Dartmouth roundup: Football and women’s rugby both start 6-0

Dartmouth's Carlos Guerrero Alvarez, who plays for the men's tennis team and made the singles finals of the Ivy League Individual Tournament. (Courtesy photograph)

Dartmouth's Carlos Guerrero Alvarez, who plays for the men's tennis team and made the singles finals of the Ivy League Individual Tournament. (Courtesy photograph) Dartmouth athletics photograph

Annie Henrich and her Dartmouth rugby teammates are 6-0 on the season, the lone unbeaten squad in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association. (Dartmouth Athletics photograph)

Annie Henrich and her Dartmouth rugby teammates are 6-0 on the season, the lone unbeaten squad in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association. (Dartmouth Athletics photograph) Dartmouth athletics photograph

By ALEX CERVANTES

Valley News Staff Writer

Published: 10-29-2024 5:01 PM

For just the second time in the two programs’ histories, the Dartmouth College football and women’s rugby teams have each started the season 6-0.

Following a 31-15 victory over Quinnipiac on Saturday, the Big Green are now the lone unbeaten squad in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA).

Freshman Annie Henrich’s fifth try of the season got Dartmouth on the board early before a pair of tries from fellow freshman Vasiti Turagavou, along with a couple of Henrich conversions, helped the Big Green surge out to a 21-0 lead. The Bobcats would briefly claw back, shrinking the deficit to 11 points with just over 26 minutes remaining, before two tries from junior Katelyn Walker put the game to bed.

The victory keeps Dartmouth perfect this fall ahead of the regular-season finale against Brown at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Brophy Field.

On the gridiron, the No. 22 Big Green used a dominant second-half rushing display to secure a 24-21 victory over Columbia. Senior running back Q Jones gashed the Lions for a career-high 182 rushing yards and a touchdown en route to Ivy League offensive player of the week honors.

Dartmouth (6-0, 3-0 Ivy), now undefeated through six games for the first time since 2019, sits alone atop the Ancient Eight standings. The Big Green will host Harvard (5-1, 2-1) at Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field on Saturday for the college’s homecoming game. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.

Here’s how Dartmouth’s other fall sports programs fared this week:

Women’s soccer falls to Princeton

There were no post-goal celebratory theatrics from Princeton midfielder Pietra Tordan. Instead, after her right-footed, curling effort had sailed past Dartmouth fifth-year goalkeeper Emily Hardy, she just cracked a smile, her teammates swarming in celebration of her free kick goal.

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Tordan’s strike was the first of two Tigers goals in less than 75 seconds in the second half. It also kickstarted a four-goal, 17-minute stretch for Princeton on Saturday, as the Tigers rolled to a 4-0 victory over the Big Green. The loss marks the fourth defeat in six games for coach Taylor Schram’s squad, its last win coming against UMass Lowell on Sept. 21.

Dartmouth (6-6-3, 0-4-2) remains at the bottom of the Ivy League table ahead of the team’s final game of the season on Saturday at Burnham Field against Brown (6-3-5, 3-1-2). The match kicks off at 3 p.m.

Men’s soccer loses away to Penn

Dartmouth entered halftime facing a 2-0 deficit in Philadelphia on Saturday night, trailing the No. 20 Quakers. Then sophomore forward Vasilis Moiras came to life.

In the 55th minute of play, Moiras rifled a left-footed half-volley from around 25 yards out through a host of Penn defenders and into the back of the net to shrink the deficit in half. Ten minutes later, Moiras cut inside on his right foot and tucked his shot into the bottom corner, leveling the score, 2-2.

But a 69th-minute corner-kick goal from Penn ultimately proved the decider, securing a 3-2 win for the hosts.

Dartmouth currently sits fourth in the Ivy table with games against Princeton and Harvard remaining on its schedule. The Big Green will host the Tigers, who currently sit second in the conference and have already clinched an Ivy League yournament bid, on Saturday at Burnham Field in the penultimate contest of the 2024 campaign.

Tennis teams compete at Ivy individual tournaments

Senior Carlos Guerrero Alvarez was the Big Green men’s team’s standout performer in New Haven, Conn., marching all the way to the singles championship. His run, however, did not end with a title, as he fell in straight sets to Yale’s Jim Ji, 6-3, 6-2.

On the women’s side, the doubles duo of senior Elizabeth Fahrmeier and fifth-year Lexi Dewire advanced to the semifinals in Philadelphia, ultimately falling in three sets to a pair from Cornell on Sunday.

Women’s volleyball knocked off by Harvard

Junior Kauany Gutz’s double-double of 14 kills and 13 digs was not enough on Friday as the Big Green dropped their lone game of the week, a 3-1 defeat to the Crimson. The loss marks Dartmouth’s fourth consecutive defeat after a 2-2 start to play in the Ivies.

Harvard jumped out to a two-set lead before the Big Green took the third set 25-19, an early step toward attempting to complete a reverse sweep. But the Crimson responded, securing the win with a 25-19 triumph in the fourth set.

Dartmouth will travel to face Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday.

Sailing wraps team regatta season

Dartmouth’s team regattas concluded the fall campaign at the Schell Trophy and Women’s Urn Trophy this past weekend. The Big Green placed sixth at the Schell Trophy, which was hosted by Yale, and finished in fifth at the Urn Trophy, hosted by Brown.

Although Dartmouth open and women’s sailing teams have wrapped up competition this fall, senior Sarah Young will travel south to St. Petersburg, Fla., to compete in the Women’s Singlehanded Championship on Nov. 9-10.

Women’s ice hockey falls in back-to-back road games

On the heels of back-to-back losses at Penn State to open the 2024-25 campaign, Dartmouth commenced its play this past week in the Eastern College Athletic Conference with a trip to New York to face Rensselaer and Union.

The Big Green, in their first season under Maura Crowell, fell at RPI on Friday, 3-1. The Engineers’ two goals in the third period iced the game, with Dartmouth grabbing its lone tally, courtesy of senior Kenzie Bachelor, in the final 10 seconds of regulation.

Facing Union in their fourth straight road game to start the season, the Big Green scored in the first period as junior Meredith Jensen connected with fellow junior Cally Dixon to open the scoring on Saturday. But the Garnet Chargers scored a pair of third-period goals to win the game, 2-1.

Dartmouth hosts its first two home games this Friday and Saturday, welcoming Brown on Friday at 3 p.m., and Yale on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Thompson Arena.

Field hockey drops pair

Dartmouth hit the road this past week for a pair of games at Holy Cross and No. 13 Princeton.

The Big Green, who have won just once since the start of October, tried to mount a late comeback against the Crusaders after conceding four goals in the first three periods, but ultimately fell 4-2. Traveling to New Jersey for its penultimate conference clash this season, Dartmouth conceded two goals in the opening five minutes of play to the Tigers (11-4, 6-0 Ivy), who went on to secure a 5-1 victory over coach Mark Egner’s squad.

The Big Green (3-12, 0-6) will play their final game of 2024 at Columbia (5-9, 2-4) on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Alex Cervantes can be reached at acervantes@vnews.com or 603-727-7302.