Around the Ivies: Dartmouth, Columbia remain unbeaten

Through two games of the Ivy League season, the field hockey team is in an unfamiliar position — chasing two other teams for first place. Princeton (3-5 overall, 1-1 Ivy League), which has won six consecutive conference titles and 16 of the last 17, currently stands in a four-way tie for third place after an early-season defeat. Here’s how the Tigers’ competition stacks up:

Dartmouth (7-2, 2-0)

The Big Green bears chief responsibility for the Tigers’ plight, having handed Princeton its first Ivy League loss in four years 2-1 in Hanover, N.H., to open conference play. Dartmouth failed both of its tests against ranked competition, losing 7-3 at No. 15 Maine and falling to No. 10 New Hampshire 5-2, but it has since swept five straight contests, backing up its victory over the Tigers with a 4-3 win at Brown. The Big Green boasts the conference’s best overall record, largely on the strength of its top offense — Dartmouth has scored 31 goals in eight games, led by midfielder Kelly Hood’s league-leading nine scores.

Columbia (3-4, 2-0)

The league’s other unbeaten team comes as a bit of a surprise. The Lions won just one of five non-conference games, with all four losses coming by two goals, and none of their opponents are currently ranked in the top 25, although three received national votes. But Columbia downed Brown and Cornell by identical 3-1 scores, opening conference play 2-0. The Lions will face their toughest league test yet on Saturday when they play Princeton at Class of 1952 Stadium.

Harvard (4-3, 1-1)

The Crimson struggled through a disappointing fall 2010, winning just three of 17 games and finishing the season tied for last place in the conference. But a new year breeds new situations, and Harvard now finds itself with an above-.500 record as the calendar turns, having already surpassed last year’s win total. The Crimson earned a somewhat perplexing three votes in the latest top-25 poll — Harvard has not played a ranked team yet and has beaten nobody with a national reputation — after it recovered from a 5-1 thrashing at Yale to beat Penn 4-1.

Yale (3-4, 1-1)

After finishing tied for second in the league last year, the Bulldogs had hopes of contending for the Ivy League title, which were bolstered with a 5-1 rout of Harvard. Yale’s four defeats have come by a total of five goals, two in overtime, which have helped the team post the second-best goal differential in the conference at plus-1.32. Freshman midfielder Erin Carter ranks second in the league with 15 points.

Penn (1-6, 1-1)

The Quakers have struggled mightily on offense this season, never scoring more than one goal in a game. One of those scores came at a good time, however, enabling Penn to open Ivy League play with a 1-0 shutout of Cornell. But the team’s offense will need to find more goals or post more shutouts to increase its win total.

Cornell (3-4, 0-2)

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The team with the second-best record in 2010, Cornell has fallen off sharply in the early stages of this season. Finding the cage has also been an issue for the Big Red, as the 1-0 defeat at Penn was the culmination of three straight scoreless games. The play of the league’s best defense — only 10 goals allowed, six fewer than any other team — has largely been wasted by a struggling offense.

Brown (1-7, 0-2)

The Bears gave Dartmouth a scare on their home field last week, taking the Big Green to overtime before succumbing 4-3. Another home loss to Colgate the following day extended Brown’s losing streak to six games, mostly the product of a porous defense that has surrendered 3.88 goals per game, a full goal more than any other team.