Men's Lacrosse Looks for First Ivy Victory at Yale on Wednesday

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team is still searching for its first Ivy League victory as the Big Green heads to Yale for a midweek conference matchup with the Bulldogs.

HOME KOCH-ING
Senior captain Brian Koch leads the Big Green with 22 points on a team-high 18 goals and four assists. At Scully-Fahey Field, he has posted 11 goals and three assists for 14 points, while seven of his goals have come on the road. Nine of the 14 goals came in two goals. On April 7 against Providence he tallied a team-high four goals and added an assist for five points in the 8-4 win. He netted a season-high five goals against Bryant in the 12-9 loss back on Feb. 24. Koch reached the top-10 list for Dartmouth's all-time leading scorers on Saturday with a goal and an assist. He currently has 142 points in his career, which tied Scott Hapgood '97 at No. 10. He has jumped to No. 7 all-time in goals with 95 in his career and he leapfrogged Brian Merritt '97, who had 94 in his career. Koch is second in the league with six man-up goals.

ROOKIE SAVE-IOR
Freshman netminder Fergus Campbell has stepped in as the Big Green's top netminder since earning the start against Brown on March 21. He made 10 saves against Brown in the 14-8 loss, but followed that performance with his first collegiate victory in a 10-9 win over Holy Cross. Campbell made 13 stops in the win and with a career-high 17 saves against 10th-ranked Duke he earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors. He has been credited with double-digit saves in four of his six starts this season. He is currently second in the Ivy League with 10.67 saves per game.

CONSISTENCY AT MIDFIELD
Senior Jimmy Mullen has been productive this season for the Big Green with 13 goals and three assists for 16 points, which is second on the team. He was named Ivy League Player of the Week back on Feb. 23 after tallying four goals, including the game-winner in an 11-10 overtime victory over Hartford in the season opener. He followed that performance with two goals against Bryant in the first loss of the year. He leads the team with four multi-goal games this season, including three against No. 10 Duke on March 28.

FACE-OFF CAROUSEL
The Big Green has had seven different players in the X this season with senior Tim Daniels leading the way with 105 opportunities, winning 53 of those face-offs for a .505 winning percentage. Mullen has also taken his share of face-offs with 22 wins in the X, while classmate Kyle Lagratta has recently came on and has won 24-of-52 draws. Lagratta has been the most successful lately with 12 wins in 15 chances against Providence on April 7. He won a face-off at the start of the second half, which turned into a quick seven second strike and jump started Dartmouth into a 5-1 advantage in the second half en route to an 8-4 win.

CLOSE GAMES FOR DARTMOUTH
Dartmouth has played in six games this season in which the margin of victory was three-or-less goals. The Big Green is 2-4 in those games with wins over Hartford (11-10) and Holy Cross (10-9). The others included back-to-back 11-9 losses to Vermont and Lehigh. Dartmouth has reached double-digits in just two games this season, both coming as victories. The Big Green has held its opponents under 10 tallies just three times this season with the season low coming against Providence in an 8-4 win.

ROOKIE IMPACT
In addition to Campbell, rookies Kip Dooley and Colin Delaney have made their impact on this year's squad. Dooley started the season on fire with six goals in his first two games. and eight points in his first three. He posted three goals and added an assist in the season-opening win over Hartford and followed that with two goals against No. 18 Brown on March 21 in the Ivy opener. He has 10 goals and four assists to lead all freshmen with 14 points. Delaney also started out hot with five goals in his first four games. He had two in the win over Hartford and after going scoreless against Bryant, he registered a goal at Notre Dame and posted three points in the loss at Vermont on two goals and an assist. He has struggled lately with one point in his last six games.

FAMILY AFFAIR
Last weekend against Cornell, senior captain Jon Livadas returned to the field after missing 10 games due to a leg injury and competed against his brother, who plays defense for the Big Red. Livadas tallied his first goal of the season on a man-up situation. Since making his return, Livadas is primarily the addition to the man-up attack for the Big Green.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Michael Karwoski leads the Elis with 22-7-29 and has hit the net five times in two (Penn, Fairfield) games this spring. The Gibson brothers have combined for 34 goals and 53 points. Matt (16-10-26) has a shot at league rookie of the year honors, while Brendan (18-9-27) is second to Karwoski in goals and points. Brian Douglass (11-7-18) and Gregory Mahony (11-2-15) are the other Bulldogs who hit double figures in goals. Kevin Discepolo, following in the footsteps of the great Yale faceoff specialists, is now 15th in Division I with a .563 faceoff percentage. Jonathan Falcone (.508, 11.11, 5-4) has all but one decision for the Blue in net.

SERIES HISTORY
Yale owns a 44-32 lead in the overall series with Dartmouth, including a 26-14 mark at New Haven. The Big Green and Bulldogs are 18-18 at Hanover.

Schedules