Ivy League

[MDlaxfan76]

Dartmouth had actually been trending up since 2016 ... coming in second in the Ivies in 2018 with a signature win over Princeton on the road and in 2019 winning a share of the Ivy title and getting to the NCAA for the first time in a since 2013. The coaching change in 2020 was very welcome and the team's performance on the field reflected this, with the team finishing 5-0 and a #7 national ranking.

The last of Patton's recruits are seniors with very little experience (the most experienced has 7 GPs) and Frank's recruits have yet to hit Hanover. It will take this program some time to recover.

Not sure I'm following this entirely.

Patton left after the 2016 season, after 24 seasons; 2016 was 7-8, better than the prior year 3-11.
The push of Patton out was understandably traumatic for many of the women alumni.
On the other hand, quite a few folks felt it was overdue.

Danielle Spencer's first season was 2017, again 7-8. But co-coach of the year in Ivies. I called her a rockstar the first time I met her, clear that she had the juice necessary.

2018 was 11-5 and again co-coach of the year. Big improvement trend line.
2019 was 11-6 overall and 6-1 in conference and an Ivy championship.
We were quite disappointed to lose Danielle!
She was also doing a very good job at recruiting, best I know.

Alex Frank was/is a great replacement and indeed very welcomed.
I haven't met her in person yet, but hear great things.
First season 5-0 in shortened season...great start.

Not sure why anyone would think there's a recovery necessary...at least not more so than what all the Ivies will need to be doing.

[laxagainsthumanity]

Not sure why anyone would think there's a recovery necessary...at least not more so than what all the Ivies will need to be doing.

Because this program has had a ton of change in the past five years. Even if all that change is for the better, as it seems to have been, change means instability. And now their roster is devoid of on-field experience and only the current seniors have had a single normal year. Yes the latter part is true for all the Ivies (I guess Princeton maybe got around that?) but the other top programs in that conference, Penn and Princeton, have deep, long-standing cultures to tie things together that you simply do not have after two coaching changes in three years. Maybe Dartmouth will still finish third in the league next year, and best of luck to them, but they will not be anywhere near as good in 2022 as they would have been if not for all this. And sure that's largely the case in the Ivy, but it's not in the ACC, B1G, CAA, Pac12, or Big East.

[watcherinthewoods]

Dartmouth had actually been trending up since 2016 ... coming in second in the Ivies in 2018 with a signature win over Princeton on the road and in 2019 winning a share of the Ivy title and getting to the NCAA for the first time in a since 2013. The coaching change in 2020 was very welcome and the team's performance on the field reflected this, with the team finishing 5-0 and a #7 national ranking.

The last of Patton's recruits are seniors with very little experience (the most experienced has 7 GPs) and Frank's recruits have yet to hit Hanover. It will take this program some time to recover.

Not sure I'm following this entirely.

Patton left after the 2016 season, after 24 seasons; 2016 was 7-8, better than the prior year 3-11.
The push of Patton out was understandably traumatic for many of the women alumni.
On the other hand, quite a few folks felt it was overdue.

Danielle Spencer's first season was 2017, again 7-8. But co-coach of the year in Ivies. I called her a rockstar the first time I met her, clear that she had the juice necessary.

2018 was 11-5 and again co-coach of the year. Big improvement trend line.
2019 was 11-6 overall and 6-1 in conference and an Ivy championship.
We were quite disappointed to lose Danielle!
She was also doing a very good job at recruiting, best I know.

Alex Frank was/is a great replacement and indeed very welcomed.
I haven't met her in person yet, but hear great things.
First season 5-0 in shortened season...great start.

Not sure why anyone would think there's a recovery necessary...at least not more so than what all the Ivies will need to be doing.

Sorry my typo. 2017 was the indeed the first season over .500 for the big green in a while.

Not a single player or family (with one possible exception) would say that Spencer was good match for Dartmouth, so you would have to clarify the ‘we’. She maybe someone’s idea of a ‘rock star’ but not so in Hanover. I have said this many times on this forum and the facts back me up, she was playing with Patton’s stacked deck of recruits … and the outward success masked 3 dark seasons for the big green. Her lack of development of underclass players is a big part of why the program will have extra challenges recovering from the almost 2 seasons lost to Covid. Wish her well in her future endeavors and grateful for the arrival of coach frank. Long may she run.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

2019 was 11-6 overall and 6-1 in conference and an Ivy championship.

*Big Green shared the Ivy championship with Princeton in 2019. The Tigers finished 12-3 overall. Princeton also defeated Dartmouth in their only meeting that year--14-12 in Hanover.

https://goprincetontigers.com/news/2019 ... title.aspx

[MDlaxfan76]

2019 was 11-6 overall and 6-1 in conference and an Ivy championship.

*Big Green shared the Ivy championship with Princeton in 2019. The Tigers finished 12-3 overall. Princeton also defeated Dartmouth in their only meeting that year--14-12 in Hanover.

https://goprincetontigers.com/news/2019 ... title.aspx

Sure, no issue. Shared title.
Princeton was the better team IMO.

[MDlaxfan76]

Dartmouth had actually been trending up since 2016 ... coming in second in the Ivies in 2018 with a signature win over Princeton on the road and in 2019 winning a share of the Ivy title and getting to the NCAA for the first time in a since 2013. The coaching change in 2020 was very welcome and the team's performance on the field reflected this, with the team finishing 5-0 and a #7 national ranking.

The last of Patton's recruits are seniors with very little experience (the most experienced has 7 GPs) and Frank's recruits have yet to hit Hanover. It will take this program some time to recover.

Not sure I'm following this entirely.

Patton left after the 2016 season, after 24 seasons; 2016 was 7-8, better than the prior year 3-11.
The push of Patton out was understandably traumatic for many of the women alumni.
On the other hand, quite a few folks felt it was overdue.

Danielle Spencer's first season was 2017, again 7-8. But co-coach of the year in Ivies. I called her a rockstar the first time I met her, clear that she had the juice necessary.

2018 was 11-5 and again co-coach of the year. Big improvement trend line.
2019 was 11-6 overall and 6-1 in conference and an Ivy championship.
We were quite disappointed to lose Danielle!
She was also doing a very good job at recruiting, best I know.

Alex Frank was/is a great replacement and indeed very welcomed.
I haven't met her in person yet, but hear great things.
First season 5-0 in shortened season...great start.

Not sure why anyone would think there's a recovery necessary...at least not more so than what all the Ivies will need to be doing.

Sorry my typo. 2017 was the indeed the first season over .500 for the big green in a while.

Not a single player or family (with one possible exception) would say that Spencer was good match for Dartmouth, so you would have to clarify the ‘we’. She maybe someone’s idea of a ‘rock star’ but not so in Hanover. I have said this many times on this forum and the facts back me up, she was playing with Patton’s stacked deck of recruits … and the outward success masked 3 dark seasons for the big green. Her lack of development of underclass players is a big part of why the program will have extra challenges recovering from the almost 2 seasons lost to Covid. Wish her well in her future endeavors and grateful for the arrival of coach frank. Long may she run.

You sound like you were much closer to this than me.
I met Danielle a couple of times in person in the context of the Friends program and was impressed by every aspect of her body language and thoughts. Beyond those in person discussions, I was listening to others in the Friends support system evaluating the Women's side.

Amy Patton's removal (yes after a string of down years - following many years of excellence) was highly charged. Some quite opposed perspectives on the decision, lots of anger about it from both directions.

My own view was that it was overdue, but I have good friends who played for Amy who felt otherwise. I respect their views. I just felt that it was akin to some of the coaching situations of some premier men's program's where I similarly felt the moves were overdue. I'd had enough interactions with Amy to feel this sort of open hostility towards joint participation as alumni through the Friends program that made little sense to me, especially given that so much of the funding support came from male alumni donors. And I'd had a niece who was 'recruited', told she'd only be considered if she came to a camp, then basically ignored. Captain of two sports in IAAM, excellent player, strong grades, President of her class...huh? didn't feel straight...but then I'd seen the same thing with my own son, (future all-Ivy) on the men's side, so wasn't terribly surprised.

Danielle, of course, didn't have anything to do with Amy's leaving...but she had to come into a situation in which a whole lot of people were quite ticked off. Sure seemed like she was the right gal to calm the waters.

There was quite a lot of confidence building, again at the Friends side, that Danielle (and the team) was going to be successful on the field, and importantly, at healing the rift with alumni (and I assume some of Amy's recruits)...indeed, we've seen quite a rebound in the Women's side's financial support. That had always been lagging way behind the Men's side (money is split evenly regardless of who gives). We've also seen record giving year over year on both sides these past few years.

My perception was that significant progress was being made. Perhaps that masked issues in reality, but certainly the trajectory looked good and Alex Frank's taking the reins seemed to not miss a heartbeat. Again, I hear excellent things about Alex.

Totally agree that the pandemic break is likely to impact all Ivy programs for a few years. I don't, however, see why Dartmouth will have a more difficult time than others. We're typically mid Ivy until we prove otherwise (which is very doable), winning shares of championships or outright is job 1, NCAA runs job 2, deep runs and NC contention is job 3, etc...and that's only possible with building a culture of winning. Feels like that's happening.

Totally agree re Alex "long may she run"...

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Practice for the Quakers against an imposing backdrop.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

The last time the Ivy League had a body of work to analyze was at the end of the truncated 2020 season. The Coaches Poll had Dartmouth (#9) ranked above Penn (#10) and Princeton (#14). So where was Dartmouth in the recent USA Lacrosse Magazine Early 2022 Rankings feature? The mag had Princeton at #14 and Penn at #19 but Big Green was nowhere to be found. Why was that?

The former coaching staff of head coach Danielle Spencer, and assistants Nicole Flores and Megan Whittle in 2019 had been replaced for the 2020 season by head coach Alex Frank and assistants Tee Ladouceur, Mary Kate Bonanni (in 2021) and volunteer Layne Woodruff. They have yet to coach a full season but they had the team at 5-0 in ’20 when the season ended.

I suspect Big Green will get back to their winning ways in 2022 and reclaim their familiar place in the polls and RPI rankings.

[hmmm]

The last time the Ivy League had a body of work to analyze was at the end of the truncated 2020 season. The Coaches Poll had Dartmouth (#9) ranked above Penn (#10) and Princeton (#14). So where was Dartmouth in the recent USA Lacrosse Magazine Early 2022 Rankings feature? The mag had Princeton at #14 and Penn at #19 but Big Green was nowhere to be found. Why was that?

The former coaching staff of head coach Danielle Spencer, and assistants Nicole Flores and Megan Whittle in 2019 had been replaced for the 2020 season by head coach Alex Frank and assistants Tee Ladouceur, Mary Kate Bonanni (in 2021) and volunteer Layne Woodruff. They have yet to coach a full season but they had the team at 5-0 in ’20 when the season ended.

I suspect Big Green will get back to their winning ways in 2022 and reclaim their familiar place in the polls and RPI rankings.

Why do you suspect that? Based on what?

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

I suspect Big Green will get back to their winning ways in 2022 and reclaim their familiar place in the polls and RPI rankings.

Why do you suspect that? Based on what?

I base that on their recent past performances and the current coaching staff which had the team playing well (and undefeated) in 2020. I have no reason to doubt their continued success.

[hmmm]

I suspect Big Green will get back to their winning ways in 2022 and reclaim their familiar place in the polls and RPI rankings.

Why do you suspect that? Based on what?

I base that on their recent past performances and the current coaching staff which had the team playing well (and undefeated) in 2020. I have no reason to doubt their continued success.

Their current roster has scored maybe 10 total goals in college combined. They haven't played a meaningful game in almost 2 years. 2 years ago the coaches had Danielle's players. Definitely understand why they may not be ranked in the preseason. Could they end up being good? Sure, but there's no basis to expect them to be a top 20 team at this point.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

I suspect Big Green will get back to their winning ways in 2022 and reclaim their familiar place in the polls and RPI rankings.

Why do you suspect that? Based on what?

I base that on their recent past performances and the current coaching staff which had the team playing well (and undefeated) in 2020. I have no reason to doubt their continued success.

Their current roster has scored maybe 10 total goals in college combined. They haven't played a meaningful game in almost 2 years. 2 years ago the coaches had Danielle's players. Definitely understand why they may not be ranked in the preseason. Could they end up being good? Sure, but there's no basis to expect them to be a top 20 team at this point.

The early-season poll had 25 spots. Dartmouth doesn’t usually have a problem recruiting to their program. Coach Frank has a stellar pedigree. She had some nice wins over ranked opponents in her first season in 2020. I have no reason to doubt her ability to continue in that vein. All that put together, I think they’ll be ranked and causing trouble in the Ivy and the rest of the NCAA soon enough and why I would have ranked them in the early poll.

[MDlaxfan76]

I quite agree.
No guarantees, but I'd think they come in with a bit of chip having been ignored.

I haven't seen the freshmen announced, but I would bet that Alex has been doing just fine on the recruiting front, despite Covid.

That said, the timing of Danielle leaving, then Covid, certainly could be fairly argued as to having the possibility of having set them back a step.

Time will tell.

BTW, I'm hearing great things about the new indoor practice facility.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

This article is from 2020 but it does list some of the incoming players.
(And the link (below) for 2022 roster which does not list the incoming frosh class)


Alex Frank Adds 10 to the Women's Lacrosse Roster for 2021
Nine members of the Class of 2024 and a transfer to join the Big Green.
9/25/2020

HANOVER, N.H. – Dartmouth women's lacrosse head coach Alex Frank has announced the 10 new players who will be added to the roster for the 2021 season.
 
Nine of those players are members of the Class of 2024, while one is a transfer student from Stanford and a '22. The group represents five states as well as Washington, D.C., with Massachusetts leading the way with three.
 
Heavy in the midfield, this group has seven players who play a majority of their time there, while also adding a pair of attackers and one goalkeeper.
 
"We are very excited to welcome the freshmen class and Annika to Dartmouth," Frank said. "Their passion for the school and the program is unmatched and we cannot wait to see what they are able to do on the field and in the classroom."
 
The incoming players are as follows, listed by their jersey number:
 
REED COLE
No. 3 | Midfield
Marblehead, Mass. | St. Paul's School
Before Dartmouth: A four-year member of the ski, soccer and lacrosse teams at St. Paul, serving as team captain for each in her final seasons… A decorated skier, she was a two-time New England Champion in the Giant Slalom as well as a multi-Lakes Region Champion… Was named a three-time New England Under Armour All-American… Selected to the US U-19 National Team as a sophomore… Named to Inside Lacrosse's "On the Rise" list as both a junior and senior.

MEGAN LYNCH
No. 5 | Midfield/Defense
Bethesda, Md. | Connelly School of the Holy Child
Before Dartmouth: A member of the cross country, track & field, basketball and lacrosse teams during her high school years… Named a team captain of cross country, basketball and lacrosse as a senior… Earned Team MVP across all of her teams six times in high school… Her father Tom Lynch '93 was a member of the Dartmouth football team.

SOPHIA FRANCO
No. 7 | Midfield
Scarsdale, N.Y. | Scarsdale
Before Dartmouth: Played field hockey and lacrosse and ran track & field during high school, serving as the captain of the varsity field hockey and lacrosse teams as a senior…Led her team to a regional title and a state title game appearance in 2016…An accomplished runner, she won multiple sectional and regional titles in the 600m and 300m, respectively, and owns several school events records… In lacrosse, she was named the team's midfield MVP multiple times, while being named all-league as a sophomore and junior… She was also a decorated field hockey player, earning multiple team and league honors.

JULIA MASTRIO
No. 14 | Midfield
Wilbraham, Mass. | Minnechaug Regional High School
Before Dartmouth: The second Mastrio sister to come through Hanover, her older sister Elizabeth '19 was a decorated member of the team from 2015-19 and appears throughout the program's record book… A three-time All-Western Mass Division I First Team selection in lacrosse… Also garnered similar distinctions for both field hockey as well as indoor track… Served as team captain for both field hockey and track as a senior before her spring lacrosse season was cancelled due to COVID-19…Was the 2019 Massachusetts Division III State Champion in the 55m.

VICTORIA NORCHI
No. 16 | Midfield
Natick, Mass. | Natick
Before Dartmouth: A four-year member of the field hockey and lacrosse teams at Natick High School… Was a two-time Bay State Conference First Team All-Star in lacrosse and field hockey…Served as a team captain in both sports as a senior, while also handling captain duties in lacrosse as a junior…In her junior season of lacrosse, Norchi was tabbed as a Eastern Massachusetts (EMGLCA) D1 All Star… Served as her class vice president all four years of high school… Is a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland.

ROSIE McCARTHY
No. 20 | Attack/Midfield
Washington, D.C. | Connelly School of the Holy Child
Before Dartmouth: A four-year member of the field hockey and lacrosse teams… Served as the captain of both teams during her senior season… Was an All-ISL player three times in high school… Two of her older sisters are also Division I women's lacrosse players, joining Mary Clare at Virginia Tech and Mercy at Delaware.

JENNA DONOHUE
No. 22 | Attack
South Salem, N.Y. | Loomis Chaffee School
Before Dartmouth: A two-sport athlete at Dartmouth as she is a member of the women's hockey team as well as lacrosse… Played lacrosse under former Dartmouth player and coach Julie Wadland '10 at Loomis Chaffee… Was part of a team that won three Founders League titles in lacrosse and four in hockey… A two-time team MVP in lacrosse, earning the distinction as a sophomore and a junior… In the latter of those two seasons, she earned All-America honors… Loomis Chaffee Outstanding Female Athlete Award 2019, 2020.

BELLA GODSICK
No. 24 | Midfield
Hunting Valley, Ohio | Hathaway Brown School
Before Dartmouth: A member of the tennis and lacrosse teams at Hathaway, serving as team captain for lacrosse as both a junior and senior… A two-time OHSAA First Team Division II All-State player in both lacrosse and tennis… A two-time first-team all-region and one-time second-team player in lacrosse… Earned lacrosse academic All-America honors as a junior… Won several high-level Ohio girls tennis doubles titles…Her father Tony Godsick '93 was a four-year member of the football team and was classmates with Meghan Lynch's father Tony. He is also a current member of the Dartmouth Athletics Advisory Board… Mother is Mary Joe Fernandez, a former professional tennis player who has a pair of Olympic Gold Medals (1992, '96) in women's doubles and a bronze (1992) in women's singles, alongside two doubles Grand Slam titles (1991 Australian Open, 1996 French Open).

TAMER LUZI
No. 33 | Goalkeeper
Chatham, N.J. | Chatham
Before Dartmouth: A four-year lacrosse player at Chatham, serving as a team captain for her 2020 senior season… Her junior season of 2019 saw her earn First-Team All-Morris County and First Team All-Stars and Stripes… Additionally, she was tabbed as an Academic All-American in 2019… Her sister Tessa Luzi is a member of the Lafayette women's lacrosse team… A member of the National Honor Society.

ANNIKA BEGLEY
No. 40 | Midfield/Draw
Morristown, N.J. | Stanford (NCAA) | Morristown (HS)
Before Dartmouth: Comes to Hanover from Stanford, appearing in 10 games as a freshman in 2019… Finished season with one goal and 10 draw controls…First career goal and three draw controls in win over UC Davis… A Two-time US Lacrosse High School All-American and all-state player (2017, 2018)…Was a two-time captain of Morristown, where she was named team MVP three times…Finished high school with more than 200 career goals, while also a setting single-season program record of 138 draw controls as a senior in 2018… Her sister Linnea Begley is a member of the Cornell women's lacrosse team, part of the Class of 2021… Her brother Brian was an All-American lacrosse player at Loyola University Maryland and her mother was an All-American swimmer at Georgia.

https://dartmouthsports.com/sports/wome ... sse/roster

[watcherinthewoods]

I suspect Big Green will get back to their winning ways in 2022 and reclaim their familiar place in the polls and RPI rankings.

Why do you suspect that? Based on what?

I base that on their recent past performances and the current coaching staff which had the team playing well (and undefeated) in 2020. I have no reason to doubt their continued success.

Their current roster has scored maybe 10 total goals in college combined. They haven't played a meaningful game in almost 2 years. 2 years ago the coaches had Danielle's players. Definitely understand why they may not be ranked in the preseason. Could they end up being good? Sure, but there's no basis to expect them to be a top 20 team at this point.

Two years ago the coaches had Amy Patton’s players. Most of the recruits signed by the coach prior to Frank are current juniors and sophomores. Every starter in 2020 was recruited by Patton. Please give credit where credit is due.

I am sure coach Frank will have no issues attracting outstanding student athletes who will continue to build the program’s tradition of excellence.

BTW lots of joy last weekend up in Hanover … more than 200 alumni gathered to honor Josie Harper and celebrate the endowment of the head women’s lacrosse coaching position in her name. Some really incredible pictures of this storied program on social media. Nice for the Big Green.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

BTW lots of joy last weekend up in Hanover … more than 200 alumni gathered to honor Josie Harper and celebrate the endowment of the head women’s lacrosse coaching position in her name. Some really incredible pictures of this storied program on social media. Nice for the Big Green.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CT-WO6HLWY0 ... _copy_link

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Additionally, Dartmouth has 8 incoming class of '25 pictured (but not named) on the teams Instagram account. So, we'll see what kind of team takes Scully-Fahey Field sometime in the late winter of 2022.

Looking forward to seeing the Ancient Eight back in action. The recent top 3 in the Ivy--Princeton, Penn and Dartmouth--typically play a few games each against the top teams in the NCAA like (in no particular order) Northwestern, Maryland, BC, Florida, Stony Brook, Duke, Virginia, Loyola, et al. I wonder if these three teams will schedule the same traditional top opponents after their long time off or choose a more gradual increase in the quality of teams they play. We'll see soon enough.

[laxlaxlax]

Some nice social media posts from Princeton after fall ball games v Rutgers and Villanova last week. I think (?) these were the first games they played since March 2019…

My takeaway is that it doesn’t look like taking a year off impacted Kyla Sears’ skills too much

https://www.instagram.com/p/CU0Vs1YI9_V ... =copy_link

Not seen any video content from the other Ivies but similar to ONW, looking forward to seeing them all back in action

[Can Opener]

Based on the performances of Dartmouth and Harvard against BC this weekend, I would say the Ivies have a longer road back than I had expected. BC totally dominated both squads at Harvard Saturday morning. Unstoppable offense, aggressive rides, smothering defense. Of course it could be just that BC has separated from all but the most elite programs in the country. In 2020, Brown was tied 8-8 in the second half at BC before the Eagles pulled away for a 13-10 win. They didn't keep score on Saturday, but BC dominated their two Ivy foes up and down the field. With the Ivies getting a later start than the rest of D1 in the spring, it will probably take the first half of the season for those teams to get back up to speed. I hope I am wrong about that, and of course this is very early on the comeback path for the Ancient Eight, but they have a lot of work ahead of them.

[watcherinthewoods]

Based on the performances of Dartmouth and Harvard against BC this weekend, I would say the Ivies have a longer road back than I had expected. BC totally dominated both squads at Harvard Saturday morning. Unstoppable offense, aggressive rides, smothering defense. Of course it could be just that BC has separated from all but the most elite programs in the country. In 2020, Brown was tied 8-8 in the second half at BC before the Eagles pulled away for a 13-10 win. They didn't keep score on Saturday, but BC dominated their two Ivy foes up and down the field. With the Ivies getting a later start than the rest of D1 in the spring, it will probably take the first half of the season for those teams to get back up to speed. I hope I am wrong about that, and of course this is very early on the comeback path for the Ancient Eight, but they have a lot of work ahead of them.

Had heard the same from Ivy families in attendance at Harvard. And witnessed the same from Penn at Loyola on Sunday. I will say again, it has been basically been 2 years since these teams started their COVID pause. The MOST experienced player on Dartmouth roster is a senior with 7GP. The freshman on these rosters are technically the LEAST rusty, as they played a high school season in spring 2021. With Princeton as the possible exception (due to their experience ... the core team all took 2021 as a GAP year) it's gonna be a long walk home.