The Dartmouth Sports Weekly 4/2/18

4.2.18

The Weekend Roundup p. 2-3 Senior Spring: Jack Heneghan ’18 refines game to lead Big Green to second place finish p. 4-5 Women’s lacrosse sits at No. 19 in national rankings p. 6 Honorable Mention: April Showers p. 6

Softball rallies to turn season around after disappointing start p. 8

Griffith’s Got Stats: Final Four p. 7

ISHAAN JAJODIA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

SW 2

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

The weekend Roundup

MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2018

BASEBALL

COMPILED BY SABENA ALLEN, CAITLYN MCGOVERN, MAYA MOTEN and ANDREW WRIGHT

M LACROSSE

EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The Dartmouth men’s lacrosse team fell to Cornell University 22-11.

Dartmouth’s men’s lacrosse team fell to Cornell University at ScullyFahey Field on Saturday 22-11. The Big Green is now 2-6 overall and 0-2 in Ivy play while Cornell is now 2-1 in the Ivy League and 6-3 overall.

Dartmouth’s Ben Martin ’20 and George Prince ’21 both scored two goals and had two assists. Jack Korzelius ’18 and Liam O’Connell ’20 both had their first hat tricks of the season. The

Big Red scored six straight goals in the first to seize an early 7-1 lead and never looked back. Although Dartmouth was not able to surmount Cornell’s huge lead, the Big Green continued to fight, ending the game with three consecutive goals to bring the final score to 22-11.

Dartmouth will face off against Yale University next weekend on Saturday, April 7 at home. Yale is currently 3-0 in conference play.

HOLLYE SWINEHART/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Dartmouth baseball had a solid week, defeating Quinnipiac 11-4 and going 1-1-1 against Penn.

W LACROSSE The Dartmouth women’s lacrosse team, ranked 19th in the country, took a 18-14 win against Harvard University on Saturday at Harvard Stadium. With the team’s seventh straight victory, the Big Green is now 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy League.

They now have the best record in the Ivy League, with the University of Pennsylvania trailing close behind at 2-0. Ellie Carson ’20 scored three

goals and provided four assists, while Kierra Sweeney ’19 scored four goals and assisted on one shot. Goalkeeper Kiera Vrindten ’20 made seven saves.

The first half was very back-and-forth, with the Crimson clinging on to a 9-8 lead at intermission. However, five straight goals for the Big Green early in the second secured Dartmouth’s win.

The Big Green will face off against Penn at home on Saturday, April 7.

Zachary Benjamin ’19 Editor-in-Chief

4.2.18 Vol. CLXXV No. 6

Hanting Guo ’19 Publisher

Ioana Solomon ’19 Amanda Zhou ’19 Executive Editors

Mark Cui ’19 Samantha Hussey ’20 Sports Editors

Justin Kramer ’21 Associate Sports Editor Divya Kopalle ’21 Michael Lin ’21 Photography Editors Jaclyn Eagle ’19 Templating Editor

Dartmouth Baseball had two major openers this week, hosting Quinnipiac University in their first home game of the season on Wednesday and beginning Ivy League play with a three-game road series at the University of Pennsylvania over the weekend. Although the Bobcats got on the board first on Wednesday night, the game ended as an easy 11-4 win as the team accumulated 17 hits. Sean Sullivan’s ’19 triple in the bottom of the first inning ignited a Big Green rally, and a triple by Michael Calamari ’20 and a two-run homer from Justin Fowler ’18 gave the team a 4-1 lead. Dartmouth never looked back from there, pounding out two more runs in the second inning and four more in the fourth.

Against Penn, Dartmouth battled it out in each of the three games. Dartmouth opened the series with a close 5-4 victory over the Quakers on Saturday. Although Dartmouth scored early by plating runs in the first, second, and fourth innings, Penn nearly came back in the bottom of the sixth by scoring three runs. Cole O’Connor ’19 was able to escape the inning and limit the damage to three runs through seven innings. Relief pitcher Austen

Michel ’20 closed out the Big Green win with two innings of one-run ball.

During the second game, runs in the second, sixth and seventh innings put the Big Green up 4-1 late in the game, but the Quakers fought back when Penn’s Kyle Cronk single drove in two runs. The teams traded a pair of runs each in the eighth, leading to a score of 6-5 as the ninth inning began. Malinowski’s single tied the game for Penn and forced the game into a tenth inning. After both teams scored a run in the tenth inning, the Quakers secured the 8-7 win with a walk-off in the bottom of the eleventh.

The final matchup against Penn on Sunday saw both teams finish in a 4-4 tie in the second game of the doubleheader. The Big Green got off to a hot start once again with a double from Dustin Shirley ’18 and a crucial Penn error that put them ahead 3-0. However, like game two of the series, the game went into extra innings as late hits by the Quakers’ Daniel Halevy and Matt McGeagh evened the score. Patrick Peterson ’18 maintained his cool for Dartmouth, leaving Penn scoreless through the bottom of the tenth and eleventh innings, and the game ended in a tie.

HW CREW The heavyweight crew team had a strong showing at the Alumni Cup this weekend in Cambridge, Massachusetts against the College of the Holy Cross, Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The team’s varsity eight came in first at 6:13.35; the Big Green took the top spot once again in

the second varsity at 6:15.6, defeating Columbia, who finished in second at 6:27.5, with a sizeable margin.

The third and fourth varsity boats finished in first place at 6:29.6 and second place at 6:34.8. The team will be racing again next weekend against Yale in the Olympic Axe in Derby, Connecticut.

MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2018

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

M Tennis

SW 3

M GOLF The Big Green headed to Ithaca this weekend where they faced Temple University and Cornell University at the Cornell Spring Invitational.

Dartmouth began the two-day tournament strongly by securing first place among the triad of teams. The team scored 296, while Cornell and Temple scored 309 and 326 respectively.

However, during the second day of play, Cornell recorded an impressive score of 291 to share the

first place title with Dartmouth. Among the Big Green players, five members placed within the Top Ten including captain Ian Kelsey ’18, Sam Ohno ’21, Jason Liu ’21, James Turner ’21, and Will Bednarz ’20. The team was led by Kelsey who earned medalist honors when he finished with a matching two-under 70 during both rounds. The team heads to North Carolina next weekend for the Irish Creek Intercollegiate.

W ROWING ISHAAN JAJODIA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

On Sunday, Harvard University dominated Dartmouth men’s tennis 4-0.

The No. 32 Dartmouth men’s tennis team fell in their Ivy League conference opener to No. 27 Harvard University Saturday, 4-0. This result brings the record on the year for the men to 14-5. The Crimson gained their first point of the day with close victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions. In the No.1 position, a 6-6 game between No. 49 duo Charlie Broom ’20 and David Horneffer ’20 of Dartmouth and No. 77 duo Kenny Tao and Logan Weber of Harvard went unfinished.

In the lineup for singles, the

matches at the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 positions did not finish, with the Harvard victory coming after clinching victories in the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 positions. The Big Green fought hard, despite the final result, with all matches that ended inconclusively being in their third sets at the time they were called.

The men’s tennis team will continue their conference play on the road this upcoming weekend taking on Yale University on Friday and returning home to play Brown University on Sunday.

In their first race of the spring, the Dartmouth women’s crew team traveled to Camden, New Jersey this weekend to the Doc Hosea Invitational.

Twelve different teams came to the Garden State to compete, with the Big Green placing third with 99 points. The team’s varsity eight took second place with a time of 6:42.4, narrowly beating out Cornell University by less than a second. The second varsity boat took third place in their heat at 6:53.3. In the varsity four, the team finished in second at 7:44.0 after first place Indiana University at 7:34.4; in the varsity 4B, the team finished in third at 8:03.8. In the

Grand Final, the varsity eight took second place in a close finish against Syracuse, who ended up taking third place after the results were reviewed by officials.

The second varsity boat took third place at 6:45.4, and the third varsity boat also took third place in their race at 7:10.6 with a large gap between them and fourth place finisher Naval Academy at 7:19.0.

In the varsity four Petite Final, the Big Green took home second at 8:02.0; in the varsity four Grand Final, the team took home third at 7:38.2 in a close finish against Rutgers University. The team will be racing next weekend at the Ivy League Round Robin

SOFTBALL

W GOLF The Dartmouth Women’s Golf team headed to Galloway, New Jersey this weekend to compete in the Checkmate Match Play Challenge on the Seaview Golf Club Pines Course. Despite a win against Wagner College, the women were sent to face Lehigh University in the consolation bracket after a 5-0 loss to topseed Naval Academy. During the opening round against Wagner, Dartmouth’s team of five clinched the win against the Seahawks when Maddie Nelson ’20 won her match to break the 2-2 tie.

The sophomore’s victory added to the easy wins secured by Jessica

Kittelberger ’18 and captain Catharine Roddy ’19.

The Women’s Golf team continued their fierce play from the opening rounds, finishing third after defeating Lehigh 4-1.

Kittelberger and Isabelle Kane ’18 secured their respective matches, while Julianne Strauch ’21 narrowly edged Alexis Brone.

Dartmouth’s final point on the day came from the combined efforts of Nelson and Roddy, who each earned a half point by tying in their rounds. The team heads to Florida next week where they will compete in the Harvard Invitational.

ISHAAN JAJODIA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

The softball team finished its three-game home opener against Columbia 2-1 and will play Princeton next.

W TENNIS The Dartmouth women’s tennis team lost by a single point in their respective Ivy League opener Saturday against Harvard University, falling 4-3. This brings the overall record for the Big Green to 7-9.

In the doubles, Dartmouth found victory in the No. 2 position, with Kristina Mathis ’18 and Racquel Lyn ’20 winning 6-4; however, wins for the Crimson in the No. 3 and No. 1 positions clinched the first point for

Harvard. In singles, wins for Mathis at the No. 1 position, Lyn at the No. 3 position and Abigail Chiu ’21 in the No. 4 position brought the Big Green within a point after Harvard victories at No. 2 and No. 5, but a win at the No. 6 position clinched the match for the Crimson.

The Big Green looks to bounce back as they face Yale University on Friday at home and then travel on Sunday to play Brown University.

Dartmouth women’s softball hosted its home opener this weekend when they took the field against Columbia University, winning two and losing one. In the first of three games, the Big Green pulled through with three runs to the Lion’s two in the final inning to defeat them 5-4. Third baseman Morgan Martinelli ’19 gave Dartmouth an early 2-0 lead after a tworun homer in the first inning. Columbia was able to take a 4-2 lead by driving in runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings, but the Big Green finished the final inning with three runs to take the lead for good.

Breanna Ethridge ’18 year recorded six strikeouts in her 5.2 innings, while Heather Turner ’21 closed out the final 1.1 innings.

Later in the day Saturday, Columbia avenged

their earlier loss to defeat the Big Green 3-2. While Dartmouth held a 2-1 lead at the end of the third, the Lions scored a run in the fifth and sixth innings to secure the win. The Big Green had several chances late in the game, but were ultimately unable to bring any runners across home plate.

On Sunday afternoon, the Big Green defeated Columbia 5-4. After a three-run fifth inning, the Big Green held a dominating 5-1 advantage over Columbia. While Columbia staged a furious threerun rally in the final inning against Shelby Wilkison ’21 and Turner, the Big Green hung on to win the match 5-4.

Next weekend, the team will travel to Princeton for another three game series.

SW 4

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2018

Senior Spring: Jack Heneghan ‘18 refines ga

From a last place Ivy League finish last season, Big Gr

BY SAMANT

The Dartmouth

COURTESY OF JACK HENEGHAN

Jack Heneghan ’18 completed 185 of 293 attempts, for a 63.1 percent completion rate this season, a four percent improvement from last season.

Dartmouth football improved in the 2017-2018 season, going overall 8-2 and 5-2 in Ivy League play under the direction of quarterback and tri-captain Jack Heneghan ’18. Though the Big Green struggled in its previous season with an overall record of 4-6 and a last place finish in the League, Heneghan entered this season needing 10 passing yards to move into Dartmouth’s top 10 all-time quarterbacks and 236 yards short of becoming the ninth quarterback in Big Green history with 3,000 career passing yards.

Heneghan, a recruit from Menlo School in Atherton, California, was not always such a dominant force on the field. Rather, he grew into his role through experience and mentorship. Heneghan recorded no playing time his first year with the Big Green and played in only two of 10 games his sophomore year, where he threw for a total of 39 yards and completed five of 10 attempts. With the graduation of then-quarterback and former tri-captain Dalyn Williams ’16, Heneghan appeared to be the Big Green’s newest starting quarterback.

In his junior season, Heneghan started all 10 games and threw for 2,725 yards, completing 247 of 414 throws for a 59.7 percent completion rate. He also recorded 14 touchdowns, 11 passing and three rushing, and 14 interceptions. The following year, Heneghan threw for 2,136 yards, boosting a 63.1 percent completion rate and recorded 18 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Heneghan says that since he came to Dartmouth, his game has improved in all aspects, including his footwork, attention to detail, arm strength and accuracy.

“I definitely got stronger and faster through the help of our great athletic training

staff but a lot of the development for me happened on the field,” Heneghan said.

Wide receiver Hunter Hagdorn ’20 said that Heneghan’s improvement has come not only from his game experience but also through his efforts to advance his knowledge by watching films and working one-on-one with individual players.

“People give [Heneghan] a lot of slack for his junior year, but he was a really good quarterback and we had to play from behind in our games a lot,” Hagdorn said. “We have to take risks at that point, and that year our risks didn’t fall our way. This past year it was the exact opposite. [Heneghan] just corrected the mistakes that he made last year, whether it was throwing into specific windows that sometimes you just can’t throw into or decisions on first and second down versus third down.”

In addition to a drastic improvement and refinement in Heneghan’s game, he was also named tri-captain to the team his senior year alongside defensive end Jeremiah Douchee ’17 and safety Kyran McKinneyCrudden ’18. For Heneghan, being voted tri-captain was one of the biggest honors of his Dartmouth career, athletic or otherwise.

“It was a group of over 100 guys that were my closest group of friends, not just at Dartmouth but anywhere, and to be selected alongside two impressive co-captains to represent them was a huge honor,” Heneghan said. “I was really thankful that my teammates thought of me in that way and I looked at it as a challenge to keep working hard and maintain and re-earn their trust and respect.”

Hagdor n added that coming into Dartmouth, he was immediately drawn to Heneghan’s leadership, even before he was voted captain, because Heneghan’s work

ethic is unmatched. “[Heneghan] is one that leads by action more than anything,” Hagdorn said. “When we would be at practice, he’s the first one to be lined up on the ball and getting everybody together, making sure that everybody knows the play and that the whole offense is in sync each and every day. He makes sure that he’s accountable for all his actions, right or wrong, on the field, and with somebody like that as a captain it makes you take a look at yourself and make sure that you, as well, are accountable for even the smallest things.”

Heneghan comes from a long history of football, so it seemed only natural that he would pick up the sport. Heneghan started playing flag football in the third grade and picked up tackle football in fifth grade. He was drawn to the sport because he didn’t want to be left behind as his friends started playing.

Heneghan’s parents were also football fans, and while they didn’t push or force him into playing football, it was something he was always exposed to. Both of Heneghan’s parents graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. Lal Heneghan, Jack Heneghan’s father, was a tight end for Penn from 1981 to 1984, earning three Ivy League Championship titles during his time.

Heneghan’s father was also named co-captain and selected for the All-Ivy team during his senior year in 1984, and has worked for the San Francisco 49ers, the Cleveland Browns and the NFL League Office.

“From the time I could even remember I was surrounded by football so when it came time, I jumped at the chance to play it,” Heneghan said.

In addition to football, Heneghan played basketball and baseball throughout middle

school and high school as well as a bit of lacrosse in high school. When asked why he wanted to pursue football at the collegiate level rather than any other sport, Heneghan noted that it came down to a combination of natural build and talent and his high school takeaways.

“The most honest answer was that, of the sports I played, [football] was the one I was good enough [at] to play in college, so that helped make the decision for me,” Heneghan said. “The more serious answer for why I wanted to play football was that I had really good coaching that taught me a lot about the sport and life.”

Heneghan added that he had the opportunity to learn from older teammates from high school who went on to play college football and had, for the most part, positive experiences, including a teammate who was a member of the Dartmouth Class of 2014.

“Learning from those people drew me to wanting to keep working and play at the highest level I could and got me excited about continuing the sport,” Heneghan said.

During his recruitment process, Heneghan participated in camps at Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Davis. He later visited Ivy League schools such as Columbia University, Harvard University, Penn, Princeton University and Yale University, as well as Dartmouth, and also received offers from schools such as the University of San Diego. While both of his parents attended Penn and his father was a standout player for the Quakers, Heneghan chose Dartmouth for the cohesiveness between the athletic community and the larger student body, as well as the College’s academic opportunities.

“I was drawn to Dartmouth for the same reasons most people are: the tightknit community and the even tighter-knit community that existed and still exists with the football program,” Heneghan said. “One

COURTESY OF JACK HENEGHAN

Jack Heneghan ‘18, a football recruit from Menlo School, turned down an offer from the University of San Diego to play football at Dartmouth.

SW 5

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2018

ame to lead Big Green to second place finish

Green football rebounds under Heneghan’s leadership

THA HUSSEY

h Senior Staff

BY THE NUMBERS

78 yards, Heneghan’s longest career completion

4,900 yards, Heneghan’s career total passing yards COURTESY OF JACK HENEGHAN

Jack Heneghan ’18 recorded 162 rushing yards of 51 attempts, averaging 3.2 yards a game in the 2017-2018 season.

thing that was specific to Dartmouth versus some of the other schools I was looking at was the chance to study abroad and the chance to be fully engaged in the college experience outside of athletics.”

Lal Heneghan added that Jack Heneghan felt immediately comfortable with the Dartmouth coaching staff throughout the recruitment process.

“The trust and enthusiasm [Jack Heneghan] had after visiting Dartmouth and understanding the academic and athletic opportunities made it the best choice for him,” Lal Heneghan said. “It was love at first sight for him, which made it our top choice as parents.”

Heneghan has been able to do it all on and off the field. He earned, alongside nine other Dartmouth student-athletes, Academic All-Ivy recognition for the 2017 fall season. To qualify for this distinction, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average and make a significant contribution to their team. Heneghan, an economics major and quantitative social science minor, maintains a 3.79 GPA as of fall 2017. He attributes his success in and out of the classroom to his parents, who have taught him the importance of time management — a lesson reinforced by coaches at Dartmouth and examples set by older men in the football program.

While Heneghan wouldn’t consider being a student-athlete un-doable; he noted that the job comes with a lot of sacrifices.

“The one thing that I would call difficult is that there are a lot of other things that I might have enjoyed and did enjoy in the limited time that I got to spend doing them, but had to sacrifice to spend time playing games or practice or training,” Heneghan said.

“Sacrificing those things or just sacrificing the chances to do them was a little difficult, but overall, that was a price that I was happy to pay because I enjoyed the things that I did get to do.”

In addition to football, Heneghan is a member of Gamma Delta Chi fraternity and is a research assistant for professor Michael Herron in the government and QSS departments. He interned at a Hanover start-up that helped students get jobs and internships and also participated in the Dartmouth-Oxford exchange program at Keble College during his junior winter term.

Amy Heneghan, Jack’s mom, says that Dartmouth was the perfect environment for him to pursue all of his interests.

“His self-confidence and academic curiosity have grown at Dartmouth,” Amy Heneghan said. “Successfully handling the academic and athletic demands at Dartmouth, while meeting new people and exploring new experiences, contributed to this growth.”

Looking back on his collegiate career, Heneghan points to this year’s Homecoming game as his proudest moment. The Big Green came back to beat Yale 28-27, after being down 21-0 in the second quarter.

“It was great to win against Yale, the League champion this year, [and be] the only team to beat them,” Heneghan said. “Even more importantly, it was indicative of what playing football at Dartmouth has taught me about having faith in the work that you and your team have put in. Results-wise, things weren’t going our way at first, but we were able to turn it around by not losing hope or focus.”

With the season over, Heneghan has enjoyed spending time with friends who were not on the football team.

“The nature of the season and even the off-season when you are still on the team is that your schedule is pretty regimented,” Heneghan said. “It’s difficult to make time to hang out with friends who aren’t on the same schedule, so I’ve enjoyed the chance to work around that.”

Heneghan also hopes to take more advantage of the outdoor recreational activities that Dartmouth has to offer, such as skiing and hiking, which he could not do much of while training in-season.

As to post-Dartmouth plans for Heneghan, a lot is still up in the air.

“In the near term, I’m training to potentially play professional football,” Heneghan said. “I will have a better idea whether I’ll be doing that in the next few months, but should that not work out I’m planning to work in private equity [at] an investment firm I interned with last summer in San Francisco.”

9 Heneghan becomes the ninth quarterback in Big Green history with 3,000 career passing yards

331 yards, Heneghan’s season high passing yards in a single game against Columbia University

SW 6

MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2018

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

Honorable Mention with Ray Lu ’18

Honorable Mention: April Showers Welcome to April. It’s the month of allegedly warmer weather, the eventual end of Hanover’s winter parking ban and April Fools’ Day. In eighth grade, I pretended to sprain my ankle walking to school to prank my middle school football coach, who gave me no more than a glance and told me to go see the trainer. You would’ve thought I could’ve come up with a better trick, but 13-year-old me was no Mark Ruffalo in “Now You See Me.” I showed up to practice later that day without my crutches and ran with my teammates, hoping to surprise the coaches with a miraculous recovery.

In fact, they had all forgotten that I was injured, which makes sense considering I caught two passes all year. You could say I was a big deal.

April also plays host to a busy month of sports: the NBA playoffs, the Stanley Cup playoffs, the beginning of baseball season, the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament finals, a mass of soccer competitions that I can’t pretend to understand, the National Football League draft and the start of Overwatch League Stage 3 — the Shanghai Dragons take on the Dallas Fuel Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Little has changed in the NBA playoff standings in the past week. The Eastern Conference playoff teams look set, though seeding is still volatile. In the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers sit two games out of the playoffs but are very much alive. Somewhere in Salt Lake City, Donovan Mitchell is still throwing down yams.

The day that I wrote about his absence, Markelle Fultz returned to the lineup for the Philadelphia 76ers, and I’m sure my column had a lot to do with it. Between some sweet moves and non-crooked jumpers, Fultz put up 10 points and eight assists against the Nuggets in his first game back. In the 76ers’ very next game two days later, he bodied teammate Joel Embiid on a screen and fractured Embiid’s face, knocking the star center out of commission for at least two to four weeks. Yes, you read that correctly: Embiid, Fultz and Ben Simmons were healthy together for a little over a game before the next injury.

Somewhere, Sam Hinkie is shedding a single, bittersweet tear. Elsewhere, Jahlil Okafor is still learning to play

defense.

At the other end of the standings, we have a race to the bottom with teams like my beloved Dallas Mavericks, the New York Knicks and the Phoenix Suns. I can’t say I blame them; this incoming draft class is incredible. We’re talking about prospects like DeAndre Ayton, the Bahaman seven-footer who averaged a casual 20 points, 11 rebounds and nearly two blocks a game for the University of Arizona. Forget that 21-point loss to 13-seed University of Buffalo in the NCAA Tournament.

This guy is the real deal — deceptively good even, like Mark Ruffalo in “Now You See Me 2.”

Beyond Ayton, a potential slate of Marvin Bagley, Mohamed Bamba (Hook ’em), Luka Doncic and Michael Porter is enough to make any general manager salivate. I personally have a vested interest in Doncic to Dallas. A Dirk Nowitzki to Luka Doncic transition would hopefully be reminiscent of the David Robinson to Tim Duncan shift, probably minus the rings (except one, God bless 2011).

Trae Young, the University of Oklahoma star, is also draft eligible and is going pretty high in mock drafts.

It seems like not too long ago when another guard was coming out of Oklahoma with a lot of hype. Wonder what he’s up to nowadays. Earlier in the NCAA Tournament, I told my buddy who attends Oklahoma that I picked them to upset the University of Rhode Island in the first round, to which he responded, “Thanks Ray, but it’s a hard disagree from me.”

In unrelated news, my bracket “Mo Bamba Mo Problems” is sitting at a cool 61st percentile.

I picked my even more beloved University of Texas Longhorns to face off in the Sweet Sixteen against the University of Tennessee and former Texas head coach Rick Barnes.

It’s safe to say that matchup never materialized, but I’ll confess I still feel dirty for picking Tennessee to win the revenge game. Sister Jean, please cleanse my soul.

Honorable Mention of the Week: Yes, the vintage Toronto Raptors Vince Carter jersey is dope. Yes, the Dikembe Mutumbo rainbow throwback Nuggets jersey looks awesome. I just think it’s time that people begin to embrace wearing jerseys of non-superstar players — one-time All Stars or pretty good players that aren’t a part of NBA lore. Somebody please, show me that throwback Mehmet Okur Utah Jazz jersey. Dust off that old David Lee jersey, Knicks fans — you’ve got nothing to lose. Better yet, rep a bench player and school these young ’21s.

When people ask, “Who’s that?” hit them with the casual, “Oh Quincy Acy? He’s a pretty good player — sixyear vet, puts up five points a game for the Brooklyn Nets. He’s strong off the bench and a solid energy guy. I just see a lot of myself in him, really.”

What’s worse, if I had to Google those Quincy Acy facts or if I didn’t?

Women’s lacrosse sits at No. 19 in national rankings

By JAKE PHILHOWER

The Dartmouth Staff

With an overall 7-1 record thus far, the Dartmouth Women’s Lacrosse team has been on fire. As the team reaches the midpoint of the season, it is ranked 19th in the nation — the first time it has been within the top 20 since 2013 — and is recently coming off of two big wins against Ivy League rivals Princeton University and Harvard University.

On March 24th, the team had just navigated a tough two-game road trip and was headed to New Jersey to play a tough opponent in Princeton. The Big Green knew this matchup with the Tigers would be a challenge, as Princeton was just coming off of a one goal win against No. 18 Pennsylvania State University. However, Dartmouth was able to execute in the early stages of the game and jump out to a 4-1 lead with Elizabeth Mastrio’s ’19 third goal of the game.

Wi t h p re s s u re m o u n t i n g, Princeton responded with three goals of its own, tying the game at 4. This swing of momentum brought Princeton to a tie for the first time since the opening minutes, but Dartmouth refused to be out-worked.

The Big Green offense found the back of the net three more times prior to the halftime horn, securing a 7-4 lead going into halftime.

In the second half, the teams traded goals back and forth, but the Big Green slowly began to extend their lead. Two-thirds through the second half, Dartmouth led the Tigers 13-7, and managed to hold their lead despite a furious late push from the Tigers that brought them within three goals of the lead, 15-12.

“We didn’t have a ton of time to turn around after heading north from Florida,” Claire Marshal ’21 said. “But our adjustments showed a lot of coachability, mental toughness and confidence in ourselves. It was a surreal moment at the end of the game and it really felt like we were playing for something bigger than ourselves.”

In pulling out the win, Dartmouth erased its six-game regular season slide against Princeton and earned a spot in the national rankings.

“The top moment of the season thus far was definitely beating Princeton,” defenseman Hailey Ricciardi ’21 said. “No one on the team currently had beaten them and the energy during the game was truly amazing.”

Hot off the big win against Princeton, the Big Green wanted to prove its worth amongst the top teams in the nation with a matchup at Harvard. In the opening half in Cambridge, both teams battled back and forth in a very tight matchup, with neither team gaining a lead of more than two points. At the half, Harvard was leading 9-8.

However, after an early goal from Hannah Keating for Harvard at the start of the second half, the Big Green answered with five unanswered goals to take a 13-10 lead. Lasting over seven minutes, this run proved to be the turning point of the game, as the Big Green would not let go of the lead for the remainder of the game.

Dartmouth ended up coming out on top with a crucial 18-14 win.

The Big Green has had plenty of players lighting up the stat sheet so far this season, such as Ellie Carson ’20, who leads the team with 27 goals and 38 total points. However, there have been plenty of other key contributors not as noticeable on the stat sheet who have been vital to the team’s success.

“Lauren D’Amico [’19] is a defender who has stepped up SEE LACROSSE PAGE 7

Women’s lacrosse on six game win streak FROM LACROSSE PAGE 6

huge[ly] for our team,” Ricciardi said. “She is great at limiting her shooting space violations and is the best 1v1 defender on the team. She is filling a massive role with our captain Sophie Davidson [’18] being injured and is doing a great job.”

This team has been firing on all cylinders, and it shows with their 7-1 record. At the halfway point of the season, they are playing their best lacrosse of the year with both offense and defense clicking.

“The best feeling is seeing the cheek to cheek smile when someone scores,” veteran midfielder Larson Bennett ’18 said, adding that the constant communication in defense has inspired its lockdown

SW 7

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2018

of opponents.

In addition, one of the keys to the team’s success is that it is a very tight knit group with a clear, focused goal.

“Truthfully, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for each of my teammates, both on or off the field,” Bennettsaid. “I think that our great relationships off the field translate to our playing style and success on the field.”

With much tougher competition on the horizon, such as Boston College, the No. 2 team in the country, the Big Green must continue to raise its game. Dartmouth plays its next match on Saturday against the University of Pennsylvania, which is ranked No. 6.

EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Women’s lacrosse is currently 7-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play.

Griffith’s Got Stats with Evan Griffith ’18

The Final Four is here, and since I’m firmly out of the running for the top spot in my bracket pool after Duke lost last weekend, I was able to enjoy the games more fully and without bias as a neutral fan.

Before I review Saturday’s games, there is some Ivy League news to talk about. Dartmouth standout Evan Boudreaux decided to forgo his junior season and graduate early to play out his final two years of NCAA eligibility at a power conference school, Purdue University. Previously Boudreaux had intended to enroll at Xavier University, but decommitted following the departure of head coach Chris Mack, who left to become head coach at the University of Louisville. Boudreaux, who almost averaged a double-double with 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds

per game as a sophomore, has the opportunity to make an immediate impact on a Boilermakers team that will lose a lot of talent next year. Purdue started four seniors in their starting five, with the only underclassman returning being current sophomore guard Carsen Edwards. Even though Boudreaux mostly played the big man role at Dartmouth at 6 feet 8 inches, he will probably take over graduating senior Vincent Edwards’ (no relation) spot as starting power forward at Purdue. Purdue is known for developing big men, and 7-foot-2-inch senior Isaac Haas’ spot at center will be taken up by the 7-foot-3-inch current freshman Matt Haarms. Boudreaux has an opportunity to make an immediate impact at Purdue as someone with experience on a team that will lack it next year.

I should also mention that Pennsylvania State University won the National Invitation Tournament (they beat Ohio State three times this season) and the University of Connecticut Women’s team lost their first game of the season to the University of Notre Dame in the Women’s NCAA Tournament.

To put that in perspective, since the beginning of 2012, the UConn women are 8-7 against Notre Dame and 249-5 against everyone else.

Now back to the tournament.

There were two games on Saturday: 11-seed Loyola University Chicago ver sus 3-seed Univer sity of Michigan and 1-seed Villanova University versus 1-seed University of Kansas. Conveniently, one of the games was fairly exciting while the other was less so. Interestingly, the not-very-exciting game was between the two 1-seeds. Villanova put on a clinic against Kansas, defeating the Jayhawks 95-79.

Villanova’s strength throughout the season has been its ability to shoot from three, and it showed in this game. Villanova broke the record for the number of three-point shots made in a Final Four game with 18.

They also broke the record for the number of three-pointers made in a season during the game, breaking the previous record of 442 set by the Virginia Military Institute in 2007.

A team that shoots so well from three (40.1 percent) and that relies on the three-point shot so much (40.5 percent of Villanova’s points come from three-point shots) isn’t set up for success in the tournament, because it’s difficult to keep up a stretch of deep shooting over a sixgame stretch. However, Villanova may have already had their bad shooting game of the tournament.

When Villanova played Texas Tech University in the Elite Eight, the Wildcats won 71-59, their lowest point total in the tournament thus far and the only time they scored below 80 in the tournament.

Texas Tech was a strong defensive team, ranked fourth in Adjusted Defensive efficiency for allowing

90.8 points per 100 possessions.

However, Villanova went 4-24 from three (.167) during that game.

That’s really bad. For reference, Villanova’s 3P% during their other games were as follows: 14-27 (.519) against Radford University, 17-41 (.415) against the University of Alabama, 13-24 (.542) against the University of West Virginia and 18-40 (.450) against Kansas.

Villanova shot poorly against a good defensive team in Texas Tech, but still managed to win that game by outrebounding the Red Raiders 51 to 33 (!!) and connecting on 29 of 35 free throws, compared to Texas Tech’s 14 of 18. Texas Tech also shot 20-60 (.333) from the field and 5-20 (.250) from three, which didn’t do them any favors. Villanova had their bad shooting game of the tournament, but managed to do enough things right against a Texas Tech team that also didn’t play well. Villanova got back in to form against Kansas, and if the Wildcats can shoot the lights out like they’ve done in four of their five games this season, they’ll be scary in the championship game.

The other game featured a Michigan team that hasn’t lost since Feb. 6 (61-52 against Northwestern University), who went up against this year’s Cinderella, the Loyola Chicago Fighting Sister Jeans.

Michigan was down by ten points at one point in the second half; however, the Wolverines managed to pull out the victory behind 6-foot-11-inch junior Mo Wagner’s double double with 24 points and 15 rebounds, in addition to his three steals and one assist. Wagner is the third person in the last 40 years to score at least 20 points and record at least 15 rebounds, joining some pretty good company in Hakeem Olajuwon and Larry Bird. The 11-seeded Ramblers fell in the Final Four like the three other 11-seeds that made the Final Four before them. Loyola’s magic seemed to run out during the Easter holiday, committing 17 turnovers against Michigan.

The championship game takes place Monday night at 9:20 p.m. How will Villanova’s highpowered offense fare against the best defensive team that Michigan Coach John Beilein has ever coached, with an Adjusted Defensive Efficiency of 90.4 points per 100 possessions)? I think Villanova pulls out the win.

Michigan, even though they’re on a hot streak, is the first team to reach the national title game without playing a top five seed along the way (14, 6, 7, 9, 11). The toughest team the Wolverines have played was arguably 6-seed University of Houston, and Michigan needed a buzzer beater to win that game.

I have Villanova over Michigan 74-68, with Villanova’s coach Jay Wright headed to the NBA in a couple of years with two NCAA championships in the past three years on his resume.

PAGE 8

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2018

SPORTS

TODAY’S LINEUP

NO EVENTS SCHEDULED

Softball rallies to turn season around after disappointing start

By JUSTIN KRAMER

The Dartmouth Staff

After starting the season winless in their opening tournament in Florida and 1-8 overall, Dartmouth softball has begun turning their season around just in time for Ivy League play.

Ace starting pitcher Breanna Ethridge ’18 noted that the team was extremely rusty at the beginning of the season.

“First weekend out in February we had not seen dirt, we hadn’t even put on our cleats yet,” Ethridge said. “We had just practiced in tennis shoes in Leverone.”

Dartmouth’s record now sits at 10-13 overall and 4-2 in conference games, and though the overall record may not seem impressive out of context, it is certainly a big jump over last year’s 1-18-1 record in non-conference play. Combined with Dartmouth’s significant home field advantage (they were 8-2 at home last season versus 3-26-1 elsewhere), the team can expect a continued uptick in winning percentage the rest of the way.

“Historically, this was one of the better years we’ve had preseason-wise going into Ivies,” Ethridge said. “When we finished [preseason] at [6-11] it propelled us forward to do a lot better and we had a lot more confidence going into Ivy League play.”

Though the FAU Strike Out Cancer tournament in Florida was challenging as Dartmouth conceded all five games, the Big Green played well in the Razorback Invitational in Arkansas with a 2-3 record, including a narrow 2-1 loss to a talented University of Arkansas team and a 3-2 loss to Northern Colorado.

Middle infielder Micah Schroder ’20 said the success in Arkansas as well as the team’s two surprise victories against the University of Houston in the Houston Tournament “really influenced the culture of our team this year.”

“They were great games where we saw the potential our team had, and I think it’s guided the rest of our season and the mindset that we have,” she said.

Schroder, who leads the team with a .329 batting average, .562 slugging percentage and 14 runs batted in, was a key player in both victories against Houston, driving in the game-tying run in the first

win and going two for four in the second game. “[University of Houston] is a great team, so we came into that game knowing that we were going to have to play [well], knowing that we were going to have to get on the scoreboard early,” Schroder said.

“I think part of it was wanting to beat [University of Houston] because they were the team that was supposed to win, so it lit a fire under us.”

Right fielder McKenna Gray ’21 discussed the importance of a team mentality going into the Houston games.

“We really sat down, focused on what we needed to do and realized we had put in so much work and that the hard work would pay off in the end,” she said.

The players in the lineup for the Big Green have remained similar for most of the year as most of the changes this season have focused on the lineup order itself.

Morgan Martinelli ’19 has starred at the corners, hitting .273 with a .971 fielding percentage.

Schae Nelson ‘21 has held down the other corner position for much of the year while playing some catcher, but Delaney Marshall ’21, Tatyanah Castillo ’20 and Tessa Grossman ’20 have been getting time at first base as well.

Meanwhile, Claire Bird ’18 has settled back into her role as starting catcher, batting .277, which is good for second on the team. Up the middle, Schroder and Calista Almer ’20 have started every game at second and shortstop respectively while setting the table as the first two hitters in the lineup.

Schroder explained how she has developed into a key cog at the top of the order.

“Softball is such a big failure sport that you’re going to fail seven times out of ten, and if you let one failure get to you, then the rest of your game is ruined,” Schroder said. “A big thing that has helped me this year is just not going internal and reaching out for help whenever I realize that I’m going internal and not having the best mindset.”

Loghan Thomas ’20 has been the primary designated hitter this season, and Gray, Tiffany Dyson ’18 and Taylor Ward ’19 have emerged as the everyday outfielders. The trio of outfielders have provided rock solid defense for Dartmouth, with

ISHAAN JAJODIA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Softball is currently 10-13 overall and 4-2 in Ivy League play, winning two of three games in a series against both Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.

fielding percentages of .958, .973 and 1.000 respectively.

“Taylor Ward has done a phenomenal job coming off of last year,” Schroder said. “Offensively, she’s been doing phenomenal[ly].

She steps up in big moments when we need her to. Last year she was such a great influence in the dugout, so it’s great to see her on the field and still having that same influence on us.”

Gray, tied for third on the team with a .273 average, talked about her early career success as well.

“I think I’ve been doing pretty decent[ly] going into this year,” she said. “Of course, being a freshman, nerves can be there, but I know my team has my back, and they believe in everyone. It’s fostered a really good environment.”

On the pitching side, the team has a much-improved three pitcher staff this season led by veteran starter Ethridge, who has a 2.86 earned-run average with 58 strikeouts.

“It’s not something we’ve had in a couple years — to have a full staff — and having the two underclassmen, Heather [Turner ’21] and Shelby [Wilkison ’21], has been huge for us,” Ethridge said.

“I am able to get on the mound

and have a lot of confidence that if something goes wrong, they have my back.”

Schroder echoed a similar sentiment.

“From a physical standpoint and a team standpoint, we have more pitching this year, which has been a huge help. It’s hard for you to lose games when the other team can’t put up a bunch of runs,” Schroder said.

With a host of new players replacing four departed seniors and veterans stepping into larger roles, the Big Green made significant changes in their leader ship structure this season. Schroder explained that the team now uses a tiered system with groups of leaders in charge to make the leadership process more efficient.

Team culture has also been an important focus for Dartmouth, which Gray noticed quickly when she entered her first year.

“It was extremely welcoming,” she said of the softball community.

“They made sure all of us feel super comfortable, made us feel super important, and the overall team chemistry was just awe-inspiring.”

E ve n w i t h t h e i r 4 - 2 I v y League start, the team mindset is concentrated on continued

improvement.

“We’ve had some errors and we’ve had not-as-strong of hitting outings, but we know that there’s a lot to come and we’re ready for that,” Ethridge said.

Schroder added that the team needs to continue to remain focused and less emotional as the season progresses.

Gray sees success ultimately as a matter of concentrating on every repetition and play. She emphasized consistency in her vision for team improvement.

“Making sure we have a good approach to every at bat and appreciating every opportunity given to us,” Gray said.

Ethridge said she hopes that the team’s improvements and consistent lineup and pitching staff can carry them all the way to an Ivy League Championship.

“That’s something we’ve hoped to do the past couple years since we did it my freshman year and haven’t done it since, but I think we have a great shot, and I think we’re doing everything it takes to get that far,” she said.

Dartmouth heads to Princeton next weekend for a three game set in an effort to keep up their success in conference play.