HANOVER — The Dartmouth College men’s lacrosse team started hot, but much like the temperature on a chilly spring Saturday at Scully-Fahey Field, the Big Green offense went ice cold in the second half its contest against Penn.
Dartmouth coughed up an eight-goal lead and fell, 16-14.
With under four minutes remaining in regulation and the game tied at 14-14, Dartmouth sophomore goalie Kevin Bryan, who had just recently been subbed into the game, attempted to complete a clearance on his own.
The Big Green’s netminder made it over midfield and nearly to the restraining line before he passed it backward to a teammate, who was promptly decked by a Quaker midfielder.
Penn scooped the loose ball and carried it the other way toward a vacant Dartmouth net, and senior Griffin Scane buried a shot past Big Green sophomore Jack Mulholland, who tried his best to play goalie, to take a 15-14 lead.
The goal, which proved to be the game-winner, marked the Quakers’ ninth unanswered tally since 4:21 remained in the third period. Penn added another tally with under a minute remaining in the contest to seal the win.
“Credit to Penn — that was an up-and-down game — obviously a game of runs on both sides, credit to them for closing the door,” said Big Green Head Coach Sean Kirwan. “I thought for the most part we played our game, but then there were a couple of plays toward the end that we needed to make.”
The game could not have started much better for the Big Green, especially against an opponent that entered Saturday’s contest No. 15 in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association rankings.
Dartmouth, seeking its first win over Penn at home since 2012, jumped out to a 4-0 lead about three minutes into the game thanks to two goals from senior Thomas Power, and a score each from sophomore Alex Jessey and senior William Stahl.
In what was a precursor of things to come, Penn was able to go on a run of its own and scored four unanswered to tie the game 4-4.
Both teams would trade goals before the period’s final horn to head into the second frame tied at five goals apiece.
The Big Green held the Quakers scoreless in the period and scored four goals from the sticks of Jessey, Power, freshman Stu Gates, and senior Emmett Paradine to take a 9-5 lead into halftime.
Dartmouth’s momentum continued to grow out of halftime, and its lead ballooned to 14-6 with 4:21 remaining in the third frame after a goal from Jessey. But that score would be the Big Green’s last for the afternoon.
Trailing by eight, the Quakers regrouped and cut their deficit to 14-9 before the end of the third period, setting up a dominant fourth quarter.
“I think it starts at the faceoff X. I think Penn started to win some faceoffs there, and they really cranked up the ride, and we struggled in the fourth quarter clearing the ball,” said Kirwan, in his third year as head coach. “I thought our offense got iced out in the fourth quarter — just not able to stick to the rhythm we had in the first three quarters.”
Bryan’s clearance in the contest’s final minutes proved to be costly as well.
“KB is somebody that we asked to come in cold in the fourth quarter, which is not an easy task in an Ivy League game, so I give him credit,” Kirwan said. “I think just retroactively looking back, we’d love to have one of our poles do it, not our goalie… we’ve got to do a better job of coaching him up in those situations.”
While a loss was not the goal, Kirwan indicated that a game of this nature can be a growing opportunity for his squad.
“To have a big lead like that and watch it slip, like, it’s just something that these guys need to experience,” he said. “The best way to learn how to win is honestly to lose some of these heartbreakers and learn from your mistakes so next time you can correct it.”
The loss drops the Big Green to 4-5 overall and 0-2 in conference this season.
Dartmouth will aim to stop its three-game skid and pick up its first Ivy League win of the season when it hosts Yale on Saturday at noon.
