The Dartmouth 10/08/18

10.8.18

The Weekend Roundup p. 2-3 Swinging, Skating, Sparring: A glimpse into select Dartmouth club sports p. 4-5 Sticking to Sports: The Washington Capitals raised the franchise’s first Stanley Cup Championship banner p. 6 Griffith’s Got Stats: Is Texas back? p. 7

Men’s soccer tops the University of Vermont in overtime thriller p. 8

SERGIO CARVALLO/THE DARTMOUTH

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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

The weekend Roundup

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018

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COMPILED BY Nathan Albrinck, lili stern and andrew wright

Football

HOLLYE SWINEHART/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The Big Green remain undefeated after a dominant performance against Yale University, taking home a 41-18 victory.

Dartmouth’s football team made a statement Friday night as they overpowered Yale University, 41-18, in New Haven. The Big Green (4-0, 2-0 Ivy) found no opposition on the ground against the Bulldogs (2-2, 1-1 Ivy), with 347 yards and four touchdowns coming from runs, along with one in the air and one off an interception. The rushing efforts were spearheaded by quarterback Jared Gerbino ’20, who went for 169 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Adding to the scoring efforts, Caylin Parker ’20 and Zach Bair ’22 each added one touchdown apiece, with Parker recording 79 yards on five carries and Bair 28 yards on three carries.

In the air, Derek Kyler ’21 went 5-8 with 96 yards, connecting with Hunter Hagdorn ’20 for a touchdown. On the defensive side, Jack Traynor ’19 led the team with nine tackles, followed

by Ryan Roegge ’20 and Isiah

Swann ’20 with eight each, with Rocco Di Leo ’18 grabbing two sacks.

The first quarter started off relatively evenly matched between the two squads, with the runs from Gerbino and Bair putting the Big Green up 13-7 on the Bulldogs, who scored soon after the first Dartmouth points.

Dartmouth began to pull away in the second, however, with another Gerbino run and a connection between Kyler and Hagdorn answered only by a Yale field goal, putting the Big Green up 27-10 at the half. This gap continued through the remainder of the game, with Parker grabbing a 66yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and Swann answering a Yale touchdown in the last minute with a 54-yard pick-six.

Dartmouth will look to continue its unbeaten run this Saturday, as they take on Sacred Heart University at home.

Zachary ZacharyBenjamin Benjamin’19 ’19 Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief

Hanting Hanting Guo Guo ’19 ’19 Publisher Publisher

Ioana IoanaSolomon Solomon’19 ’19 Amanda Ioana Solomon Zhou ’19 Amanda Zhou’19 ’19 Executive Editor Executive Editors Editors

4.30.18 4.23.18 Vol. 10.8.18 Vol. CLXXV CLXXV No. No. 27 21 77

Nathan Albrinck ’20 Mark Mark Cui Cui ’19 ’19 Mark Cui ’19 Samantha Samantha Hussey Hussey ’20 ’20 Samantha Hussey ’20 Sports Sports Editors Editors Sports Editors

Justin Justin Kramer Kramer ’21 ’21 Justin Kramer ’21

Associate Associate Sports Sports Editor Editor Associate Sports Editor Divya Divya Kopalle ’21 Divya Kopalle Kopalle ’21 ’21 Michael Michael Lin ’21 Michael Lin Lin ’21 ’21 Photography Photography Editors Editors Photography Editors Jaclyn JaclynNewton Eagle Eagle ’19 ’19 Hattie ’21 Templating Templating Editor Editor Templating Editor

TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The women’s rugby team bests American International College 53-17 to go 5-0 on the season.

The Dartmouth women’s rugby team routed American International College 53-17 Saturday, bringing their record to 5-0 on the season and wrapping up their home games of the regular season with a win. Scoring at the match was a group effort from the Big Green, with eight different players grabbing tries on the day. Casey Smerczynski ’20 led off for Dartmouth, scoring her first try of the season, with efforts by Milla Anderson ’19 and Camille Johnson ’19 extending the lead over AIC to 12-5, despite a try from the Yellow Jackets early in the half. The Big Green took over

from this point on, responding with tries from Alex Conway ’20, Idia Ihensekhien ’21 and Kat Ramage ’19 before the half. The second half started slow, but Dartmouth soon scored four times within the span of 11 minutes after some progress had been made, with tries from Anderson, Johnson, Karina Martinez ’19 and Jules Wheaton ’19. The Yellow Jackets scored the remainer of their points in the twilight of the game, but to no avail.

Dartmouth will play at West Point this Saturday, hoping to round out its fall season undefeated.

M GOLF The Dartmouth men’s golf team competed in the Firestone Invitational at the University of Akron this past week. Sam Ohno ’21, who took third, led the group’s performance helping the Big Green to 11th overall of 17 teams. After an 8-under 64 in the first round, a program record for over the past 15 years, Ohno struggled to find consistency on the second, leading to a 7-over 79. However, his third round performance, a 5-under 67, pulled him up 18 places to the third place spot. The rest of the Big Green

also contributed significantly to the team’s +13 team score. John Lazor ’19 entered the final round tied for fifth at 4-under, but a tough 80over day put him at 39th and 4-over at the end of the tournament. Mark Turner ’22 finished the tournament at 9-over and 60th, while Will Bednarz ’20 ended 10-over and 64th.

Dartmouth is idle this upcoming weekend, but afterward will finish up its fall schedule at the Camden Collegiate Invitational in South Carolina on Oct. 20 and 21.

Cross country On Saturday, the Dartmouth men’s and women’s cross country teams both competed in the 2018 NEICAAA New England Cross Country Championship in Boston. Both took sixth place in their respective gender divisions.

Eliza Dekker ’19 led the women’s squad with a top-10 finish out of 168 competing runners, helping the Big Green to a 189-point total on the race. The Big Green boasted three other top-50 finishes from Breanna Glover ’22 (33rd), Isabella Chao ’22 (39th) and Anna Clark ’19 (50th). Boston College won the women’s race, with a notable 27-point finish.

Sam Morton ’21 had the men’s squad’s top finish, taking 17th place out of 171 runners on the 8-kilometer course. Other scoring runners for the Big Green were Nicholas Feffer ’21 (20th), Dom Repucci ’20 (29th), Christian Myers ’22 (36th) and Benjamin Szuhaj ’19 (60th). The University of Massachusetts Amherst came out on top, recording 84 points on the day.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete at the Penn State National Invitational next Friday in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Szuhaj is a member of The Dartmouth staff.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

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Volleyball Dartmouth volleyball hosted Ivy League conference showdowns with Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania over the weekend.

Princeton shut out the Big Green 25-18, 25-16, 25-17 on Friday in a rematch of last season’s thrilling finale, a 5-set win for Dartmouth.

Elise Petit ’21 led the team with nine kills, while Corinne Cox ’20 topped the Big Green stat sheet with 10 assists.

In its second matchup of the weekend, a Saturday afternoon battle with Penn, the Big Green

bested the Quakers in three close sets 25-23, 25-22, 25-22.

Nicole Liddle ’22, Francesca Meldrum ’22 and Carly Tower ’20 composed a balanced Dartmouth attack with eight kills each.

Annemarie Horn ’22 piled up 22 assists, more than half of the Big Green’s total of 37.

Dartmouth moved to 6-9 on the year and travels to New Haven, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island to take on conference foes Yale University and Brown University on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The Dartmouth women’s soccer team takes home its second Ivy League after close win over Yale University in a 2-1 win.

On Saturday afternoon, the Dartmouth women’s soccer team (6-3-2, 2-0-1 Ivy) faced off against the Yale University Bulldogs (5-5-1, 0-3-0 Ivy) at home and earned its second Ivy League win while extending its unbeaten streak to six games. Despite outshooting Yale 6-2 in the first half, the Big Green could not convert, and the game was scoreless going into the second half. In the 87th minute of the game, Izzy Glennon ’22 found the back of the net for her first collegiate

goal, with an assist from Lorna MacFarlane ’21 Despite the Bulldogs being more aggressive in the second half, outshooting the Big Green 6-4, Dartmouth held onto its 1-0 lead for the remaining minutes and blanked the Bulldogs for its second Ivy League win.

The Big Green will travel to College of Holy Cross to face the Crusaders on Tuesday, and then resume Ivy League play on Saturday at home against the University of Pennsylvania.

FIELD HOCKEY In a double-overtime nail-biter, the Dartmouth field hockey team (4-5, 1-2 Ivy) fell to the University of Pennsylvania (6-5, 2-1 Ivy) at home in its second dropped game of Ivy League play of the season.

The Quakers were on the board first, scoring in the final minute of play in the first half. After trailing 1-0 for the first 18 minutes of the second half, Dartmouth’s Jessica Valvano ’19 found Gemma Bautista ’19, who put in her first goal of the season for the equalizer. The Quakers regained the lead on a penalty stroke at just under the 60 minute

mark. Katie Persin ’20 was able to answer with under five minutes left in regulation, sending the 2-2 game into overtime. After a scoreless first overtime period, Penn junior Alexa Schneck scored her second goal of the game four minutes into double overtime, giving the Quakers the edge over the Big Green 3-2.

The Big Green plays on Tuesday at the University of Maine, and then returns to Hanover on Saturday to take on the Yale University Bulldogs.

M TENNIS While Dartmouth men’s tennis did not compete as a whole this past weekend, Charlie Broom ’20 represented the Big Green on his own at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championship, making it to the second round.

On Thursday, in his first round matchup, Broom competed against Barnaby Smith of Texas A&M, winning 6-4, 6-2, bringing him through to the Round

of 32. On Friday, Broom took on his opponent, Paul Jubb of the University of South Carolina. Despite close play, Jubb managed to get the upper hand over the course of the sets, winning 6-4, 6-2.

The rest of the Dartmouth tennis team will join Broom this upcoming weekend as they go to Princeton University for the ITA Northeast Regional Championship.

Equestrian In its first official show of the season on Saturday, the Dartmouth equestrian team took first place at Middlebury College, finishing ahead of nine other competing teams. Alexa Tucker ’20 and Sophia Kocher ’19 had the Big Green’s two first place finishes of the day, in beginner walk trot canter and advanced walk trot canter, respectively. In winning her advanced walk

trot canter class, Kocher made history by becoming the first Dartmouth rider ever to win at every regular season competition, in addition to qualifying for Regionals and moving up to novice flat and fences.

The Big Green will compete again next Saturday at the University of Vermont.

Tucker is a former member of The Dartmouth Senior Staff.

W Tennis Abigail Chiu ’21 and Madison Hwang ’21 teamed up on Tuesday and Wednesday to compete in the qualifying draw of the Riviera/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women’s All-America Championship in Pacific Palisades,

California. The duo took on a doubles team from the University of Notre Dame on Tuesday, dropping a tight pro set 8-7(5). The pair played a consolation match against Texas Tech University on Wednesday, losing the pro set 8-2.

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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018

Swinging, Ska

A glimpse into select B y addison dick

The D

Badminton Club

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH CLUB BADMINTON

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH CLUB BADMINTON

The Dartmouth Badminton Club attracts an assortment of students, from ’22s to grad students.

Dartmouth Badminton Club members compete in doubles matches at practices in the Alumni Gym.

The Dartmouth Badminton Club was 7,” she said. “I played for nine years, strives to be one of the most inclusive club and then I stopped for two years because sports on campus, of academic pressure with no experience and other extracurricular “We have a mix of necessary and no a c t i v i t i e s t h at I w a s tryouts required. This a lot of graduate committed to.” year, the club is seeing a students, who are Liu is enjoying the first boost in participation, few weeks of practices particularly among pretty competitive, with the club. first-year students, and some ’22s who “For me, [joining the according to club club] is especially exciting competed nationally president Christine because I wasn’t able to in high school, so Dong ’19. play during my last two “We have a mix they are really good. years of high school, so of a lot of grad especially this year for We also have people students, who are me is about picking up pretty competitive, who are just trying it and trying to get back and some ’22s who to where I left off,” she out for the first time competed nationally said. “It’s also a good in high school, so or are just there for place for me to socialize they are really good,” P.E. credit.” and to maintain a good Dong said. “We also exercising schedule.” have people who are Dong believes the surge just trying it out for -CHRISTINE DONG ’19 in first-year participation the first time or are is the result of having just there for P.E. a booth at the student credit.” activities fair during orientation week for One of those highly experienced first-year students, where many clubs set first-year students in the club is Joanna up booths in Leverone Field House and Liu ’22. looked to recruit new members.

“I started playing badminton when I “Last year, there wasn’t a booth, so this

year I think we advertised it more,” Dong ’22s are really strong, so they’ve been said. able to step up and help coach some of Liu had looked online before coming the newer players.” to campus and was excited to see that Both Dong and Liu agree that the club Dartmouth had a badminton club. can be a great place to meet new people “I wasn’t sure how active the club and form long-lasting friendships. was,” she said, but decided to sign up “The people in the club are really great, to join the Dartmouth and they are definitely Badminton Club while more committed to the “For me, [joining the sport than I expected at the activities fair.

Liu is now an active club] is especially when I first joined,” Liu member of the club. said. exciting because I “I try to go three “I’ve met a lot of times a week, but I don’t wasn’t able to play really nice people,” Dong necessarily go for the during my last two added. “Some of my whole two and a half closest friends are in the years of high school, hours, depending on my club. It’s really nice to schedule,” Liu said. have this community of so especially this Dong appreciates the who I can play year for me is about people presence of first-year with and get close enough picking up and students at practices. with to do things socially “It’s nice to be able trying to get back to outside of badminton as to develop a community well.” with the ’22s,” Dong said. where I left off.”

The team practices “You can get to know on Tuesdays, Thursdays people waiting for a court and Saturdays in the -JOANNA LIU ’22 to open, and then you West Gym of Alumni can play with them, so Gym. Although the club it’s kind of nice to be able to talk and play does not play matches against other at each practice, and not just feel like it is schools throughout the year, practices only competitive play.” Dong added, “The typically consist of doubles matches.

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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018

ating, Sparring

t Dartmouth club sports and justin kramer

Dartmouth

Figure Skating

Tae Kwon Do

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH TAE KWON DO

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH CLUB FIGURE SKATING

The Dartmouth Club Figure Skating team has won six titles at the National Collegiate Figure Skating Team Championships, including five straight from 2004 to 2008.

Hana Warmflash ’20, a member of the revitalized Dartmouth Tae Kwon Do team, spars with her opponent at a termly competition hosted at Leverone Field House.

Dartmouth Club Figure Skating has accumulated an impressive amount of trophies over the past two decades since its 1997 inception, qualifying for the National Collegiate Figure Skating Team Championships every year since 2000 while winning six titles. Their championships include a five-year run from 2004 through 2008 under the tutelage of the late Michael McGean ’49 (whom they continue to honor) and his daughter Loren McGean ’92.

The team is currently coached full-time by U.S. Figure Skating quadruple gold medalist Jacki Smith and captained by Anna Staropoli ’19 and Isabelle Blank ’19. The team travels to three qualifying competitions and the National Championships every year. This season, the Big Green will perform at New York University on November 3-4, followed by competitions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Pennsylvania State University in the winter, aiming to get fourth place or better at each competition to qualify for Nationals at the University of Delaware.

“In the past, we’ve done better at Nationals than we have in recent years,” Staropoli said. “We usually have placed in the top three at Nationals, but it’s been tough to [win] because of the D-Plan, and it’s hard to recruit because it is a club sport.

We’re hoping to get back to that position.”

Dartmouth Figure Skating offers practices twice a day at Thompson Arena, typically in the early afternoon and at night, of which athletes must attend at least four.

Coach Smith also offers individual lessons.

The team consists of 25 members — two of whom are men — and got five new members at this year’s club fair.

Dartmouth Tae Kwon Do was founded in 1984 by Master Sung Chul Whang, Jun Chul Whang and Javier Arizmendi, sprouting out of Dartmouth’s Shotokan Karate Club. The original members also founded the Ivy-Northeast Collegiate Tae Kwon Do League. The club had a spell of inactivity, even dropping out of the league before Dae Kim ’19 revived the dying seven-member, inexperienced team two years ago. Today, the team is flourishing with 30 active members, 15 of whom come to every practice, according to co-president Jacob Swenberg ’21.

They compete in the Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference, renamed from the INCTL. Swenberg and co-captain Gabriel Kuenzli ’21 organize club practices three days a week in Alumni Gymnasium.

Practice typically consists of generic conditioning and warmup followed by specific taekwondo exercises in two main styles of the sport.

“We’ll work on forms [or] ‘poomsae’: a choreographed set of moves that are supposed to be done in a very structured way,” Swenberg said. “With that goes learning about different stances, learning a little bit of Korean so we can understand different commands. We do sparring too, so we get to put on pads and helmets.”

The team has its work cut out in practice this fall, as they are training a large number of athletes who have never sparred nor done poomsae.

“There are a few obviously who have a lot of experience with taekwondo, but there also a few who have experience with other martial arts and want to explore,”

“For the most part, a practice session is just you working on your elements and your programs,” Staropoli said. “It’s very self-motivated; you know what you have to do, and you’re supposed to run through everything. But it’s nice being here because a lot of time skating is so isolated, but at Dartmouth you know everyone on the ice. It’s very collaborative, but also you have enough ice time to work on things and control them on your own.”

In competitions, their players compete with other athletes at the same test level, with a varying amount of time allotted for their programs. Figure skating has an individual component, consisting mostly of freestyle programs and ice dance, as well as team maneuvers in which the team performs matching elements in matching uniforms. This season, the traditional sixpoint scale is shaking up, including a point for participation, and it remains to be seen how players will react to the scoring.

“It’s pretty sporadic with the scoring sometimes, but they’re doing the best they can and making changes that will hopefully be better,” Staropoli said.

Off the ice, the team focuses on keeping a close-knit social environment. For Staropoli, every dinner with the team is a meal with her best friends.

“We have weekly skater dates where we’re assigned someone to get a meal with,” Staropoli said. “We always joke that we’re constantly surrounded by each other. You go into the [Courtyard Café], and you run into nine skaters — it’s a great community.”

The team’s first test comes Homecoming weekend on Oct. 28 in a 2:45 p.m. exhibition at home.

Swenberg said. “In large, a lot of the people who join have never done anything like taekwondo, so it’s cool to see people join, try something new and usually enjoy it.”

For those on the team who are more familiar with other martial arts, taekwondo presents some similarities but also major differences.

“Definitionally, [the difference comes from] country of origin: taekwondo is from Korea,” Swenberg explained. “In terms of what it looks like and what people do, it’s a lot more focus on legs and kicking as opposed to karate, which includes a lot of stuff with hands and full body movements.

It’s less focused on fighting and more about self-defense in terms of practical use and discipline.”

This year, the club is hoping to manage a growing interest in taekwondo, keep everyone engaged and place in competitions. The offer to do taekwondo seems compelling when put in Swenberg’s words.

“I think it’s a really good opportunity,” he said. “The obvious one is physical activity because it’s a fun thing to do, and it’s supposedly one of the most intensive activities athletically. The team is really cool; it’s an interesting mix of people from all around campus. I’ve gotten to know many of them really closely, which is really cool to see.”

The team has not fully set their schedule yet, but typically competes in one tournament per term. On October 20th, Dartmouth Tae Kwon Do will head to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for an ECTC competition.

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Sticking to Sports with Sam Stockton ’19

S t i c k i n g t o S p o rt s : Th e Wa s h i n g t o n C a p i t a l s raised the franchise’s first Stanley Cup Championship Banner He and his teammates line up, arms around one another’s shoulders. Fireworks erupt behind NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who begins to speak. The speech feels agonizingly long — in reality, it is a hair under a minute until he says, “Alex Ovechkin, it’s your honor.” Ovechkin disentangles himself from the row of Capitals; as he skates toward Bettman, he turns back to his teammates, pumping his arms and offering the first of many celebratory shouts. He and Bettman shake hands awkwardly; Bettman says something in Ovechkin’s ear, to

which he does not respond. The moment his hands touch the Cup, Ovechkin begins to shake. He lets out another cry and finally, finally, lifts the Stanley Cup. Last Wednesday night at Capital One Arena, the Washington Capitals opened the 2018-19 NHL season by raising their first championship banner in franchise history. Between his first chance to hold Lord Stanley high and the banner raising, Ovechkin threw out two ceremonial first pitches at Nationals Park, went for a celebratory dip in a fountain at the Georgetown Waterfront, took the Stanley Cup to the World Cup and for a shockingly public trip around Moscow’s Red Square, and became a father to young Sergei Aleksandrovich Ovechkin. It was quite the summer, to say the least.

As tends to be the case for epic heroes, Ovechkin’s journey was a long one. In 2004, the Caps selected Ovechkin of the Moscow Dynamo, so coveted a prospect that the Florida Panthers (holders of the 2003 draft’s first pick) argued to the league that if leap years were taken into account Ovechkin ought to be draft eligible, with the first overall choice. At the time, the NHL, and the Caps in particular, needed a jolt. Shortly after Ovechkin’s drafting, the NHL locked out an entire season and needed a reason to get fans to return when the puck dropped again in 2005.

The Capitals hurt even more than

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018

most. The 2001 signing of Jaromir Jagr to what was then the richest contract in league history proved disastrous, and it was the ensuing salary dump that eventually yielded the Caps the number one overall pick.

Enter Ovechkin. Six-foot-two.

Two hundred and twelve pounds, but if you watched the nimbleness with which he evaded defenders when rushing the puck, brightly tinted visor flashing, you would be forgiven for believing he was closer to 185. (Of course, he also delivered a hit so hard on his very first NHL shift that it dislodged a pane of glass on the end boards).

By any metric, Ovechkin’s first act on the NHL stage was magnificent. He beat Pascal Leclaire of the Columbus Blue Jackets twice in his first game, notched a highlight reel goal in Phoenix that even Wayne Gretzky — then the Coyotes’ coach — had to double check the jumbotron to see how Ovechkin did it, and ultimately netted 52 goals and added 54 assists to beat out some Canadian kid named Sidney Crosby for the Calder Memorial Trophy.

For the duration of his career, Ovechkin would be inextricably linked to Crosby, with whom his NHL career began. According to the NHL media, dominated by trusted Canadian hockey men, Crosby became everything Ovechkin lacked. Ovechkin’s

exuberant celebrations set a poor has added a Stanley Cup to his example for all young hockey impeccable resume, to say nothing players out there (heaven forbid of a championship bender the likes they grow up thinking hockey could of which we probably will never see be fun); Crosby’s supposed stoicism again. That being said, years of respected the game. Crosby became National Broadcasting Company known as a winner; Ovechkin, a S p o r t s N e t w o rk , C a n a d i a n choker. Each early playoff exit Broadcasting Corporation and The gave Steve Simmons, Don Cherry Sports Network cutups lampooning and Mike Milbury opportunity to Ovechkin’s leadership, effort and tear down Ovechkin’s game. Bad playoff performances make the in his own zone. Poor leader. Cares videos of Ovechkin’s “Cup stands” about himself more than winning. that much sweeter.

Bound to give up on the NHL and At 32, the silver streaks in head back to Russia.

Alex Ovechkin’s hair served Ovechkin became a victim of as a reminder of his mortality. one of sports media’s favorite At 33, they now provide the narratives — that Ovechkin’s Capitals’ captain with an air of playoff losses reflected not just that distinguishment, with hair to he still had something to prove but match the shiny trophy he finally that he was somehow incapable of hoisted last June. Alex Ovechkin is ever winning. a Stanley Cup champion. Finally.

At the start of the 2017-18 Author’s note: Often forgotten season, Ovechkin — coming off a throughout NHL circles and the summer in which the go-to hot take Capitals’ cup run is Ovi’s longtime of the NHL media became “Trade running mate, Swedish pivot Ovechkin” and the Caps lost Nate Nicklas Backstrom. Because he Schmidt, Marcus Johansson, Justin is so often forgotten, I thought it Williams and Karl Alzner to salary necessary to include a brief aside cap constraints and the expansion on his career. At the 2006 draft, draft — issued a bold proclamation: Ovechkin announced Backstrom “We’re not gonna be [expletive] as the fourth overall selection. suck this year.”

For years, no F l a s h “At 32, the silver matter the forward to coach or pieces streaks in Alex April, when the besides himself playoffs began Ovechkin’s hair and Ovechkin, in a fashion all- served as a reminder Backstrom too-familiar to has deftly of his mortality.

Caps fans — the quarterbacked Caps blew two- At 33, they now the lethal goal leads and Wa s h i n g t o n provide the Capitals’ lost at home in p o w e r p l a y. their first two captain with an air Maple Leafs playoff games. of distinguishment, head coach Bold again, Mike Babcock Ovechkin made with hair to match the put it, “As much a prediction — shiny trophy he finally as you pressure that the series Backstrom...he hoisted last June. would retur n holds you off to Washington Alex Ovechkin is a and he makes tied at two for Stanley Cup champion. t h o s e ( e l i t e ) Game 5. The plays.” In the Caps did just Finally.” opinion of that before this reporter, winning the series in six games.

Backstrom is the NHL’s master of In the 2018 playoffs, Ovechkin the saucer pass (watch Ovechkin’s unleashed 13 years of frustration Game 5 Stanley Cup final goal if — frustration at bowing out in the you don’t believe me). Backstrom is second round, frustration at playing many things — patient, dangerous second fiddle to Crosby. Words like in all three zones, afraid of dogs “will” and “drive” are altogether but not puppies, elite in terms of overused in discussing sports, yet on-ice vision. Though his general how else could Ovechkin’s play lack of national attention means he be described — the sprawling shot avoided some of the vitriol worn by blocks, bone-jarring hits and one Ovechkin in the media, he took the timers hammered home from his Caps’ repeated early exits as hard as office (the top of the left circle; the anyone. In the second round against office, also known as the Ovi spot, the Penguins, Backstrom injured is always open, especially on the his hand so badly he couldn’t grip power play). Then there were the a stick until midway through the reaction GIFs, which belong in a Caps’ third round series. By the museum. time the Caps hoisted the Cup, Ovi Ovechkin didn’t need this cup had to help Nicky steady the Cup to earn a place in the pantheon of over his head thanks to the injury.

NHL legends. It was the cherry Among the greatest pleasures of the on top of a Hall-of-Fame career. Capitals Cup run was watching the Whether you adjust for era or normally even-keeled Backstrom’s not, Ovechkin is one of the NHL’s emotions manifest as they never greatest ever scorers, certainly the had before, proof of just how badly finest of his generation. Now he he wanted the Cup.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018

Griffith’s Got Stats with Evan Griffith ’18

Griffith’s Got Stats: Is Texas back?

The announcers almost jinxed it, but I think everyone can finally say what fans in Austin, Texas have been hoping to say for a long time: Texas is back.

I’m referring to the University of Texas at Austin’s football team, of course. This past Saturday, the 19thranked Longhorns took down the 7th-ranked University of Oklahoma Sooners in the annual Red River Shootout at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, 48-45, in the most exciting game of the week. This is arguably second-year head coach Tom Herman’s biggest win in Austin since taking over the program last year after a successful tenure as the head coach of the University of Houston football team. With this win, the Longhorns are now 5-1 and undefeated in the Big 12 Conference, with the team’s only loss being its first game against the University of Maryland. Texas will look to take Oklahoma’s place as the Big 12 representative in the College Football Playoff this season, although the team will need a lot of help, especially with undefeated powerhouses like the University of Alabama, the University of Georgia and Ohio State University all looking strong.

It’s important to understand how much this win means to Longhorn fans.

Soon after Texas became an inaugural member of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, head coach Mack Brown was hired in 1998 to replace the reassigned John Mackovic after the team went 4-7 the previous year, tied for the team’s second-worst record in 50 years. He was a phenomenal coach, but Brown had strengths as a recruiter as well, opening up talks with local Texas high schools. Texas recruits during this time often enrolled in schools outside of Texas in part due to the “death penalty” enforced upon the Southern Methodist University football team for repeated NCAA rule violations.

Brown convinced these players to play at Austin, and in Brown’s first season, the team went undefeated at home and defeated the Mississippi State University Bulldogs in the 1999 Cotton Bowl Classic, the Longhorns’ first New Years Bowl victory since 1981. Brown would put together a 59-18 record through 2003, but was criticized for

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failing to ever win the Big 12 or lead win over Oklahoma, it still might the team to Bowl Championship be prudent to temper expectations Series games. That changed in 2005, for this football team. Oklahoma, when the Longhorns and Texas-born while ranked 7th in the country, had quarterback Vince Young went on to an atrocious defense. The current win the 2005 Rose Bowl against the defensive coordinator for Oklahoma University of Michigan Wolverines is Mike Stoops, the brother of former 38-37. The Longhorns would go the head coach Bob Stoops, which may Rose Bowl again the next year for the be part of the reason he hasn’t been BCS National Championship Game fired yet. Texas was also winning against the University of Southern 45-24 before Oklahoma scored three touchdowns in California and five and a half come away with a “This season, the minutes to tie 41-38 victory and the game, forcing a perfect season Longhorns seem to Texas to rely on in one of the have finally found a last-second greatest games field goal from in college football their stride. After freshman kicker history. Texas was the opening loss to Cam Dicker for the undisputed the win. Herman n a t i o n a l Maryland, Texas has even responded champion that beaten three ranked to a reporter year. teams, including who asked, “Is Vince Young Texas back?” by would declare for the recent win over saying, “I’ve got the NFL Draft Oklahoma.” to tread lightly and be picked on this one. … It’s third overall after the National Championship, irrelevant to us, is the best way to put leaving freshman quarterback Colt it. We’re not so concerned with where McCoy as the starter. Although the people think Texas is. … The people in Longhorns would not win another that locker room are the people whose National Championship during opinions matter the most to us.”

In order for Texas to have a shot McCoy’s college career (coming closest against Alabama in the 2010 at winning the Big 12 this year, the BCS Championship Game), McCoy team’s next big tests will come one was the most successful quarterback right after another, as the team travels under Brown, holding a 45-8 record to Oklahoma State on Oct. 27th, then as a starter. After McCoy graduated, hosts 6th-ranked West Virginia the coaching turnover and player injuries following Saturday. brought the Longhorns down from college football’s elite programs. Mack Brown retired at the end of the 2013 season, finishing with a 158-48 record, two Big 12 conference championships, one national championship and a 3-1 record in BCS Bowl games.

Charlie Strong replaced Mack Brown as head coach in 2014. The Longhorns would struggle to reach winning records during his tenure; the inconsistencies with Strong as head coach began the “Is Texas back?” running joke. In 2015, unranked Texas would upset 10th-ranked Oklahoma, but would then go on to lose to unranked Iowa State University and Texas Tech University, finishing the season with a 5-7 record. In 2016, Texas would upset the 10th-ranked University of Notre Dame and 8thranked Baylor University, but would go on to lose to unranked Kansas University and Texas Christian University to finish 5-7. Strong was fired after this season and replaced with Herman.

This season, the Longhorns seem to have finally found their stride. After the opening loss to Maryland, Texas has beaten three ranked teams, including the recent win over Oklahoma. These wins included victories over then-No. 17 TCU and then-No. 22 USC in a rematch of the 2006 Rose Bowl.

The fans are starting to show their support as well, as the Texas-USC game attracted an audience of 103,507 people, the largest recorded attendance at a Texas football home game to date. Despite the record, and the big

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Men’s soccer tops the University of Vermont in OT thriller

BY JAKE PHILHOWER

The Dartmouth Staff

The Dartmouth men’s soccer team had a lineup of big games to play against the University of Vermont on Tuesday and Yale University on Saturday. These were two important games for the Big Green as they looked to boost their offensive production and bounce back from a few games in which they struggled due to a lack of offensive opportunities. The offense provided a few more chances this week; however, the team split two overtime games with a win and a tie.

On Tuesday, the Big Green played the University of Vermont in Burlington. The first half featured no successful shots as the teams were in a tight deadlock. Dartmouth outshot UVM 9-5 in the first half, but was unable to find the back of the net as the UVM goalie was only required to make one save. The momentum seemed to shift in the second half, however, as UVM began to outshoot Dartmouth. Finally, in the 64th minute, UVM broke through on a corner and stuck it past goalie Chris Palacios ’21.

The Big Green looked like they were in trouble as Palacios was forced to make another few saves as time wound down in the second half.

Finally, in the 76th minute, Dawson McCartney ’21 broke through for the Big Green on a booming free

kick from 30 yards out. McCartney made one of the plays of his career for the Big Green thus far, putting Dartmouth back in the game, which would lead to yet another overtime game.

“In a lot of the overtime games, which most of ours have been so far, it mostly comes down to our level of fitness and our will,” McCartney said. “Seeing that we have been able to pull off some important results in these games speaks a lot to the characteristics and morale of our team.”

In the first overtime period, the Big Green came out blazing and put pressure on the UVM goalie.

Opportunities were abundant for the Big Green, especially after Tiger Graham ’21 had a header shot that was just barely saved. Finally, after six minutes of overtime play, the Big Green had a shot deflect off of a UVM defender which wound up in the back of the goal. The offensive pressure created in overtime led to this crucial goal, giving the Big Green a much-needed road win.

“We pride ourselves in being compact and smart defensively because we know that we’ll create chances on the other end,” Justin Donawa ’19 said.

Finally, this weekend, the team was at home playing against the Yale Bulldogs in a heated league matchup.

Following a tie at Princeton University last weekend, the team was looking to

KENDALL ROZANO/THE DARTMOUTH

Dawson McCartney ’21, one of the Big Green’s leading offensive weapons, winds up to kick the ball against Yale University.

pick up a very important win against the Bulldogs.

However, the Big Green seemed to have a bit of trouble, yet again, possessing the ball and creating

SERGIO CARVALLO/THE DARTMOUTH

The Big Green topped the University of Vermont in 2-1 in overtime to earn its third win of the season.

offensive chances. Dartmouth was outshot in the first half, but neither team was able to create more than one or two serious scoring chances in the first half of play. Then, in the 54th minute, the Big Green allowed for a Yale goal, putting the team in a familiar second-half deficit. As time pressed on, Dartmouth created a few chances on offense, but was unable to put shots on goal and force Yale’s goalie to make a play. Finally, in the 63rd minute, the Big Green was able to find forward Yima Asom ’19 who buried his first goal of the season in the back of the net. The Yale goalie only made one save the entire game in the first half, when he was put under pressure, he seemed to come up short. The Big Green just seemed to have difficulty putting pressure on the Yale back line as the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

The Big Green was a bit disappointed coming off of their second in-conference tie in a row, but this is a start to the season that Dartmouth can certainly recover from. Tying two of the best teams in the Ivy League while many key players are nursing themselves back to health is nothing to hang their heads on.

“We’ve been staying really positive,” Donawa said. “We know that our season is far from over. We know that we have everything to play for in these remaining Ivy games and have little room for error, so we are using this as our motivation to get some good results in the next four to five weeks.”

The Big Green have also had a few notable players who have really stepped up. Center back Matt Pickering ’22 did not show up on the scoring sheet this week, but he’s been a force on the Dartmouth backline.

“Somebody who’s been making a really big difference for us is freshman Matt Pickering that’s stepped in at center back for us,” Noah Paravicini ’19 said. “He’s been very vocal and a good leader for us, despite only being a freshman, and he’s really stepped up when the games get intense.”

The Big Green clearly have the talent to be a contender for the Ivy League title — it’s just a matter of whether they will be able to pull out these close games and win rather than tie in League play going forward.

The Big Green are next in action this Saturday at home against the University of Pennsylvania.