The Dartmouth 03/25/2019

03.25.19

Baseball starts conference play strong after tough Florida trip p. 5 The Redshirt Senior: Nobody’s Perfect, but Don’t Pick Duke p.6 Hockey falls in ECAC quarterfinal after first round victory p. 8

Softball swept in first Ivy series after challenging spring break p. 5 COURTESY OF THE DARTMOUTH ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT

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MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

The weekend Roundup

SOFTBALL

Compiled by THE DARTMOUTH sports STAFF

Baseball The Dartmouth baseball team (7-11, 2-1 Ivy) played its first games of Ivy League play against Princeton University (4-13, 1-2 Ivy) this weekend, winning the series 2-1 on the road. The Big Green came out with a bang on Friday, beating the Tigers 23-3 in the first game and finishing off the double-header with a 10-8 victory in the afternoon.

The Big Green recorded 21 hits on 45 at bats in the first game in a strong performance. In the second game, the Green and White trailed

the Tigers 6-5 entering the ninth, but a two-run double from Ubaldo Lopez ’21 and a two-run homer from Trevor Johnson ’20 were enough to secure a victory. Sunday morning, however, Dartmouth’s bats froze up, and they could only muster two runs on seven hits in an 8-2 loss.

The Big Green will travel to face Quinnipiac University on Wednesday, and then will head to New York City for a three-game set against Columbia next weekend.

COURTESY OF THE DARTMOUTH ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT

The softball team was swept by Columbia University on the road in its first series of Ivy League play.

M GOLF Big Green men’s golf competed at the Furman Invitational in Greenville, South Carolina this weekend, finishing ninth out of a 21-team field behind Sam Ohno’s ’21 solid play. Ohno parred on 29 of the first 36 holes, helping him to finish with a tournament best score

of 41 in three rounds. James Turner ’21 had a great season debut after recovering from an injury, finishing two spots behind Ohno.

Dartmouth travels to play Brown University and Cornell University this weekend in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Dartmouth was swept by Columbia this weekend in a three-game series, dropping to a 3-17 record overall and 0-3 in Ivy play. After holding a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning in the series opener on Saturday, the Big Green gave up three runs in the sixth to seal a 5-4 loss. On Sunday morning, Dartmouth again claimed an early lead but fell 9-1 after a run by the Lions.

Despite strong offensive performances in the final game of the series from Billie McFadyen ’22, Calista Almer ’20 and Morgan Martinelli ’19, Columbia came out on top 6-4 through aggressive plate appearances.

The Big Green looks to bounce back as it hosts the University of Pennsylvania this weekend.

TRACK AND FIELD Zachary ZacharyBenjamin Benjamin’19 ’19

Debora Hyemin Han ’20 Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief

Hanting Hanting Guo Guo ’19 ’19

Aidan Sheinberg ’20 Publisher Publisher Publisher

Ioana IoanaSolomon Solomon’19 ’19

03.25.19 Vol.CLXXV CLXXVI No. 4.30.18 4.23.18 Vol. Vol. CLXXV No. No. 27 211

Amanda AmandaZhou Zhou ’19 Alex Fredman ’20 ’19 Executive Editors Executive Editors Executive Editor

Luke Gitter ’21 Mark Cui ’19 Justin Kramer ’21 Justin Kramer ’21 Samantha Hussey Lili Stern ’22 ’20 Associate Sports Editor Sports Editors Sports Editors Divya DivyaKopalle Kopalle Kopalle’21 ’21 ’21 Divya Michael MichaelLin Lin Lin’21 ’21 ’21 Michael Photography PhotographyEditors Editors Editors Photography Jaclyn Jaclyn Eagle Eagle ’19 ’19 Hattie Newton ’21 Templating TemplatingEditor Editor Editor Templating

The men’s and women’s track and field teams headed off to the Sunshine State this weekend to compete in the University of North Florida’s Spring Break Invitational. The event was non-scoring, but the Big Green teams posted impressive showings.

For the women, Lauren Sapone ’20 took first place in the meet in the 3000m steeplechase, finishing in 10:24.84. Teammate Rachel Ludwikowski ’21 finished 25 seconds behind her, making her the bronze finisher. The Big Green took four of the top six finishes in the high jump, with Maria Garman ’19 leading the pack by earning second place with a 1.77m jump. Alexa Jennings ’19 finished second in the 800m with

a time of 2:10.58. Finally, Lily Anderson ’19 capped off the weekend with a first-place finish in the 5000m, crossing in 17:00.93, 13 seconds ahead of the second-place runner.

Three athletes on the men’s team also finished in the top three of their respective events. The Big Green showed its most dominant performance in the 400m hurdles, in which Parker Johnson ’19 and Max Frye ’21 took second and third place with times of 52.89 and 53.30, respectively.

Donovan Spearman ’21 finished second in the 200m, posting a 21.22 second finish.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete next at the UMass Invitational in Amherst, Massachusetts on April 6.

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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

W TENNIS

DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Women’s tennis faced a tough matchup in Dallas, falling to Southern Methodist University 6-1.

The Big Green women’s tennis team fell to Southern Methodist University 6-1 on Friday and is now 3-11 this season with a seven-game ongoing losing streak. SMU took the No. 1 and 3 doubles positions heading into singles.

Four consecutive singles victories for the Mustangs put

Dartmouth away. Dartmouth’s singles win came from Chuyang Guan ’20, who took the final two sets of her match after losing the first to seal a victory.

The Big Green travels to Harvard next Saturday to open Ivy League play.

M Tennis The No. 45 men’s tennis team narrowly beat out Utah State University on Saturday 4-3 and Rice University yesterday 4-1 to win the 61st Ralph O’Connor Rice Invitational, improving to 11-5 overall.

On Saturday, doubles wins in the No. 2 and 3 spots respectively from teammates Peter Conklin ’21 and Casey Ross ’21 as well as Dan Martin ’21 and John Speicher ’21 helped Dartmouth take an early lead heading into singles. Martin continued his strong play, taking his singles match in two sets. Teammates Sid Chari ’22 and Charlie

Broom ’20 won in three sets each to secure the victory for Dartmouth.

On Sunday, the Big Green swept in doubles with a victory from Broom and David Horneffer ’20 on court one and another from Speicher and Martin on court three. In singles, Dartmouth claimed victory in all matches save the one on court one.

The Big Green will prepare for Ivy League play for the next two weeks, and then will travel to face Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania to kick off conference play.

M LACROSSE T he Dartmouth men’s lacrosse team (2-5, 0-1 Ivy) dropped its Ivy League opener to Harvard University (4-4, 1-1 Ivy) on Saturday in Hanover.

A career-high 17 saves from freshman goalie Daniel Hincks ’22 was not enough to stave off the Crimson offense, which

outscored the Big Green 12-9.

Matt Paul ’21 led Dartmouth’s offense with four goals, with Ben Martin ’20 adding two more.

The Big Green will look to even their Ivy League record this Saturday in Ithaca with an afternoon game against Cornell University.

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W LACROSSE In a dominant performance, the Dartmouth women’s lacrosse team (4-3, 2-0 Ivy) toppled Columbia University (3-7, 0-3 Ivy) on the road, beating the Lions 21-2. The 19-goal margin is the Big Green’s largest in an Ivy League game in nearly 40 years of play. The Big Green boasted eight goal scorers, with Campbell Brewer ’19 leading the way with a career-high six goals. Kellen D’Alleva ’19 paced the Big Green in points, earning seven on six assists and a goal.

Kathryn Giroux ’19 notched 15 draw controls, the most in a

regular season conference game in Ivy League history. Giroux’s record-setting night put her at 316 draws in her career, which was enough to move her into first place all-time in the Ivy League.

The Big Green goalkeepers, Katie Forman ’21 and Becca Wade ’22, saved five shots cumulatively while allowing just two goals.

Dartmouth returns home to Hanover to kick off a four-game homestand at Scully-Fahey Field Tuesday afternoon, taking on on Hofstra University and then Harvard University on Saturday.

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MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2019

Baseball starts conference play strong after tough Florida trip

B y Baily Deeter

The Dartmouth Staff

While the Dartmouth baseball team was able to escape the cold during its spring break trip to Florida, it was not able to escape difficult competition.

The team finished 1-6 on a sevengame trip including matchups against Wayne State University, the University of South Florida and Bradley University.

While pitching and defense were solid on the trip, the offense struggled, scoring three runs or less in all six losses. However, the Big Green turned the tables during a series this weekend against Princeton University, winning two out of three games and combining to score 35 runs to improve to 7-11.

The Big Green rode momentum into Florida, having won three consecutive games during its trip to North Carolina.

Dartmouth won two games against Farleigh Dickinson University and a third against Saint Joseph’s University in the Army Baseball Classic, bringing the team’s record to 4-4 in advance of

the Florida trip.

However, Dartmouth found itself on the wrong end of a close game in its spring break opener versus Wayne State.

The Big Green lost a pitchers’ duel 3-2, failing to score in the final five innings and losing a chance to tie the game with a runner on-base in the ninth inning.

South Florida, arguably the team’s toughest opponent this season, swept Dartmouth in the next series. Since Ivy League schools cannot give out athletic scholarships like South Florida and other top programs do; playing against scholarship programs is naturally a tough challenge for the Big Green and others in the Ivy League.

“South Florida is really good,” co-captain Cole O’Connor ’19 said.

“They’re always in the top 50 in [Ratings Percentage Index]. They can get some of the bigger horses that we can’t, but we compete with them pretty well.”

While the second game was a 16-1 blowout, Dartmouth kept the other two games relatively close in 7-3 and 4-1 defeats. In the opener, Dartmouth

brought a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning before surrendering six runs and ultimately falling short.

“Results obviously matter, and even though we were close in some, we couldn’t get the wins we wanted,” co-captain Matt Feinstein ’19 said.

But there were bright spots in spite of the sweep, including a couple of freshman standouts. Justin Murray ’22 pitched phenomenally in the opener, surrendering just one run in 6.1 innings.

Nathan Skinner ’22 had a similar performance in the series finale, giving up three runs in his 6.1 innings and shutting out the Bulls through his first six.

“The freshman pitchers have really stepped up when we’ve needed them,” said infielder Bryce Daniel ’22, who got his first hit over the break. “A lot of the older guys were injured on the trip, so their performance was huge.”

The Big Green then moved on to face Bradley, and their fortunes turned with a stellar 6-2 victory to start the series. Ubaldo Lopez ’21 hit two home

runs, including the decisive grand slam in the ninth inning, and accounted for all six of the team’s RBIs. “He’s put in a lot of work,” O’Connor said of Lopez. “We were all very excited to see that pay off for him.”

Dartmouth dropped its next two contests to fall to 1-6 on the trip overall, which was disappointing from a win-loss standpoint. However, the experience of playing against top-notch competition will certainly benefit the Big Green heading into Ivy League play.

“We always play a strong schedule at the beginning, which allows us to be locked in and ready to go [the rest of the season],” Feinstein said. “Even if we’re not getting wins out of them, as long as we’re competing and playing our best baseball, it’s good experience and puts us in a really good position.”

Even though the team’s record suffered on the trip, Dartmouth has many reasons to be hopeful for the remainder of the season.

“We’ve been fielding the ball great defensively, and our pitching has been

strong,” Feinstein said. “We’re kind of waiting for the bats to heat up, and once they do, we’ll be in a good position to win a lot of games.”

While the offense struggled on the Florida trip, it answered Feinstein’s call against Princeton this weekend. In the first game, Dartmouth exploded for an incredible 23 runs, which exceeded the team’s scoring total from the entire seven-game Florida trip and easily bested Princeton’s three runs. Logan Adams ’21 hit two home runs and drove in six while Feinstein scored four times on two hits. In the second game, a 10-8 victory, the offense had another tremendous performance.

Even after a long road trip over break, the Big Green still has five more consecutive road games. However, the tables will turn late in Ivy League play, as 11 of their final 12 games will be in the friendly confines of Red Rolfe Field in Hanover. With more home games around the corner and Ivy League play just beginning, there is certainly reason to be optimistic for an exciting spring.

Softball swept in first Ivy series after challenging spring break B y KAITLYN lees The Dartmouth

The softball team traveled to California over spring break to play a challenging slate of games in preparation for upcoming Ivy League play. The team competed in the California State University Northridge/Loyola Marymount University Tournament and played a total of seven games out west before returning to the East Coast for its conference opener against Columbia University. As the defending Ivy League co-champions with Harvard University, the team is looking to build upon last season’s success after hiring new head coach Jennifer Williams.

The Big Green traditionally start their season with a difficult nonconference schedule. Williams believes that a challenging schedule is necessary to determine and address weak points early in the season.

“It means that you have some frustrating games, but we’ve also had to confront and work through a lot of things

now with the goal that we will not have to do that in Ivy League play — that we’ll be able to work through things quickly and productively in conference play,” Williams said.

Already, Dartmouth has played the top two teams in the country: Florida State University and the University of Oklahoma, the latter being its first opponent over spring break. Despite only trailing by one run through the first four innings, Dartmouth’s matchup against Oklahoma resulted in a 10-0 loss for the Big Green.

After a shortened 11-2 loss to California State University Northridge, the team took on California Polytechnic State University and California Baptist University and fell short with close 5-4 defeats. Dartmouth trailed by four after the fifth inning against Cal Poly, but a late surge in the last two innings almost tied the game. Co-captain Morgan Martinelli ’19 doubled and Micah Schroder ’20 homered to get two runs in the sixth, and Schae Nelson ’21 plated Emily Lipsett ’22 on a triple in the seventh, but the last

two batters could not drive Nelson home.

In the next game, the Big Green was tied 4-4 against Cal Baptist until the bottom of the seventh when the Lancers walked off on a sacrifice fly. Co-captain Taylor Ward ’19 and Billie McFadyen ’22 both said they were impressed with how the team gained confidence throughout the week and came together as a team in the close games. Williams added that although Cal Poly and Cal Baptist were well-played games, the players know they have more in them.

“We want them to be able to take pride in what they’ve accomplished and the progress they’ve made, but also not be satisfied with where they are and be looking for the next steps,” she said.

After a shutout loss to Loyola Marymount University, Dartmouth bounced back with a 10-9 win against CSUN. Dartmouth had 15 hits total, with four players recording three hits and Ward driving in six of the 10 runs.

The Big Green scored all 10 of their runs before the fifth inning, and Heather Turner ’21 held on for the save after

CSUN had strong fifth and sixth innings.

According to Martinelli, the CSUN win marked a change in mentality for the team and showed the team’s potential entering Ivy League play.

“It was definitely a team win,” she said. “It took every single person. It took our batters being on, our pitchers being on and our defense being able to lock it up.”

Williams also pointed to how the team gradually worked better together over break.

“A lot of what we’re trying to do with these games is figure out what our team identity is,” she said. “I think one of the biggest things that happened over the course of this past week was the team really pulling together to decide what their collective mission is — what they’re going to be thinking about as a group every single game.”

The team hoped that a unified identity would act as a catalyst at the start of Ivy League play. After concluding their California stretch with a 9-1 loss to California State University Fullerton,

the team traveled to New York City to commence conference play against Columbia.

To end the break, Dartmouth was swept by Columbia in a three-game series. In the first game, the Big Green fell 5-4. Tessa Grossman ’20 had her first career homerun, bringing in three runs. Schroder also had a strong day at the plate with a triple, double and a run scored. The game was close, as the Big Green held a 4-1 lead through the top of the fourth inning before Columbia came back with several runs late in the game to take the lead.

Columbia finished off its sweep with a pair of wins in Sunday’s doubleheader, outscoring the Big Green 9-1 and 6-4 respectively. In the first game of the day, the Big Green recorded a run in the first inning, giving it an early 1-0 lead before losing its footing and giving up nine unanswered runs in the remaining innings. In the final game of the series, despite recording nine hits to the Lions’ eight, the Big Green could not seal its first win of Ivy competition.

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tidbit for the number one overall team in the tournament. Which team did I pick? A magician never reveals his secrets.

Now to the games themselves. One of the most impressive teams to me so far has been the No. 5 seed Auburn University Tigers. The team’s first game against No. 12 seed New Mexico State University was close, but the end of the game was a perfect example of hilariously awful basketball. It featured:

The Redshirt Senior with Evan Griffith ’18

The Redshirt Senior: Nobody’s Perfect, but Don’t Pick Duke

• Auburn committing a turnover while up by two late • New Mexico State driving late only down two, passing out of an open layup for a 3-pointer • Auburn then FOULING that player chucking a heave of a 3 • That New Mexico State player then missing two of the three free throws • A wide-open 3 by New Mexico State that got air-balled at the end

If you’re like me and spent your spring break researching and overthinking your bracket, you were rewarded with a great set of opening round games this past Auburn won 78-77. The team weekend. You were also rewarded with certainly improved in its next game, a busted bracket, as no perfect brackets defeating the University of Kansas 89remain on ESPN’s Tournament 75. Senior guard Bryce Brown finished Challenge app. The 1 in 9.2 quintillion with 25 points while shooting 7-11 odds are no joke; all brackets were busted from 3, a strong rebounding effort (no by the beginning of the second round. pun intended) after only shooting 2-8 Speaking briefly about the popular from 3 against New Mexico State. The picks for postseason champion, there Tigers are well-prepared to take on the was an easy favorite. In both of my pools, University of North Carolina at Chapel two-thirds of the participants picked Hill next weekend.

Duke University to win it all. My only It was also a stressful weekend question is: why? for some of From a value the No. 1 standpoint, if “In both of my pools, twoseeds in the Duke has a 25 thirds of the participants tournament. percent chance B o t h of winning the picked Duke University to Duke and tour nament, win it all. My only question Gonzaga the team also University has a 75 percent is: why? From a value beat their chance of not standpoint, if Duke has a 25 respective w i n n i n g. I f percent chance of winning opponents, D u k e w i n s, N o r t h and most other the tournament, the team Dakota State people in your also has a 75 percent University bracket pool and Fairleigh picked Duke, chance of not winning.”

Dickinson your individual University, chances of relatively winning the pool are still low. However, handily, but the other two No. 1 seeds, if Duke loses, and everyone except you North Carolina and the University of in your bracket pool picked Duke to win, Virginia, could have done more to prove your chances of winning the pool are a that last year’s 16-over-1 upset was just lot higher. Not to mention that Duke is a fluke. the worst 3-point shooting team in the As I was driving to Hanover this entire tournament — an interesting weekend, I was listening to the radio

broadcast of the Colgate UniversityUniversity of Tennessee game. Toward the end of the first quarter, I heard an update that Virginia was losing by 12 to No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb University with about a minute to go in the first quarter. I immediately stopped at the next exit and found a way to listen to that game while thinking to myself, “Here we go again.” For a mid-major team out of the *checks notes* Big South conference, Gardner-Webb had done well for itself, beating two Atlantic Coast Conference teams and upsetting Radford University for the Big South conference title. Also, the team’s mascot is a Bulldog. Virginia lost to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Retrievers last year.

It almost made too much sense.

Then at halftime, Tony Bennett must have said something profoundly motivating because Virginia outscored

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2019

Gardner-Webb 41-20 in the second half to win 71-56.

Likewise, on Saturday night, UNC suffered a similarly slow first half against the champions of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Iona College.

Iona’s strong first half was in part due to senior point guard Rickey McGill, who posted a stat line of 26 points and four steals while shooting 7-9 from beyond the 3-point line. Iona is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament either, making the tournament six out of eight years under head coach Tim Cluess. Iona had the tournament experience to make sure that No. 16 vs. No. 1 matchup a tough one and they did deliver in the first half, leading UNC 38-33.

Roy Williams must have also said something profoundly motivating at halftime, probably with a lot more “dadgummits,” because UNC won the

game 88-73.

The first weekend was a disappointing one for the Ivy League, as Yale University lost a close game against No. 3 seed Louisiana State University.

LSU seemed to control the game from the start, owning a 45-29 halftime lead and holding Ivy League Player of the Year Miye Oni to only five points, but Yale came storming back in the second half to bring the game within five points.

It was too little, too late, however, as LSU won the fouling game to hold that five-point lead as time expired. Maybe next year for the Ivy League.

The Madness continues next week, and there are plenty of good games to watch. Either No. 13 seed University of California, Irvine or No. 12 seed University of Oregon will have made it to the Sweet 16, so keep an eye out for whichever Cinderella makes it through.

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2019

Pucks in Deep

with Sam Stockton ’19 Pucks in Deep: Kyle and Mike At the helm of the Toronto Maple Leafs — the National Hockey League’s premier franchise in the midst of one of the best seasons in team history, yet struggling since the trade deadline much to the chagrin of the NHL’s most passionate and neurotic fan base — are Kyle Dubas and Mike Babcock. Dubas, 33, is in his first season as the Leafs’ general manager. Babcock, 55, came to Toronto in 2015, signing an eight-year, $50 million contract — making him the NHL’s highest paid coach.

Despite this being Dubas’ first season as GM, it feels as though he has been fire tested enough for a 10-year vet.

In his short tenure in Toronto, Dubas has signed one of the biggest free agents in NHL history; signed the first two of the Maple Leafs’ homegrown superstars (William Nylander and Auston Matthews); and acquired a top-pairing worthy defenseman in Jake Muzzin. He has also had to listen every day to the incorrigible Toronto media insist that the Leafs’ cap situation is not tenable and discuss the fact that Mitch Marner — the final of the Leafs’ young faces of their rebuild — still needs an extension.

Meanwhile, Babcock’s resume as a head coach is spotless: three Stanley Cup Final appearances, one Stanley Cup championship, two Olympic gold medals and one World Cup of Hockey gold medal. He is the only coach to ever win the Stanley Cup, Olympic gold, the World Cup, the World Championship and the World Junior. In many ways, he is the closest thing hockey has to Bill Belichick, with a thick Saskatchewan accent thrown in. He’s an X’s and O’s expert, cagey with the media when

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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

discussing anything other than the nuances of the game he coaches. Where Belichick is eager to explain the intricacies of a particular punt coverage, Babcock leaps at the opportunity to explain the vital importance of a right-handed defenseman playing on the right side of the ice.

However, despite his resume, Babcock’s #hockeytwitter critics are numerous. They point out that his last appearance in the Cup Final was in 2009 (a completely different era of NHL play); that Canada’s international rosters are all-star teams requiring little tactical genius to advance; that he is too stubborn in his philosophy; that he overplays mediocre players like Nikita Zaitsev and Ron Hainsey while regularly demoting his young stars and restricting their minutes; and that he refuses to give players he doesn’t trust any real chance at meaningful ice time.

Last week, Elliotte Friedman, hockey’s version of Adrian Wojnarowski, led his “31 Thoughts” column on Sportsnet with a discussion of the widening rift between the august coach and green general manager. Friedman suggested that the mounting tension rests on the collision between two tremendously driven and competitive individuals, confident in their own methods. To summarize Friedman’s assertions, Babcock doubts that Dubas’ analytically driven method, which prizes speed and skill over size and grit, can deliver a Stanley Cup. Since that column, it has been reported that Dubas and Babcock met to discuss their supposed rift. Perhaps more tellingly, Babcock said on the day of the Muzzin trade, “There’s no question about it: It’s not perfect, it’s what we got. It’s what was available and we’re going to make it work,” which some pundits perceived as an indirect slight against Dubas. I bring this up to show that whatever tension exists between the two is more than just the chatter of tabloid media. Both involved parties have acknowledged the situation, and Babcock’s own words have fanned that flame.

Before going forward, I would like to say plainly: Despite this tension, the Leafs could win one or several Cups with the combination of Dubas and Babcock in charge. The 1985 Chicago Bears won a championship and established themselves as one of the all-time great NFL teams with a coach and defensive coordinator who openly hated one

another in Mike Ditka and Buddy Ryan.

In the end, winning tends to heal most wounds, and,though Ryan left for a head coaching position of his own, the two were able to set their personal distaste aside as the team kept succeeding. It is no coincidence that this story about Dubas and Babcock come out with the Leafs in the midst of an ill-timed extended slump, something every NHL team, whether a cellar dweller or Cup contender, endures in any given season.

What we have here is a central tension in American sports. Unlike European soccer clubs, most teams are assembled by one person (a general manager or president of operations) responsible for scouting and assembling talent, with a head coach responsible for player development and getting the most of the assembled talent. These two fulltime jobs require different skill sets, but

of course, symbiosis between GM and coach is necessary for success as the two must share a common understanding of how they want to play.

As a brief aside, the obvious master of this craft is Belichick, who serves effectively as both coach and talent assembler of the New England Patriots.

No one is better than Belichick at identifying particular skills in players that will fit into a scheme he knows will succeed if executed to perfection.

Belichick must rely on a scouting staff he trusts to have time to balance both roles.

If we consider the paradigm I established, in which one individual assembles talent and the other maximizes it, I find myself sympathetic with Dubas.

Since his late-2000s Red Wings — with their ridiculous puck possession gifts — turned me on to the potential

for hockey, even playoff hockey, to be not a street brawl but a ballet, closely choreographed while allowing room for its highly skilled dancers to exercise their own creativity, I have considered Babcock the best coach in hockey. (Here, I must confess I don’t know anything about ballets, and perhaps such ballets do not exist.) However, I believe both in Dubas’ philosophy and in the talent he has assembled. As it currently stands, I do not think Babcock’s reluctance to provide opportunities for players like Nic Petan or Justin Holl and his regular demotions of young forwards like Andreas Johnsson or Nylander maximize this talent.

However, I do not wish this resolution to be read as choosing Dubas over Babcock. In reality, the Maple Leafs’ struggles right now are likely due to the SEE STOCKTON PAGE 8

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SPORTS

Hockey falls in ECAC quarterfinal after first round victory

B y Addison Dick

The Dartmouth Staff

The men’s hockey team’s season ended on March 16 with a 3-4 overtime loss to Harvard University, as the Big Green fell to the Crimson for the second straight year in the Eastern College Athletic Conference quarterfinals.

In the first round of the tournament, No. 5 seed Dartmouth took on St. Lawrence University, the lowest seed in the competition. In the first game of the best-of-three series at Thompson Arena on March 8, Drew O’Connor ’22 and Quin Foreman ’21 — the team’s top two goals scorers — started the scoring while Collin Rutherford ’21 netted the deciding third goal late in the second period as the Big Green won 3-2.

Game two proved to be frustrating for the Big Green, which lost 3-2 in overtime despite registering 60 shots on goal to SLU’s 24 attempts. Dartmouth leaned on goals from rookies Jeff Losurdo ’22 and O’Connor, but St. Lawrence goaltender Daniel Mannella’s strong play limited the Big Green’s offense.

“It’s frustrating, no question, when you put up that amount of shots because you have the puck a lot, and it takes a lot

of work to actually get to that point,” head coach Bob Gaudet ’81 said. “The goalie was just fabulous. I give them credit.”

Mannella finished with 58 saves, and the Saints scored with less than three minutes left in the first overtime period to send the series to a decisive game three the following night.

Entering game three, Gaudet knew the team would need to rebound from a heartbreaking loss.

“The guys were very upbeat, focused and positive, and it showed from the very start of the game,” Gaudet said.

Dartmouth dominated the Saints, securing a place in the quarterfinals with an 8-0 win. Dartmouth was fueled by five second-period goals, and St. Lawrence substituted Mannella out of the game before the halfway mark. Seven different players found the back of the net for the Big Green, including two goals from Will Graber ’20.

Gaudet believed the team’s offensive adjustments led to the high scoring output in the game.

“We really got to [Mannella],” he said. “We got in front of him, took his sightlines away, we got pucks to the net and we were very efficient and crisp.

We kept on the same mode of getting

Despite drama, Leafs are in good playoff position FROM STOCKTON PAGE 7

flu running through the locker room and the absence of key defensemen Travis Dermott and Jake Gardiner. As I wrote in January, this Maple Leafs season will be defined by its playoff success or lack thereof. When I rewatch footage of Nicklas Lidström, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk destroying worlds under Babcock’s instruction in the 2008 Stanley

Cup Final, I am confident that it will be he and Dubas who eventually lead the Leafs to a drought-ending Stanley Cup championship. The challenge for Leafs Nation will be respecting the pair’s respective resumes enough to spare them a bit of patience. If they do, Toronto fans will finally be out from under the 1967 chirps and celebrate one of the most talented and entertaining teams in the NHL.

pucks to the net. Our team came back and showed a lot of character in losing a tough game that we played very well in [by] coming back and finding a way to win decisively. It speaks a lot of our team.”

Dartmouth goaltender Adrian Clark ’20 said the team showed the mental and physical toughness necessary to advance.

“I wasn’t sure if they were going to have the legs or mental will to think that they would be able to win, but it was really impressive,” he said. “The guys stuck with it and came back with just as much, if not more, effort the next night.”

Clark had himself a night to remember, as he recorded his sixth shutout of the season, the most by any Dartmouth goaltender in a single season.

“It was probably one of the highlights of the season, just to have my name go down in the Dartmouth hockey record books like that,” Clark said. “Especially towards the end of the season, guys started blocking shots, so that makes my job easier.”

Gaudet, a former goaltender for Dartmouth himself, said he was proud of Clark. Even though the Big Green had the game in hand following the second period, Gaudet knew what was at stake and left Clark in net.

“He’s a very quiet guy and unassuming, and he goes out and does his job,” Gaudet said. “He’s a very humble guy that works really hard. I think he got into a zone. He played very well taking over the starting job this year and then clicking into gear the second half of the season. He was one of our key players and a backbone of our team.”

The Big Green took on Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts the next weekend for the best-of-three quarterfinal series. In the first game of the series, Dartmouth lit the lamp first when Ryan Blankemeier ’20 scored his second goal in as many games. Harvard responded quickly, and the teams remained tied at one in the third period. With less

than nine minutes remaining, Harvard forward Adam Fox found the back of the net on a give-and-go to give the Crimson its first lead of the night. An empty-net goal followed, and the Big Green dropped the game 3-1. Gaudet, however, was happy with his team’s performance against a talented, well-rested Harvard squad, and he praised Fox’s play. Fox is one of this year’s ten finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, which is given to the top player in college hockey.

With its back against the wall, the Big Green started its second game with two goals in the opening three minutes.

Brendan Demler ’21 opened the scoring, and O’Connor followed soon thereafter.

O’Connor’s goal was his team-leading 17th goal of the season. He tied for 15th in the country in goals per game and is tied for second in goals by a rookie skater.

O’Connor became the first Dartmouth player to finish the season with the sole lead on the team for goals scored since Nick Johnson ’08 did so in the 2004-2005 season.

Despite the Big Green’s early lead, the Crimson responded with three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead.

Dartmouth did not back down, however, and Foreman scored his 13th goal of the year to tie the game, bringing the score to 3-3 through the end of regulation.

After just over two minutes into overtime, Harvard scored on a wraparound goal to earn the series victory and end the Big Green’s season.

The Big Green was outshot by Harvard in both games of the series, marking the eighth and ninth time the team was outshot this year.

Gaudet felt that the Big Green was the better team in game two despite the loss.

“We deserved a better fate in that game,” he said. “Harvard played really well, but I thought our team was absolutely outstanding. We just didn’t end up on top.”

Harvard reached its fifth-straight

appearance in the ECAC semifinals and advanced to the NCAA tournament along with ECAC teams Brown University, Clarkson University and Cornell University. Clarkson went on to defeat Cornell to win the championship on Saturday.

The Big Green’s two losses marked just the second time this season that the team lost back-to-back games in the same weekend.

“I told the guys after the game how much I was proud of them, how well they played, and I was saddened for them,” Gaudet said.

Dartmouth finished the season with a 13-17-4 record, including a 10-9-3 mark in conference play. The team finished 37th in the Pairwise Rankings, which are used to determine the 16 teams that advance to the NCAA tournament.

Gaudet said the Big Green will miss the leadership of the senior class, which helped develop young players such as O’Connor and Foreman. The team will return eight of its top 11 players in points from this season.

Clark said he learned to not take any game lightly and hopes that the team will learn from the playoff experience.

“We had some good leadership on our team, but we also had a lot of young guys step into good roles,” Clark said.

“Hopefully, that motivates the other guys, like the freshmen who are coming in, to step up and realize that they can have an impact on this team.”

Despite losing six seniors, Gaudet believes the future is bright for the program.

“There’s a really good group of young players on the team,” he said. “The veteran players did a really nice job, so I like what we got coming back and the experience we had. “You always want to take that next step, and that’s our goal next year. We want to find a way to be playing hockey this time next year, playing in Lake Placid with the goal of winning an ECAC championship.”