Dartmouth roundup: Football ranked; men’s soccer all tied up
Dartmouth sophomore forward Trenton Blake fights for possession against a New Hampshire defender in the Big Green’s scoreless draw on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Blake scored his fifth goal of the season on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Dartmouth’s 2-2 draw against Columbia. (Dartmouth Athletics photograph) Dartmouth athletics photograph
| Published: 10-15-2024 3:31 PM |
The Dartmouth football team is off to its best start since 2021 following a thrilling 44-43 overtime victory over Yale on Saturday.
The win, which saw coach Sammy McCorkle’s squad overcome a 23-point deficit in the third quarter to manufacture the program’s largest comeback victory in its history, pushes the Big Green to 4-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference play. Dartmouth currently sits alone atop the Ancient Eight standings ahead of its final nonconference tilt this Saturday against Central Connecticut State.
Grayson Saunier, the sophomore quarterback who dazzled in his first extended performance for the Big Green in injured starter Jackson Proctor’s stead, was named Ivy League offensive player of the week after generating 360 yards of total offense and five touchdowns.
For the first time since 2021, Dartmouth is ranked once again, slotting in at No. 22 in the Stats Perform FCS poll and at No. 24 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll, which were revealed on Monday.
Here’s how Dartmouth’s other fall sports programs fared this week:
Dartmouth needed some late heroics to knock off Harvard on Saturday and the Big Green got it.
Senior Josie Harrison picked up a loose ball and dove into the try zone with less than a minute remaining to give Dartmouth the lead. Freshman Annie Henrich’s subsequent conversion handed the Big Green a 26-19 advantage they would not relinquish as the Crimson were unable to mount a comeback.
Dartmouth, now 5-0 on the season, sits alone atop the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) standings. The Big Green have just two games remaining on their schedule, an away game at Quinnipiac (4-0-2) on Saturday, Oct. 26, and a home clash with Brown (3-1-1) at Brophy Field on Saturday, Nov. 2, before NIRA playoffs begin in mid-November.
Article continues after...
Yesterday's Most Read Articles
Private equity firm acquires stake in Simon Pearce
Lebanon residents say proposed tax increases and budget cuts are untenable
A Look Back: The Upper Valley fight over NH’s ‘Live Free or Die’ motto
Dartmouth celebrated Senior Day on Sunday with a seven-goal beatdown of Colgate, propelled by a quartet of goals from senior forward Emilia Callahan.
On the heels of a 3-0 loss to Penn on Friday — the Big Green are still searching for their first Ivy League win this season — Callahan’s four-goal outing ensured a win against the Raiders and broke the team’s three-game losing skid. Junior midfielder Florentina Terra’s three assists on the day led Dartmouth (3-8, 0-4 Ivy).
Coach Mark Egner’s squad will travel to UMass Lowell (7-5) on Sunday before wrapping up nonconference play on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at Holy Cross (5-7).
Coach Bo Oshoniyi and the Big Green welcomed Granite State rival New Hampshire and Ivy foe Columbia to the confines of Burnham Field this past week, ultimately drawing both games.
The Wildcats (3-2-5), who have earned seven consecutive NCAA Tournament bids, are in their first season under coach Rich Weinrebe following former coach Marc Hubbard’s southern departure to NC State. Despite a two-man advantage in the last half-hour of play — UNH saw two players receive red cards in the 57th minute — Dartmouth was unable to get any of its eight second-half shots on goal past Wildcats goalkeeper Erik Lauta. The two teams settled for a scoreless draw.
On Saturday, the Big Green surrendered a two-goal lead in the final 16 minutes of play to draw Columbia, 2-2. Freshman striker Eidur Baldvinsson and sophomore forward Trenton Blake bagged Dartmouth’s pair of goals.
Dartmouth (4-4-3, 1-1-1) played in its final nonconference clash Tuesday night against Northeastern and will return to Hanover to host Yale (4-6-1, 1-2) at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Coach Taylor Schram and the Big Green are still searching for their first win in conference play this season.
Hosting preseason Ivy favorite Harvard on Wednesday at Burnham Field, a late second-half equalizer from Crimson forward Audrey Francois leveled the game at 1-1. Dartmouth put eight shots on frame, but only senior midfielder Danielle Burke’s first-half tally found the back of the net. Traveling to the Big Apple on Sunday, an 88th minute penalty kick conversion proved the decider in a 1-0 loss to Columbia.
Through four games, the Big Green (6-5-2, 0-3-1 Ivy) sit at the bottom of the Ivy League table with just one point ahead of a game against Penn (1-7-5, 0-2-2) on Saturday.
Career nights from sophomores Maddie LaFata and Ellie Mattox helped propel the Big Green to a convincing 3-0 sweep of Penn on Friday. LaFata’s 13 kills marked a career high, while Mattox’s 19 assists tied a career high.
Dartmouth (9-6, 2-3 Ivy) fell at Princeton 3-1 on Saturday, putting an end to the Big Green’s brief two-game streak of consecutive sweep victories.
Coach Kevin Maureen Campbell’s squad returns to Hanover this upcoming weekend to host Brown and Yale at Leede Arena.
Hosting Boston College, Buffalo and Fairfield at the Boss Tennis Center over the weekend, Dartmouth held its second Dartmouth Invite of this fall season.
The Big Green notched a 7-2 record in singles play on Friday, with Miles Groom and Waleed Qadir notching the team’s lone doubles win over a Boston College pairing. In eight doubles matches on Saturday, Dartmouth went 4-4 before winning six out of nine single matches. In the final day of play, the Big Green won two of four doubles matches and secured seven wins out of nine singles matches.
Dartmouth travels to Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday for the ITA New England Regional.
Dartmouth sailed in a pair of regattas over the weekend, competing at the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championship Finals in Annapolis, Md., and hosting the Captain Hurst Trophy.
A fifth-place finish in Providence, R.I., at the competition’s first round a couple of weeks ago secured a bid to the championship, where the Big Green earned a 13th-place finish. Sailing at Lake Mascoma this weekend as well, Dartmouth notched a second-place finish.
Running at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championships on Friday, the Dartmouth men notched an eighth-place finish, paced by sophomore Patrick Dowd, who finished 10th overall.
Along with Dowd, the Big Green had four runners finish inside the top-45 — freshman Noe Kemper, senior DJ Matusz and freshman Asher Beck.
The Big Green women, who fielded only four runners at the meet, did not register a team score. Senior Anna Banovac was the fastest finisher among the quartet, notching a 26th-place finish, followed closely by junior Esme Huh and sophomore Erin Karas, who finished 32nd and 33rd, respectively. Senior Payton Weiner rounded out the Dartmouth women’s day, finishing in 85th.
Alex Cervantes can be reached at acervantes@vnews.com or 603-727-7302.
Managing to make a mark: Lebanon grad Felix rewarded with minutes for college soccer team
Big Green denied in NIRA D-I women’s rugby final
Big Green’s special teams coach wants his unit to match his energy
Checking for holes
