Sports Roundup

The Longest Road Trip

Not even an unscheduled stop for more fuel could ground the women's lacrosse team's long-planned, half-a-world-away excursion to Australia in December.

"[Our flight] was so full and evidently so heavy that they were worried we were going to run out of gas, so we had to make a little emergency stop in Fiji," says head coach Amy Patton, "so that was interesting. The Fiji runway isn't the longest for a 747."

Otherwise, all went according to plan. The first week of the 10,000-mile trip was split between Sydney and Cairns, where highlights included touring the Sydney Opera House and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef.

The team got down to business in Adelaide, where it practiced and played all four of its games, defeating the junior national team twice and losing to the Australian national team twice.

"Having diverse competition is always extremely beneficial," senior co-captain Erin Osborn says. "It was great for our defense to be challenged by their fast-break style and a tremendous opportunity for our attack to play against a defense with a high level of physicality."

Patton says the competition was incredible, but the majority of the trip was about team building and bonding.

Senior co-captain Sarah Sanborn agrees. "We are more comfortable with one another and ourselves, both on and off the field," she says. "We have set a precedent for the season, have a gauge of where we are now, and, with the opportunity to play the Australian national team, a more concrete understanding of where we want to go and how much work and dedication that will take."

Patton says the trip had been in the planning stages since the team first went in December 2000, and notes the players raised the funds to cover most of the expenses. She adds that "every four years, if we can make this work, you'll get to go one time if you're in the program."

Improbable Rally Pushes Big Green Past UNH

No Division I college hockey game had seen this many goals in nearly six years. No Dartmouth-New Hampshire match-up had seen this kind of high-octane offense since the series began in 1936. No comeback such as the Big Green's could have been expected against the number six team in the nation.

But when it was all said and done, Dartmouth had rallied from four goals down in the second period and three goals down in the third for a wild 9-8 win over the University of New Hampshire at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester on Jan. 12.

"It was a bizarre-o game," Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet says. "I've never seen a game like it. I'm really proud of the guys. They never gave up."

Down 6-3 early in the second, Gaudet pulled his second goalie of the night and placed between the pipes freshman Mike Devine, who had yet to see collegiate playing time. After allowing a goal at 8:19 of the period to see his team fall behind 7-3, he was solid, turning aside five shots in all, while only allowing one goal the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, the troops rallied behind the Big Green's green netminder.

"We knew if we could fix things up defensively, we'd get our chances offensively," says senior captain Lee Stempniak. "We never stopped believing."

Junior Jarrett Sampson scored the second of his three goals on a tip-in of classmate Eric Przepiorka's crossing pass at 17:41 of the second, and freshman Nick Johnson scored the first of his two at 19:09 to pull the Big Green within 7-5 at the second intermission.

UNH sneaked one by Devine forty-one seconds into the final frame to make it 8-5, but Dartmouth began pouring it on once junior Sean Offers broke into the scoring column at 10:45. Sampson completed his hat trick at 12:00, and freshman David Jones went forehand to backhand and poked in the tying goal while reaching around the side of the cage at 17:12.

Less than ninety seconds later, with 1:27 left in regulation, Stempniak passed out front to Johnson, who, after faking out the goalie, roofed a backhander home to make a winner of Devine. Once the clock ran out, the dust had settled on the highest scoring Division I game since Feb. 27, 1999, when Minnesota netted 10 and Minnesota-Duluth added 7.

"It was just goal after goal," Sampson says. "You never knew who would score next. It was pretty exciting, but pretty nerve-wracking too."

Jessiman Looking for Early Return

When junior men's hockey player Hugh Jessiman heard two pops and went down with an ankle injury in early November, it looked like his season might be over. However, the 12th overall pick of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft is pushing hard to get back in the lineup before season's end.

"I was told I would be back skating in mid-March, but I am working hard on coming back earlier," Jessiman says. "I am hoping to be back healthy and playing before the end of the season, perhaps for the playoffs so I can help my teammates."

All twelve ECAC Hockey League teams qualify for the postseason, which begins in March. Jessiman collected sixteen goals and seventeen assists a year ago, and his presence would be key for Dartmouth, which was picked to tie for second in the preseason poll.

"At this point in time, Hugh has been working hard and things are looking very good," says head athletic trainer Jeff Frechette. "He has minimal swelling remaining, he has a lot of his motion back, and he's having very little soreness as a result of our rehabilitation program."

Frechette says Jessiman's is not an uncommon athletic injury, and the time it takes for players to regain health can depend on their level of motivation to return.

"I am not giving up on this season," Jessiman says. "We can win an ECAC championship and a national championship this year, and that's why I'm here. We just need to put the pieces together and keep believing in ourselves."

By JOSH KESSLER 

Scoreboard

(as of 1/31/05)

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