hard season experience. for Duffy. Earlier that same year, Before while training in c o m i n g t o “The quarter system Austria, he was Dartmouth, taken down in an offers for ski racers Duffy skied avalanche that for the U.S. something that no killed two of his team, racing friends and other college offers — close on the North unsurprisingly A m e r i c a n the spring term lines traumatized his Cup, Europa up perfectly with when season. In the Cups and races following e v e n t h e our season ends.” the event, Duffy’s World Cup results were circuit. He disappointing at -DREW DUFFY ’21 credits his best, as he failed experiences to finish most of in higher level them. racing with His ability to giving him an recover from this edge as he returns to the carnival tragedy for a fairytale win at racing arena. nationals speaks to the tremendous One standout moment in his mental strength the sport demands pre-Dartmouth career was his 2015 of all its stars. super-G win at U.S. nationals. This “I still think about those guys triumph was made all the more like every day,” Duffy said. “They exceptional by the fact that Duffy, motivate me to try and stick with seeded second after a slump in this sport and do my best.” his racing career, raced from bib Beyond his obvious physical skill number 30. This placed him behind at skiing, men’s alpine coach Peter any skier favored to win and gave Dodge ’78 and Duffy’s teammate him a rougher course to follow, likely Kalle Wagner ’21, cite this mental skied-off by those skiing before him. strength as a major asset of Duffy’s. “I was kind of an underdog in A good portion of ski racing is that race,” Duffy said. “I didn’t mental. The ability to understand
B y ANNA MAY MOTT The Dartmouth
the more intangible components of the race inside and out only comes with the kind of experience Duffy has. His career on the U.S. national team showed him how to ride the ups and recover from the downs of the sport, and he’s learned how to stay level-headed on race days. “I keep it pretty mellow,” Duffy said of his mental preparation. “I feel pretty confident in the start gate, and that’s really all I need.” Though the team aspect of the sport is somewhat new to Duffy, as skiing is largely an individual sport aside from the college level, both Dodge and Wagner have seen the positive impact of his contributions to the team. In particular, his wealth of experience, being greater than that of the average collegiate skier, provides his teammates with a valuable perspective on the sport. “He’s a really receptive teammate, always willing to help,” Wagner said, “Being able to talk to him … and dissect the mental part of ski racing is a huge benefit to everyone on our team,” Members of the ski team are in regular competition with each other — toward the end of the season, only five skiers will travel to each carnival — but they’re also motivated to help each other improve. A team with just one star won’t threaten for an Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association title, and Dodge’s guys are constantly pushing each other to reach new levels. Duffy has adjusted quickly. “The camaraderie, the way the guys work together, I think Drew
really likes that, and that’s helping the national team. him ski faster,” Dodge said. Cut from the national team Duffy’s path to the Big Green last year, Duffy said, “I was in a ski team started at a young age. He great spot to join the Dartmouth comes from a family full of talented ski team and still pursue skiing at skiers. His parents met at Loon the level that I wanted to.” He is Mountain not the only skier in N e w “We’re just looking from the national Hampshire, team to end up and the rest, forward for [Duffy] skiing for the Big as they say, to continue to build Green this season. i s h i s t o r y. confidence, fine tune Kipling Weisel ’18 Growing up, is another former D u f f y a n d a few things and really U.S. skier joining his siblings try to peak for the Dartmouth for his would spend first season this the weekends NCAA championships.” year. skiing at Mad “It’s been really River Glen, -MEN’S ALPINE COACH good to have guys eventually who have raced j o i n i n g PETER DODGE ’78 really competitively a racing i n t e r n at i o n a l l y, program like Drew’s raced, with some World Cup and all close friends. The family moved that,” Wagner said. “They bring to Vermont, where Duffy and his that experience to the college brother and sister attended Green circuit, and it’s good to just know Mountain Valley School, a well- that they’ve been there, they know known ski academy in Waitsfield, what it takes.” Vermont near Sugarbush. Taking first twice and second It was there that he heard about once in the three carnivals so far, Dartmouth from the school’s staff, Dartmouth is off to a strong start many of whom attended Dartmouth this season, with Duffy leading the or Middlebury College, two of the team to the finish line in all but top ski schools in the east. two of his races. Though ski racing “The quarter system offers for can be an unpredictable sport with ski racers something that no other lots of peaks and valleys, Dodge college offers — the spring term sees a promising future for Duffy. lines up perfectly with when our Going forward, he said, “we’re just season ends,” Duffy said. This is a looking for him to continue to build great opportunity for athletes who confidence, fine tune a few things foresee a skiing career outside of and really try to peak for the NCAA school, at World Cup races or with championships.”
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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2019
Men’s basketball drops pair of tough Ivy games over weekend B y Baily DEETER
The Dartmouth Staff
The Dartmouth men’s basketball team suffered a pair of devastating losses this weekend, falling 60-58 to Brown University and 89-68 to Yale University in back-to-back home games. With the losses, the team falls to 10-10 overall and 1-3 in Ivy League play. After a strong non-conference run and a convincing victory over Ivy League powerhouse Harvard University, who is now 3-1 in the conference, everything appeared to be going Dartmouth’s way. A close loss in Cambridge evened up its conference record at 1-1, but this weekend appeared to be a way for the team to get back on track. For much of the Brown game on Friday night, it seemed that the Big Green would secure its second Ivy League victory and regain its winning conference record. The team jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first few minutes and led for most of the first half. While it entered halftime trailing 27-23, a strong second half effort gave the Big Green a 53-46 lead with fewer than four minutes remaining. “I really challenged them at halftime to get consistent, great looks and to play tougher basketball,” head coach David McLaughlin said. “I thought we did that in the final 20 minutes.” However, the Bears came back furiously in the final few minutes, sinking a pair of triples before a Tamenang Choh layup gave the Bears a one-point lead. To make matters worse, two of Dartmouth’s top scorers, Brendan Barry ’20 and James Foye ’20, fouled out in the final few minutes. While Foye didn’t foul out until the final minute, Barry’s night came to an abrupt close when he was tacked with his fifth foul with 4:44 left, putting the Big Green at a key offensive disadvantage in crunch time. Brown never trailed after Choh’s clutch layup, although the Big Green made some crucial free throws late in the game to stay in contention. Then, after a missed Brown free throw and
the Big Green down by two, Guilien Smith ’19 raced up the court in the final seconds and pulled up for a relatively uncontested three-pointer that barely rimmed out. “We work on time and score scenarios pretty consistently,” McLaughlin said. “We do a lot of it off the free throw line because that’s how it often plays out. We had the opportunity off a missed second free throw, and that’s why we got a good look.” The close loss was especially frustrating because the offense didn’t perform up to its usual standards in a couple of key categories. For starters, it turned the ball over 20 times, a season high by a wide margin. This contributed to Brown taking 11 more shots than Dartmouth on the game, which made the difference. “We made poor decisions and were soft with the ball,” Ian Sistare ’20 said. “This year we’ve done a really good job taking care of the ball, so it’s disappointing for us to have such an uncharacteristically bad performance.” Second, it only knocked down five of 20 three-pointers, a clip of 25 percent that’s far lower than its season average of around 40 percent. “I think teams are definitely guarding us differently now,” Sistare said. “In the [December game against Quinnipiac], they really pressured the ball and made us play one-on-one, which shocked us a bit. Teams know we have really good shooters and are trying to run us off the [3-point line], so we need to make good decisions when we get in the paint.” On a more positive note, the team had a strong overall defensive performance, even if it faltered in the last few minutes. Holding Brown to a mere 60 points was especially impressive given that the Bears hadn’t scored fewer than 60 points in a game since Dec. 5. Even more incredible was holding the team’s leading scorer in Desmond Cambridge to four measly points , his lowest point total all season. “We’re starting to understand the value of getting stops,” McLaughlin
EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
After fouling out of the game against Brown, Brendan Barry ’20 scored nine points in Dartmouth’s 89-68 loss to Yale.
said. “I thought our guys did a terrific job defending tonight.” Unfortunately, the same could not be said about the team’s blowout loss Saturday night to offensive juggernaut Yale. The Bulldogs put up 89 points on the day, 31 of which came from standout Miye Oni. Oni, arguably the best player Dartmouth has faced this season, had his best game of the season, scoring 24 in the second half and finishing the game with three thunderous dunks. “As simple as it is, they were just making shots,” Adrease Jackson ’21 said. “Everything was going for them, so they’re a tough team to stop especially with their athleticism and skill.” Offensively, there were some bright spots in the team’s highest-scoring game since the first Harvard game. The Big Green only turned the ball over nine times, a significant improvement from the Brown game and a performance that’s more characteristic of the team’s true abilities.
Additionally, while Brown doubleteamed leading scorer Chris Knight ’21, Yale relied more on one-on-one matchups. As a result, Knight had one of his better performances on the season, tallying 20 points, his second-highest on the season, in addition to eight rebounds. Jackson also had one of his best offensive performances of the season, providing the team with 18 points. While Knight and Jackson put up solid performances, the team’s perimeter shooting was downright bad for the second straight game. The team that has spent most of the season as a top 10 3-point shooting team in the NCAA shot a lackluster 23.8 percent from 3-point range. Yale certainly made a deliberate effort to prevent the team’s trio of guards in Barry, Foye and Sistare from getting open looks. The three combined for just seven three-point attempts, whereas Jackson, a forward, took seven alone. “You always want to get good
shooters more attempts, and you do it in a variety of ways,” McLaughlin said. “Sometimes it’s set actions and on the ball actions, and sometimes it’s purely about ball movement. We mix it up the best we can, but I thought Yale did a good job taking those guys out.” While this weekend’s homestand was disappointing, the team has a chance to avenge itself back at Leede Arena next weekend. Dartmouth will take on Cornell University next Friday night and Columbia University on Saturday, both of which are very winnable games for the team. While the team’s 1-3 conference record isn’t what it was hoping for, a sweep next weekend would vault it right back into contention at 3-3 in the conference. “It’s our job to make sure we’re ready to go on Monday,” McLaughlin said. “I told them that we’re right there, and with a good [showing] next weekend, we’ll be singing a much different tune than we are right now.”
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The Accidental Fan with Sabena Allen ’20
The Accidental Fan: Toto, I’ve a Feeling We’re Not in the Ivy League Anymore I went to my first ECHL game in December. This season, the Maine Mariners are back in Portland, affiliated with the National Hockey League’s New York Rangers. It’s been a long road to Portland and the Rangers. In the ’70s and ’80s, the Mariners were the Maine team associated with the Philadelphia
Pucks in Deep
with Sam Stockton ’19 Pucks in Deep: Why do goalies make so much less than quarterbacks? In celebration of this weekend’s Super Bowl, this week’s edition of Pucks in Deep will be a National Football League-National Hockey League crossover event. More specifically, I will explore the divergent way in which the two leagues handle the contracts of their most high impact positions. When discussing team sports, we tend to reject the notion that a single player can decide the outcome of a game on his or her own. And yet, particular players, given the obligations of their position, have a much greater chance to impact a game either positively or negatively. As for hockey and football, both sports allow one player a disproportionate sway on the outcome of a given game. In football, the quarterback, by virtue of touching the ball on every offensive play, clearly boasts an outsized influence on team success. As the Patriots have shown on an annual basis, great coaching and quarterback play can mask quite a few blemishes on a roster and take a team with mediocre talent outside the quarterback position
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
Flyers and later the Boston Bruins, but they transferred to Providence, Rhode Island and became the Providence Bruins in 1992. In the ’90s, the hole in the market was filled by the Portland Pirates, who moved to Massachusetts in 2016 to become the Springfield Thunderbirds. It turns out that the current Mariners team used to be the Anchorage Aces and then the Alaska Aces. If that sounds confusing, it is! But as someone who is from Alaska and has lived in Maine, I immediately felt a connection. If you had asked me before we went to this game who the team in Maine is, I would have said the Portland Pirates. I had never been to one of their games, but in elementary school, everyone wore their gear. I had only just moved to Maine and the concept of state sports teams was foreign to me, so the Pirates gear stood out. Going into the game this December, I knew none of this and there was a lot of discussion and Googling to figure out exactly how the Mariners were back in Maine with a fantastic new logo and very fetching jerseys.
As usual, my sports-going activity was shrouded in confusion. We were there on “Nickelodeon Night,” so the Mariners had on orange jerseys with a green splat on them. We did not get the memo about that, so I am pretty sure that for the first few minutes we were all rooting for the wrong team. They were playing the Worcester Railers who have blue and white jerseys. It’s not that I thought our color was blue, it’s just that I knew it wasn’t orange! It seems my mom and I are always at games when the players have special jerseys on, and yet we are still not used to it. The Mariners game was very different from Bruins games I’d seen. The first thing I noticed about it was that everyone was very quiet for the entire first period, and there was barely any fighting amongst the players. That has never been my experience in Boston, where it seems that everyone is screaming even before the game starts. When the Railers scored first, there was barely a reaction, and no booing. At a Bruins game, fans will even shout obscenities at their own team. When the Mariners announcer
said, “Let’s make some noise!” no one responded. Finally, one person shouted, “Go Maine!” When a small fight did break out, that was the first noise I heard from the collective crowd. After all, it is hockey. If you’re not there for the sport, you’re there for the violence. Aside from the initial lack of enthusiasm, being at a “farm team” game has other distinctions from games at TD Garden. After every Bruins goal, when the announcer says who scored and who assisted, he says “Wooo!” and the crowd repeats after him. There was a moment where the announcer at the Mariners game tried a “Wooo,” but the crowd was not having it. Things just felt different. My mom summed it up well when she said, “This is sweet.” When I was confused, she added, “being here.” And it was kind of sweet and quaint … until it wasn’t. At some point in the second period someone shouted, “Worcester sucks!” And after that, it was all over. The blows in the fights got harder, people got rowdier and the obscenities only got more … well, obscene. Once the players started
fighting, it was like Pandora’s box had been opened. After one fight, the PA even played “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” Maine fans were frustrated as their team was still down by the end of the second period. So, as people got more into the game, more intoxicated and more frustrated, they began the old-fashioned hockey tradition of screaming at the players. Truly though, these were the greatest insults I have heard at a hockey game. “This isn’t the Ivy League, you b—!” unloaded a man somewhere behind us when the Mariners were not doing well in the third period. Sounds unpleasant. After overtime and a shootout, those fans went home happy, as did we. The Mariners scored twice in the shootout and won the game. After a shockingly dull first period, it turned into an exciting game with a fun atmosphere. “People were literally sleeping in the first quarter,” my mom said, to which I replied, “I was sleeping in the first period.” We have made that mistake before. My mom is a crazy hockey fan, and yet I don’t think we will ever learn.
to a championship. Similarly, hockey games tend to come down to which goaltender can better withstand the offensive onslaught of his or her opponents. As Jaroslav Halak’s singlehanded smothering of the President’s Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in 2010, Tim Thomas’s remarkable play guiding the Boston Bruins to a Stanley Cup championship in 2011 or, more recently, Marc-Andre Fleury’s .947 save percentage for the Las Vegas Golden Knights entering last season’s Cup final can all attest, strong goaltending can carry an imperfect team on a deep playoff run. If you want an explanation as to why an underdog is making a run in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the first place to look is their goalie’s save percentage. Despite the similarities in impact, the two leagues do not compensate these position groups proportionally. To quantify this statement, the average salary of a starting quarterback on one of the 12 NFL playoff teams this season was approximately $13 million, which is roughly 7.3 percent of the $177.2 million salary cap. Conversely, the average starting goaltender of a 2018 Stanley Cup playoff team made about $5 million, or just 6.7 percent of the roughly $75 million NHL salary cap. That the average playoff starter makes nearly twice the average salary in the NFL than in the NHL is even more staggering when you consider that an NFL roster has 53 players while an NHL one has a max of 23 players. In the NFL, the 14 biggest salary cap hits this season were all quarterbacks. This year in the NHL, the highest paid goaltender in the league, Carey Price, is the third highest player overall, while the second highest paid goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, is 17th. Out of all of this, the question emerges if one of these leagues is handling the highest impact position group in its sport better than the other.
To unpack this question, let’s consider each league individually for a moment. In recent years, the NFL quarterback market has become laughable in the way that whichever quarterback who has shown himself capable of starting, much less playing well or winning playoff games, is in need of an extension becomes the highest paid quarterback ever. Last offseason, Jimmy Garoppolo became the highest-paid player in the league’s history having started just seven games. I say this not to doubt Garoppolo’s ability or deride the 49ers’ decision makers, but rather to point to the reality of the league’s contract situation — quarterbacks who have shown themselves to be capable of starting earn tremendous paydays. The NFL salary cap situation today is clouded by the decision to institute a rookie wage scale as part of the 2011 collective bargaining agreement. Veteran players, unhappy with seeing contracts like Sam Bradford’s six-year, $78 million deal signed after he was selected first overall in the 2010 draft go to rookies, supported a policy that would set a cap on the contract of a rookie based on the slot in which they were drafted. Now, eight years later, the clear consequence of that move is that players on their rookie contracts (which can last as long as five seasons) are far more valuable than any veterans, dissuading teams from adding veteran free agents unless they are legitimate stars who seldom become available anyway. With this in mind, it is no surprise that several of the playoff teams from this season had a quarterback on his rookie deal, allowing for cap flexibility in a way that a veteran quarterback with an established contract cannot. As popular as the narrative that the Patriots benefit from Tom Brady taking a paycut is, Brady’s cap hit this season is still $22 million, though I suppose it could arguably be a discount for the best quarterback of
all-time. Of course, the idea that teams should pay their star quarterbacks less is a rather dubious proposition. Advocates of this strategy would point to the recent Super Bowl titles of Nick Foles and Joe Flacco as proof that teams do not need a topend quarterback to win a title. This is true in the same way that people don’t need silverware to eat, but it certainly makes the process a whole lot easier. Not to mention that Foles and Flacco played like top-end QBs during their title runs, and the safest method of guaranteeing great quarterback play is to sign a great quarterback rather than paying less for a mediocre one and hoping he gets hot at the right time. If there is a way around sending a hefty check to a quarterback, the answer must lie in scheme. As college concepts like the Air Raid offense steadily penetrated the old-fashioned NFL, it seems more plausible that a team could endure turnover at the quarterback position and continue to perform at a high level by virtue of an offense that makes a quarterback’s job that much easier. And yet, the fact remains that the quarterback has the greatest chance to impact a game, and the better quarterback tends to win the game in the end. All this makes it seem borderline ridiculous that NHL goalies do not take home greater salaries. We can say rather definitively that no individual has a greater chance of guiding a team to postseason success than your goaltender, yet great netminders do not make as much as great skaters. Given this reality, it does not make sense for a general manager to consciously sign a star goaltender to an outsized contract, but, just as there do not seem to be 32 quarterbacks capable of leading an average NFL roster to the Super Bowl, there are not 31 goalies capable of turning their team into a playoff
contender. This number gets even worse when considering that injuries to goaltenders are far more common than to NFL quarterbacks, and that even if a starter remains 100 percent healthy, the backup must start a decent chunk of his team’s regular season games. As ever with professional sports, the answer seems to lie in exploiting inefficiencies. As such, the smart NFL GM has recognized the importance of rookie deals to their team, and the possibility of winning without a top-paid quarterback is quite appealing. Similarly, it seems only a matter of time before NHL GMs finally recognize that, as this year’s Flyers or Panthers show, without goaltending their team cannot go anywhere, prompting a dramatic spike in goalie salaries. So how would a GM exploit the current situation? Perhaps the best option for a team is to lock down a top-tier goaltender to an unusually lucrative contract and then cut cost from the rest of its defensive structure. Of course, a goalie’s numbers will suffer if surrounded by mediocre defense, but this could be masked by going all-in on dynamic offensive players. Here, I don’t mean pay a lot of money to forwards and little money to defensemen but rather to build a roster around dynamic offensive players, whether forwards or defensemen, and trust their goaltending to mask imperfections in their defending. In the end, the shocking fact is that NHL goalie salaries, despite their obvious importance, are stagnated by the sport’s collective unwillingness to recognize their importance. With this in mind, perhaps another way to attack this feature of the NHL’s marketplace would be to sign not one but two premier goalies to contracts in the $5-7 million range. Perhaps the most interesting question is whether NHL salaries will finally reflect the importance of the goaltender to the sport — and if this change does come, what will spark it?
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2019
Men’s tennis looks to repeat Ivy championship
invaluable part of the team. One of the strengths of the team, The Dartmouth Drake said, is a culture that makes After a successful season last practice fun. The players are “coming year, the Dartmouth men’s tennis into their own development and team has once again gotten off to a committed to a collective effort,” he fast start and has lofty goals for the said. remainder of the season. Broom said that the team has built Last season, Dartmouth won on success in the fall and is looking the Ivy League, finishing 20-5 and ahead to the Ivy League season, advanced to the NCAA tournament adding that he wants to keep getting before Oregon ousted them in the better despite the early success. first round. It was one of the most “I had a good season last year, but successful seasons in recent memory, I’m always critiquing how I can get and with five freshmen on the team better,” Broom said. “I want to look last year, the team anticipates an even at ways I can improve myself.” better finish this year. Horneffer said that last year’s So far this season, Dartmouth has experience helped immensely in started with preparation for a 3-2 record this year. “I had a good season and is ranked “It’s a bit easier 31st in the last year, but I’m going through last nation, with always critiquing how year and knowing resounding wh at i t t a k e s v i c t o r i e s I can get better. I want training-wise and over Indiana to look at ways I can confidence-wise in University winning matches improve myself.” a n d B r ya n t back-to-back,” he University said. as well as a -CHARLIE BROOM ’20 Ross said that thrilling win he has seen over the contributions from University every part of the of Kentucky. team, including Recently, they lost to No. 14 the younger players. Columbia University, a team that “The freshmen have really stepped will certainly be one of the Big up and everyone is grinding to do their Green’s main competitors for the part,” Ross said. Ivy League crown. One of the biggest changes The Big Green is led by standout from last year was the addition of juniors Charlie Broom ’20 and assistant coach Alex Steinroeder, David Horneffer ’20, who are top who has brought valuable coaching three on the team in singles and play experience to the Big Green. together as the top doubles team. Drake praised Steinroeder, and Dan Martin ’21, Peter Conklin said that he had actually recruited ’21 and Casey Ross ’21 are all him to Dartmouth as a player, but sophomores looking to build on Steinroeder ended up choosing to strong freshmen campaigns, and Sid play for Harvard University. Chari ’22 and Pierce Widdecombe Looking forward, the Big Green ’22 are standout freshmen who have is hoping to repeat as Ivy League contributed immediately. Champions, cementing a spot in the Head coach Chris Drake points to NCAA tournament. As players on many of the “core principles” carrying the team have pointed out, a victory over from last year as something that at the tournament would be a big has led to the team’s early success. achievement given that they lost last Despite not having any seniors this year in the first round. year, the team has run cohesively, It will be a tough road to repeat and even the freshmen, Drake said, as Ivy League champions, but the have quickly “gotten on board with players believe they have what it everything we’re doing.” He pointed takes. Drake said that the Ivy League to the unmatched camaraderie that may have as many as two to four has helped aid the loss of three players teams make the tournament this from the singles lineup last year. year, and that last year, Harvard and Drake said that one of the special Columbia made the tournament as traits of this team is that there are well. The team is looking forward contributions from every part of to the upcoming Ivy League slate as the lineup that have led to the early well as playing an extremely tough success. Broom, who is rated No. non-conference schedule coming up 27 in the nation, plays singles and against the University of Minnesota, doubles every match. Drake added the University of Memphis and that Horneffer, Martin and Conklin Drake University. are also off to good starts, and despite These are exciting times for the not playing many singles matches the Big Green, and the players and last year, Ross has become a regular coaches alike think that this will be a contributor in the lineup and an truly special season.
B y ERIC VAUGHN
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
SW 7
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY
SW 8
SPORTS
Women’s basketball slips to 1-3 record in Ivy League play
By Lili Stern
The Big Green struggled most against Harvard with rebounding. Head coach Belle Koclanes and her Despite tallying its first win of team knew as they prepared for this Ivy play at Brown University this past weekend, and Yale especially, weekend, the Dartmouth women’s that rebounding would be key. basketball team slipped into a tie Sure enough, in Dartmouth’s win for last place in the Ivy League with against Brown, they pulled in more a loss in New rebounds than Haven against “If we set our own tone the Bears, and Yale University against a bigger at the very beginning this weekend. Yale team, the C o n s e c u t i v e of the game instead of Big Green lost losses against having to fight back, the battle of the H a r v a r d boards 52-34. then it shows the refs University in “ A s i t s f i r s t t w o that this is how we play. a l w a y s, Ya l e games of is a very, very We’re aggressive from conference play physical team, gave the Big the jump, and that’s just Koclanes said. Green an 0-2 our basketball. We’re “They’re big, record heading they’re strong, i n t o i t s f i r s t not fouling.” t h ey ’re wo rk back-to-back horses. We knew weekend. After that. We had -ISALYS QUINONES ’19 a confidence a great game boosting win in plan in place, Providence, a slow start on Yale but we knew that they outmatch home court dug Dartmouth into us physically speaking. And so we a hole that it couldn’t climb out have to find a different way to win, of. Coming out of the weekend, knowing we’re going to lose that the Big Green holds a 1-3 record physicality battle.” in Ivy play. The game plan included using
The Dartmouth Staff
speed, smarts and Dartmouth’s strong shooting ability to draw Yale’s bigger players out of the lane to make room for the post players to go to work, and for the guards to drive. However, the Big Green was unable to execute on the boards in the first quarter, earning it a deficit from which Koclanes’ game plan could not recover. Key players getting into foul trouble early has been another element of the Big Green’s struggles this year. Against Yale, starting forwards Isalys Quinones ’19 and Paula Lenart ’20 both had to sit out early in the game due to foul trouble, hampering the Big Green’s efforts against an already bigger team in the Bulldogs. However, Quinones thinks this problem can be fixed with how the Big Green sets the tone for the game. “If we set our own tone at the very beginning of the game instead of having to fight back, then it shows the refs that this is how we play,” Quinones said. “We’re aggressive from the jump, and that’s just our basketball. We’re not fouling.” The Big Green have lost the first quarter in three of their first
four games of Ivy play, save only remainder of the season. Harvard, and have had trouble “I was really pleased with our recovering. Quinones thinks that effort and our execution of our striking first, in terms of pace, tone game plan,” she said. “We were and scoring, will be key moving really focused from tip to buzzer.” forward. Next week, the Big Green will “I think Yale taught us a lot look to even its record on the road about being against Cornell a g g r e s s i v e , “I think Yale taught University and throwing an d Co lu m b i a us a lot about being the first U n i v e r s i t y. p u n c h , ” aggressive, and Neither team Quinones to beat, throwing the first punch. isbuteasy s a i d . “A n d the stakes if we don’t And if we don’t throw are higher for throw the first the first punch, then Dartmouth’s punch, then squad at Cornell. p u n c h i n g punching back, and not Koclanes has yet back, and not getting dug deep into a to win a game g ettin g dug in Ithaca in her hole like we did in the deep into a six-year tenure, hole like we first quarter.” and after a did in the first heartbreaking quarter.” 51-49 loss on a -ISALYS QUINONES ’19 According buzzer beater in to Koclanes, the Big Green’s the Big final game of last G r e e n ’ s season, she and ability to stay the course against her team are ready for a different Brown and keep focus was a big ending. component to its victory and “I know our returners are something that the Big Green excited to get back up there and hopes to carry forward into the change that storyline,” she said.
Women’s hockey secures first win of 2019 over Brown, 5-2
By JAKE JOHNSON The Dartmouth
For the first time in 2019, Dartmouth women’s hockey emerged from this past weekend with a win. Not only did the team upset close conference rival Brown University 5-2, but the team set a season-high goal tally in the process. Eight players combined for 14 total points, which is the type of production this team has been on the verge of all season long. The next day, however, the team fell 2-0 to Yale University. Captain Christina Rombaut ’20 opened up the scoring against Brown just 25 seconds into the game. That would be the first of three points by the captain, the next two coming on assists. Most teams do not get to see such a drastic change of results very often. And for the few times that teams do see something like that, there is usually something tangible to point to that caused the change of narrative. “Recently, we’ve been really
struggling with our second period Brown, throwing in a pair of points, play,” Rombaut said. “We usually split between a goal and an assist. come in strong in the first, and “I think we were just finding the really lack our effort in the second.” open lanes a lot better,” Bracken Similarly, head coach Laura said when asked what allowed Schuler said about the team’s the team to emerge with a season past second period high total in struggles, “I think “I think we were just p o i n t s . it’s just a lack of “Lines were finding the open lanes mental focus.” starting to But the score a lot better. Lines click and we sheets indicate that were starting to click were getting was not the case chemistry. It a g a i n s t B row n . and we were getting was great.” The Big Green chemistry. It was Open scored a pair in lanes led great.” the first period to a better and then kept the performance energ y high by -CHRISTINA ROMBAUT ’20 for the team matching that total than any in the second. other game Several Big Green players have this season. It has been a common emerged on the score sheet at least theme all season long for the Big once in the season, leaving a three- Green to match or even exceed their way tie for first in point totals. Two opponent’s shot totals, yet still come of those point scorers are first-years up short. In the team’s loss to Yale Sara McClanahan ’22 and Lotti on Saturday, both teams registered Odnoga ’22, and the other is the just over 30 shots (Dartmouth even senior Tess Bracken ’19. Bracken edged off Yale in the shot totals added to her point total against battle, 32-30), but Yale emerged
with a shutout. Despite the win against Brown, the team still has a lot to work on. Bracken pointed out that the team found several open lanes in the Brown game, but Schuler thinks the problem is still around. “We have to find ways for our forwards, working a little bit harder, being a little bit grittier to find those second and third chances,” Schuler said. “As well as our [defense] getting pucks through to the net. We’re definitely hitting into too many shins and that’s something that we have to keep working on to get better at.” The season is coming to a close; only two home games, against Clarkson University and St. Lawrence University, remain out of six games left on the schedule for the women’s team. There are a couple of things to look forward to as this season comes to a close. First, the team still has some opportunities to add to the win column. Brown and Union College still play host to Dartmouth once more each in the conclusion of the season, and the
Big Green handily defeated both of those teams at home this year. “Being able to play these teams again — we are really excited, and hopefully we’ll get a few more wins here at the end of the season,” Rombaut said. There is one more thing to look forward to if you’re a die hard Big Green hockey fan ... the future. This team has an incredibly talented young core. Three of the top five scorers are first-years: Gabby Billing ’22, McClanahan and Odnoga. If nothing else, these players are picking up a year of experience this season and are going to come back next year and tear up the ice. “They’ve come in and they’ve made a huge impact right away,” Bracken said. “All of them are really skilled. They love to play hockey and it shows when they’re on the ice, and I think as they go forward they’re just going to make bigger impacts every year. And they’re just going to keep getting better and better and I’m really excited to see what happens.”