Women's lacrosse seeks revenge at Dartmouth

Kick back and relax. Cast your mind back to about a year ago. The spring air brought new life to campus, a life epitomized by the women's lacrosse team for most of its season. The Tigers were ranked No. 2 in the nation then, with an 11-game winning streak working in their favor. They were riding high, finishing up one of their final Ivy League games against rival Dartmouth before taking on Maryland in what was a matchup of the top two teams in recent history.

Princeton was 12-1 overall and 5-0 in the Ivy League. Dartmouth was 10-1 overall and 6-0 in the league. The game was played on the grassy field of Princeton Stadium on a unseasonably cold, windswept spring day. The Tigers marched onto their home turf and overwhelmed the Big Green for the first 58 minutes of the action.

But Dartmouth kept fighting back. The game was tied five different times, and four of those times, Princeton broke the tie by pulling ahead. With just two minutes ' and appeared to be on its way to its first Ivy League title in several years.

But Dartmouth improbably scored three times in the remaining moments, including a goal to tie the game with just 14 seconds left, forcing overtime.

When the buzzer rang at the end of the second overtime period, the Big Green had outscored the Tigers 3-0, winning the game, 16-13. Dartmouth claimed the Ivy title and gained the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament. The Big Green celebrated with champagne, while the Tigers hung their heads, shocked at the turn of events. The win gave Dartmouth its fourth straight Ivy League title and denied Princeton an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

The loss to Dartmouth killed off both Princeton's winning streak and Ivy title hopes. Though the Tigers would still fight their way to the NCAA championship game, only to lose to Maryland, the last-second loss to the Big Green tarnished their season.

Come on back now from that stroll down memory lane and flash forward to the present. The women's lacrosse team is currently 11-1 overall and 5-0 Ivy League. They are riding a ten-game winning streak and are ranked No. 3 in the national polls. Sound familiar?

The Princeton-Dartmouth match-up has been the biggest rivalry in the Ivy League for the past six years. It has decided the championship and who gets the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament in all but one of those years. In the last two years, the Tigers' losses to the Big Green have been particularly close, so a sense of revenge has fueled Princeton this year.

"There is definitely a revenge factor that provides pure incentive to want to absolutely destroy Dartmouth," junior attack Charlotte Kenworthy said.

Princeton does have some advantages this year — Dartmouth has already lost to Yale, 13-7, March 24, giving the Tigers a one-game lead in the Ivy race. While that removes some of the tension that has built up for this game in years past for the Tigers, the Big Green are still a force to be reckoned with. Dartmouth is currently ranked No. 10 in the national polls and, with the exception of Yale, has been decisively defeating its Ivy League opponents. Although the Big Green lost their top two scorers from last year — Jacque Weitzel and Kate Graw — who were also the No. 3 and No. 4 scorers in the nation, they have found other weapons in Jen Newitt and several of her teammates.

Those teammates have not given the Big Green one exceptional scorer, but rather they have depended on a strong team offensive effort.

While the Dartmouth team has changed somewhat since last season, the Princeton squad is nearly the same. The Tigers have filled the holes left by the losses of six players from last year with eight freshmen, including goaltender Meghan McInnes, who has had two 11-save games this season.

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They also return several of their big scorers this season — junior attacks Lauren Simone and Kim Smith, senior midfielder Julie Shaner, and Kenworthy.

Both Kenworthy and Simone had big games in the tough loss to Dartmouth last year, scoring five goals apiece.

Despite this star power, all these returners give the Tigers their biggest advantage — team unity.

"The difference this year is that many of us have been playing together for the past two years, and we have connected as a team," Kenworthy said. "There is a real sense on the field of a collective unit working together, which stems from having the experience of playing with one another."

No matter what advantages either team may think it has, both teams are coming ready to brawl for a taste of the Ivy championship on a Saturday in the middle of spring.

"We always play Dartmouth in a tight game—both teams really step up the level [of play]," Kenworthy said.

"But I think if we remain confident and focused on our game and not on them, we should prove victorious."

And what a sweet victory it would be for the Tiger seniors who are currently 0-3 against Dartmouth to finally earn their first victory over the Big Green.