LACROSSE

What can you say about a lacrosse team that has lost five games by a single goal? Only that it's damned unlucky.

That's what's happened to Dartmouth's stickmen who, with a match to go, have dropped three in a row (to Harvard, Williams and Princeton) by one goal in addition to similar results earlier to Duke and Middlebury.

The record, 4-10, doesn't really measure how Coach Dudley Hendrick's team has improved this season. "We've been playing decent lacrosse, the best since I've been at Dartmouth," said Hendrick. "But, oh, those one-goal games and early letdowns."

The letdowns at the start were costly against Brown (the Bruins jumped to a 5-0 lead, won 11-7), Cornell (seven quickies and a 17-7 win for the Ivy League champions) and Penn (early scores paved the way to an 11-5 win). At Harvard, the Crimson jumped ahead 3-0 but Dartmouth rallied, got the lead, and then lost in sudden death overtime, 10-9.

Against Williams, the Ephs got the deciding goal with 44 seconds to play and nipped Dartmouth, 9-8. Three days later, Princeton came to Chase Field. The Tigers, who had lost to Cornell by a goal in the final eight seconds, fell behind Dartmouth 6-1 in the first period, gradually caught up and frustrated the Green again, 10-9.

The attack has improved virtually two-fold, scoring nearly 140 goals as compared to 70 in 1971. The mainstays have been attackman Scott Anderson (26 goals and 43 points) and midfielder Bob Bassett, a bruising player. In the goal, Mitch Whiteley has been very good.

It's a season when Dartmouth was supposed to improve—and did. But don't look at the record.