Men's Lacrosse Takes on No. 6 Cornell at New England Lacrosse Classic

2010 New England Lacrosse Classic

TICKETS

Sat., No. 6 Cornell (7-1, 2-0 Ivy) vs. Dartmouth (2-4, 0-1 Ivy), 12 p.m.
Live Stats
Dartmouth Stats
Cornell Stats

HANOVER, NH - The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team will be facing its fourth straight ranked opponent in No. 6 Cornell on Saturday at the 2010 New England Lacrosse Classic with a 12 p.m. start at Gillette Stadium.

CAN'T HOLD OFF CHARGING CRIMSON
The Big Green stormed out to a 9-3 advantage early in the third quarter, but 16th-ranked Harvard fired back with 10 of the next 12 goals scored and came away with a 13-11 victory at Harvard Stadium. Dartmouth dropped its Ivy League opener for the third consecutive year. The X was a big problem for the Big Green as the Crimson dominated the faceoffs with a 22-6 advantage, including 12-of-16 during its run in the second half.

HEY BUDDY YOU'RE OUTTA HERE
Dartmouth has had trouble staying out of the penalty box as the Big Green leads the league with five penalties per contest and leads in minutes at 3.75. Once man-down, Dartmouth is fourth in the conference in killing percentage at 65.5% and leads the conference with two man-down goals, both coming against Harvard last Saturday.

2010 NEW ENGLAND LACROSSE CLASSIC
The Big Green will be competing in the 2010 New England Lacrosse Classic at Gillette Stadium on April 3. Dartmouth will take on national runner-up Cornell, while Brown will face Princeton. The Big Green-Big Red game is set for 12 p.m., while the Bears and Tigers will get started around 2:30 p.m.

POTENTIAL CROWD RECORD
Dartmouth will be playing in its largest stadium on record this Saturday and the Big Green potentially will set a new Dartmouth record for the largest crowd to see a Big Green lacrosse game. As of 2003, when Dartmouth started keeping attendance records, the largest crowd to see a Big Green game was at Duke in 2007 with 6,485 fans. Scully-Fahey Field on the Dartmouth campus holds 1,600 fans

PICKING'EM UP
Senior long-stick Casey Hingtgen was Dartmouth's leader in ground balls as a freshman, but injuries throughout his career have sidelined the California native. He leads Dartmouth with 21 ground balls and is tops in the league with seven per game, but he has only seen action in three games due to injury.

FIRST FRAME SUCCESS
This season the first quarter has been Dartmouth's most productive quarter on both the defensive and offensive side of the field. The Big Green have scored eight goals, while also giving up eight, but have outshot its opponents by a +13 margin. When leading after the first, Dartmouth is 2-0. The fourth quarter has been a problem with 15 goals against to only eight scored, but in the third frame the opponent total is 18. Most goals in that quarter have come when the game is out of reach or the Big Green has a big lead.

SUSSMAN MOVING UP THE CHARTS
Senior Ari Sussman enters his final season in a Big Green uniform and looks to move up the all-time scoring list. He currently sits tied with Ben Grinnell '05 for 12th place with 140 points in three seasons. Sussman is also tied with Grinnell and Pat Walsh '61 for 15th all-time with 83 goals and he is also on the top assist list with 56 for 12th. Sussman was the 2007 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and an honorable mention All-Ivy selection the same year. He followed that up in 2008 with a first team All-Ivy selection.

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET
After starting the season with games against three unranked teams, Dartmouth is in its toughest stretch of games in recent memory. The Big Green is currently in a stretch of five consecutive ranked opponents. The stretch started with No. 2 North Carolina and No. 9 Duke and finishes up with No. 5 Princeton. Dartmouth faced No. 16 Harvard on Saturday and now takes on No. 6 Cornell.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth travels to Foxboro with a 2-4 overall record and a 0-1 mark in Ivy League play. The Big Green is averaging just 8.83 goals a game and reached double-digits for the second time on Saturday. This is the fourth straight game against a ranked opponent for Dartmouth in a stretch which features six straight against teams that have been ranked this season. The Big Green is 0-3 against top-20 teams.

Senior captain Ari Sussman is the top point man for Dartmouth. He is third in the Ivy League in points per game at 3.6 and is tops on the Big Green with 22 points on 11 goals and 11 helpers. His average of 1.83 assists per game is second in the league. Junior Josh Etzion remains second on the team with 17 points after two assists in the lost to Harvard. He has 10 goals and seven assists, including three man-up goals to lead Dartmouth. Freshman Chris Costabile continues to impress during the early season with 10 goals and five assists. He posted four goals, including two man-up and a man-down goal.

In net, sophomore Fergus Campbell got the start in the game against the Crimson with 11 saves. He has recorded an 11.40 GAA and a .556 goals against average. Senior Michael Novosel has started five games for Dartmouth and has a 2-3 record. He has collected an 11.03 GAA and .500 save percentage. Freshmen Bernie Susskind and Ryan Alexander split time in the fourth quarter against Wagner on March 11. Susskind made two saves in the first action of his career. Alexander failed to make a save in his six minutes of action.

SCOUTING THE BIG RED
Sixth-ranked Cornell makes the trip to Foxboro with a 7-1 overall record and a Ivy-best 2-0 mark in conference. In its two previous league meetings, the Big Red outscored Yale and Brown 30-13. The lone loss came on March 13 against Virginia at home by the score 12-4. Cornell is currently on a three-game winning streak.

Sophomore Rob Pannell, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year and Player of the Week, leads the Big Red with 38 points on 12 goals and 26 assists. He averages 4.75 points per game, which is tops in the league and his 3.25 assists per game also leads the conference. Ryan Hurley is not far behind with 29 points on a league-leading 25 goals. His 25 scores is 10 more than the second man on the list. Two of his goals have come as game-winners and four during man-up situations. Cornell has six players with points in the double-digits. Austin Boykin has been impressive at the X with 75 faceoff wins to only 47 losses for a 61.5 percent success rate. Mitch McMichael is also a faceoff threat for the Big Red.

In net, AJ Fiore is the top guy between the pipes with all eight starts and a 7-1 record. He has posted an 8.25 goals against average and a .534 save percentage. Both marks are in the top-10 of the Ivy League. Mat Martinez has seen time with four games played and has made 18 saves on 26 shots and a 5.57 GAA.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 60th meeting between Dartmouth and Cornell with the Big Red holding a commanding 45-14 advantage in the series. Cornell is on a 12-game winning streak against the Big Green as Dartmouth's last win came on April 12, 1997 with a 12-11 overtime win. The series began back in 1946 with Cornell coming away with a 8-7 win. This will be the first neutral site game between these two schools.

Schedules