DARTMOUTH 2020

[MDlaxfan76]

Anybody know anything about any of the 2020 or 2021 recruits. I know people are talking about Dartmouth changing the culture, but this doesn’t seem to be reflected in their inactivity with recruiting.

On paper their '19 class set a good precedent and "starting" point. We will of course see if they can help make an impact over the next 4 years. Regarding 2020, a quick IL look shows three 4 star recruits, one a JHU flip another an OSU flip... so I would say they are headed in the right direction. 2021 is still early, but from what I've been seeing with Coach Conner I would expect continued improvement on the recruiting front. I know it's not in the culture, but I would love to see the Big Green consider 1 or 2 strong transfers over the next few years to bolster areas in need of experience!

That's my sense as well.
Not sure where you get "inactivity" njlax.

On transfers, our competitors have certainly been active in this regard.

njlax, how about you share with us what your interest is in Dartmouth lacrosse in specific?
I looked back to see when you last commented as I thought I recalled an exchange some time ago (excerpted above).

Do you have a guy in the mix not getting the 'love' from our recruiters?
Or is your guy coming to Hanover in that class and you're worried on behalf of the team?

Or, something else?

The vibe we're getting is that each class has been developing stronger than the prior ones, good trajectory. That said, we're coming from a relative position of weakness in terms of how the general lax world perceives the competitiveness of Dartmouth. Deservedly. We (both actual D fans and the better informed lax community) believe that can and will change, but it's an uphill battle for sure.

On another topic, word is that the indoor facility is going well. Doesn't sound like it's going to be available for this winter, but may be open early enough in the spring to be helpful with early spring bad weather. And then ongoing will be important.

For those interested in the economic support of the program, alumni have stepped up strongly, big advances in the annual giving. We still need to find an endowment level donor or two. The women's side is in a positive trajectory on fundraising (funds are intermingled), though it remains a real drag relatively, despite their success on the field. There's a terrific new young coach hired, a huge relief after the loss of the rockstar who led the women's recent success, and the distance from Amy Patton's tenure and the trauma with alumni body has lessened. So, we have good hopes for that side of the Lacrosse Program.

[check sticks]

On another topic, word is that the indoor facility is going well. Doesn't sound like it's going to be available for this winter, but may be open early enough in the spring to be helpful with early spring bad weather. And then ongoing will be important.

Can't wait.
Post-thanksgiving brisk afternoon in Hanover >
http://www.dartmouth66.org/webcam/connectionscam.html

[co2519]

As a parent of a HS player potentially interested in Dartmouth, I’m curious as to why the program hasn’t been more successful in recent years. Are the admissions standards so high on the AI scale that many prospective recruits can’t get past the admissions screen? Is it that much more stringent than Cornell, Brown or Penn?

Or is it something else? i would think that a school with such strong academics, great alumni network and a unique culture would have no problem getting great players. What am I missing?

[ctbagataway]

Recent? Last winning season was 2006. People here will point to lack of an indoor facility (now being rectified) and a strategic failure to match the strengths of the school with the types of recruits, but I’m sure we will hear from the faithful. By the way, I have a heck of a lot of respect for the players who put in the effort and keep showing up despite the results.

[High Glass]

Not sure about the past, but those in the know more than me will comment on what is going on now: (I) a renewed monetary commitment to the program, (II) yes, the new indoor facility which is almost done, (iii) alumni sustained and direct involvement, (IV) a culture change thAt was long needed, and (v) new assistants facilitated by new funding, (vi) recruiting success the past several classes. All of that does not mean much without on-field performance and that needs to happen this year. Stay tuned. Will be interesting,

[MDlaxfan76]

As a parent of a HS player potentially interested in Dartmouth, I’m curious as to why the program hasn’t been more successful in recent years. Are the admissions standards so high on the AI scale that many prospective recruits can’t get past the admissions screen? Is it that much more stringent than Cornell, Brown or Penn?

Or is it something else? i would think that a school with such strong academics, great alumni network and a unique culture would have no problem getting great players. What am I missing?

It's a fair question.
We've had a couple of bursts of top notch play in the 'modern era' on the men's side, whereas the women have been far more successful. The women's program was strong from inception, with good coaching and a perception of an outstanding academic opportunity attractive to women in the nascent era of coeducation. That early momentum was sustained over multiple generations of women. Not so on the men's side. Too many years of so-so, or worse, performance levels, with the sense that was just fine from the College.

I don't think the College has historically placed the necessary emphasis, particularly financially, to overcome some of the disadvantages of being in the far north, whether that was in coaching salaries or in facilities, the lacrosse program took a back seat to football and hockey in particular. Especially as compared to other Ivies.

The bursts in performance levels were associated with a few successive recruiting classes in which a handful of players were of national AA level caliber. In each of those groups, there as an AA goalie, and one or more AA midfielders and attack men. (See 1979, 1982, 2003+) Defense has been a strong point historically.

But perhaps more importantly, IMO, the bursts in performance involved significantly stronger coaching units than have been the norm.

Looking forward, there are indications of strong financial backing from alumni (something we've previously lagged in behind Ivy leaders much less ACC and Big 10 programs), our coaching staff, collectively, appears to be it's best in over a decade, and there have been successive strong recruiting classes. I believe we have perhaps 2 AA caliber goalies on the roster currently including last year's freshman, and the big hole at X has a ton of new young talent. A brand new indoor facility should be helpful in future years preparation and in recruiting.

I certainly hope and expect we will see improvement on the scoreboard this year, and with the sort of recruiting momentum we're seeing that could well get on a roll. That said, we're going to need to get a bit 'lucky' with some guys blossoming into top tier national level players...enough such players to push the program into contention with any team it faces on any given day. We've been there before.

Totally agree with the admiration of the guys who've fought through losses on the scoreboard, frustrating to any competitive player for sure, yet valuing their Dartmouth lacrosse experience as far more than about wins and losses.

[Typical Lax Dad]

As a parent of a HS player potentially interested in Dartmouth, I’m curious as to why the program hasn’t been more successful in recent years. Are the admissions standards so high on the AI scale that many prospective recruits can’t get past the admissions screen? Is it that much more stringent than Cornell, Brown or Penn?

Or is it something else? i would think that a school with such strong academics, great alumni network and a unique culture would have no problem getting great players. What am I missing?

Dartmouth is headed in the right direction. The league is very competitive but Dartmouth seems to be doing all the right things. Good players and the kids have not quit on the coach. Good luck.

[HooDat]

As a parent of a HS player potentially interested in Dartmouth, I’m curious as to why the program hasn’t been more successful in recent years. Are the admissions standards so high on the AI scale that many prospective recruits can’t get past the admissions screen? Is it that much more stringent than Cornell, Brown or Penn?

Or is it something else? i would think that a school with such strong academics, great alumni network and a unique culture would have no problem getting great players. What am I missing?

Dartmouth is headed in the right direction. The league is very competitive but Dartmouth seems to be doing all the right things. Good players and the kids have not quit on the coach. Good luck.

As a parent of a player who looked hard at Dartmouth under the old coaching regime, I think they are recovering from the hangover from past leadership. Their recruiting efforts under the old coaching staff was inconsistent to put it kindly. The old staff did not seem to have a clue as to the type of player/student they should target or the culture they wanted to create. It takes time to recover from that. MD has the best insight, but from the outside - they needed to find players with an underdog attitude and a chip on their shoulder both on the field and in the classroom. Kids who wanted to compete in every aspect of their lives, and who thrive off of being underestimated and want to be part of creating traditions rather than being one more cog in a dynastic program.

[xxxxxxx]

Captains named, congrats to all three!

https://dartmouthsports.com/news/2019/1 ... aders.aspx

[MDlaxfan76]

As a parent of a HS player potentially interested in Dartmouth, I’m curious as to why the program hasn’t been more successful in recent years. Are the admissions standards so high on the AI scale that many prospective recruits can’t get past the admissions screen? Is it that much more stringent than Cornell, Brown or Penn?

Or is it something else? i would think that a school with such strong academics, great alumni network and a unique culture would have no problem getting great players. What am I missing?

Dartmouth is headed in the right direction. The league is very competitive but Dartmouth seems to be doing all the right things. Good players and the kids have not quit on the coach. Good luck.

As a parent of a player who looked hard at Dartmouth under the old coaching regime, I think they are recovering from the hangover from past leadership. Their recruiting efforts under the old coaching staff was inconsistent to put it kindly. The old staff did not seem to have a clue as to the type of player/student they should target or the culture they wanted to create. It takes time to recover from that. MD has the best insight, but from the outside - they needed to find players with an underdog attitude and a chip on their shoulder both on the field and in the classroom. Kids who wanted to compete in every aspect of their lives, and who thrive off of being underestimated and want to be part of creating traditions rather than being one more cog in a dynastic program.

Good description. +1
Which doesn't mean that known blue chippers aren't welcome, just that having more to prove to oneself, a drive to compete and improve in all aspects of life, and the desire to be part of change, not status quo, is really important for us. Guys with upside and desire to prove it. A willingness to sacrifice short term, on and off-field, for the good of the team. That includes the back-ups and grinders, not just the 'stars'.

I wouldn't suggest that these sorts of guys didn't get attracted to Hanover previously, just that the critical mass of such wasn't sufficient except in a few periods of our history. My sense is the staff 'gets' this and is having more and more success in attracting and motivating the right sorts of players. Reports from the outgoing team leadership indicate a sea change in morale over their tenure.

We do need to get a little 'lucky'. Whether that's with avoidance of key injuries or a couple of players maturing well beyond prediction, producing at the very highest level, or bounce of a ball the right way in one goal games, we could use a little 'luck'. Hope that begins in 2020!

[check sticks]

Christmas eve. Much to be grateful for.
http://www.dartmouth66.org/webcam/connectionscam.html

[MDlaxfan76]

HANOVER, N.H. – Dartmouth men's lacrosse head coach Brendan Callahan has announced the team's 2020 schedule. The Big Green will play 14 regular season games, six of which will be played at Scully-Fahey Field.

Before the season starts, Dartmouth will play two scrimmages, traveling to Sacred Heart on Feb. 1 before hosting RPI a week later.

The Green will open the season on Feb. 15 with a new opponent, heading to North Andover, Massachusetts, to face Merrimack. They will close February with their home opener against Bryant (Feb. 22) and a road game against UMass Lowell (Feb. 29).

Dartmouth will play at Vermont (Mar. 7) and North Carolina (Mar. 17) and at home against St. John's in between before opening Ivy League play against Harvard (Mar. 21). The Big Green will host two conference games in a row against Cornell and Yale, before hitting the road for Hartford (Apr. 7) and Princeton (Apr. 11).

From there, Dartmouth will play one last non-conference game against Holy Cross (Apr. 15) and will face Penn three days later, both of which will be at home. The Green will close the regular season at Brown on April 25.

[Matnum PI]

Culver Commit... https://twitter.com/CMALacrosse/status/ ... 1154945024

[Razor21]

Dartmouth beat SHU 10-9 in yesterday’s scrimmage. SHU played starters whole game probably to get ready for first real game next week. D played its starters for 3 quarters. Great, competitive hard fought game. Both teams playing to win. Face off game dramatically better.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Dartmouth beat SHU 10-9 in yesterday’s scrimmage. SHU played starters whole game probably to get ready for first real game next week. D played its starters for 3 quarters. Great, competitive hard fought game. Both teams playing to win. Face off game dramatically better.

+1

[Matnum PI]

Merrimack Men's Lacrosse@MerrimackMLAX
1 hour ago
Running into a GAME WEEK We're back at it Saturday at Duane at 1 pm against Dartmouth! #GoMack

Dartmouth vs. Merrimack. Wow. This match-up is an interesting one to me...

[RumorMill]

Agree. I think this should be a great test to see where Dartmouth's squad stands to start the season. Although I'm happy Merrimack didn't have another game to work out kinks before Dartmouth, I kind of wanted to see them play again to get a better feel for their level this year. The Holy Cross game is definitely a good indicator, as HC returns 4 of their top scorers and their Goalie from 2019. So a 1 goal loss will lead me to believe Merrimack is going to be a tough competitor for the Big Green.

[Matnum PI]

it's kind of a no-win for Dartmouth. Win and... Of course you should've won. Lose and... That won't be good. Eventhough, Merrimack, like Utah last season, could be a first year team that's very good.

[RumorMill]

it's kind of a no-win for Dartmouth. Win and... Of course you should've won. Lose and... That won't be good. Eventhough, Merrimack, like Utah last season, could be a first year team that's very good.

I understand what you're saying, however from where Dartmouth is coming from I wouldn't say it's a no-win. If I'm pressed to make a prediction, I would actually pick Merrimack to win the game. Just because they're moving up from DII, that doesn't mean it's a "should-win" game. And as I mentioned before, the result vs a strong HC team leads me to believe Dartmouth is going to have their hands full. So really looking for improvement in certain areas at the front end of the season in preparation for the Ivy games. I think the staff has put together a good schedule to prepare the team for their first Ivy game, which is arguably the best chance for their first Ivy win in awhile. Don't get me wrong, I still want a win on Saturday!

[Matnum PI]

I would actually pick Merrimack to win the game. Just because they're moving up from DII, that doesn't mean it's a "should-win" game. And as I mentioned before, the result vs a strong HC team leads me to believe Dartmouth is going to have their hands full.

Wow. that's hard to read. I'd also like to see D'mouth win, return to days of old.