The Quirk Formula
BY his own admission, Al Quirk's knowledge of hockey has been nurtured on more than a few years of observation and the fact that he was a pitcher of modest acclaim (a 4-0 record) on a Dartmouth baseball team that won the Eastern League championship in 1948. His teacher in all manner of things was Eddie Jeremiah, a one-time second baseman who earlier that year had orchestrated Dartmouth's hockey team to the first of successive visits to the NCAA championship game.
It was only natural, therefore, that Quirk should offer some advice to George Crowe, current maestro of Dartmouth hockey, after the Green had been sidetracked in its first two games by Colgate (7-6) and Clarkson (7-5). Capitalizing on what he gleaned by association with Jeremiah, and aided by the inspiration that abounds among the season ticket holders in Section 14 of Thompson Arena, Quirk was quick to suggest a solution that in the next two games worked to perfection: "There's nothing to this game, George. Just score eight goals."
So Dartmouth went out and scored eight against Princeton (four times as many as were necessary against the Tigers, who got but one) and did it again at Boston University, winning that one, 8-5. "Now, why didn't I think of that," said Crowe, after the Green had defeated BU, the defending Eastern champs, on their home ice for the first time since 1955.
The Quirk formula probably will be required more often than not this winter as Dartmouth wends its way through the frenetic maze of 24 games against ECAC Division One opposition. For those who think Ivy League football is an unpredictable ]affair, be advised that the fall game has nothing on the winter fare that abounds with the 17 teams, including seven Ivies, which will be pared to a field of eight for the March playoffs.
Dartmouth was a surprise member of the playoff field last season and with only two skaters lost from that team, the Green was figured to be a dominant factor this winter. "Only two" can be misleading because the departees were Ken Pettit and Tom Fleming, the scoring leaders for three straight seasons. Pettit, particularly, was a conspicuous graduate, and it showed on the first weekend when a number of new men tried to fill his skates in man-down and power play situations as well as in the regular shifts of Crowe's five-man units.
In fact, there was a third absentee for the early games; goalie Jeff Sollows, the most valuable player in 1975-76, was not on campus for the fall term and didn't return to action until the first week of January. In his absence, Crowe turned to senior Bob Huggard and sophomore Bob Richards. Both are capable but neither has the size or quickness to compare with Sollows who, at six feet one inch and close to 200 pounds, looks like the reincarnation of Ken Dryden, the illustrious Cornell netminder.
The ability to score goals has been apparent from the outset. Sophomore Joey Tomlak, who seerns to respond best to opening games - he had the first goal ever scored in Thompson Arena - had three against Colgate, but it wasn't enough to offset some temporarily shaky defense and play around the net (Dartmouth blew a 3-2 lead). Mark Culhane turned in a matching hat trick against Boston University.
Culhane, a sophomore, plus seniors Dan Leigh and Kevin Johnson - the latter pair neatly collected 43 goals last winter - have picked up the scoring pace while Ron Dove, the all-Ivy co-captain, is the hub of a defense that has imposing size in guys like Doug Bradley and Bob Grant. Without question, Crowe has a team with balance and, with the return of Sollows, a stopper in goal. And if they can keep scoring in accordance with the Quirk formula, the standing room crowds that have already become the rule in Thompson Arena will have ample opportunity to scream and shout.
To draw a comparison between how things have developed in hockey and basketball this winter, consider this: without Sollows, Crowe turned to Huggard and Richards. When Kevin Johnson racked up a leg in an intramural soccer game just before the season began, there was someone available to fill in effectively. Meanwhile, Dartmouth's basketball team took on the characteristics of a disaster looking for a place to happen. Gary Walters, the coach who knew this would be a difficult season long before it began, had three established players on the squad as he prepared for preseason practice. What happened next qualified Walters for a bag - a big bag - of sympathy cards.
John Lisowski, the captain and setup guard, required surgery for the second time on a knee he injured during the last weekend of the '75-'76 season. He's gone for the season. Sterling Edmonds, the sixfoot seven-inch forward who led the Ivy League and New England in field goal percentage last winter, broke a bone in his foot and was idled until mid-December. Larry Cubas, the six-foot three-inch senior who has averaged 16.5 points for two seasons, was laid out with a debilitating virus. A foot infection reduced the effectiveness of sophomore guard Darryl Piggee.
So Walters took 12 players to the opening games, the Spider Classic at Richmond, Virginia, with these credentials: seven had never played in a varsity game, two more had a combined varsity scoring average of 3.9 points last year, and two others had never dressed for a game at Dartmouth.
That's what took the floor against George Washington, a team replete with a seven-foot two-inch center and a solid fullcourt pressing defense. Dartmouth stayed close for ten minutes, then GW ran off 17 straight points and it was all over. The next night, the Green was closer but Navy was a shade better, 50-43. Four nights later, Holy Cross visited Thompson Arena and George Blaney, the man who coached Dartmouth for three years and now has one of the three best teams in New England, was extremely kind. It was a 12- point game at halftime, and after the Crusader press had kept Dartmouth to nothing for eight minutes (while the lead doubled), Blaney removed the heat and the final score was a deceiving 75-57.
Even with Cubas and Edmonds healthy, Dartmouth basketball will face one of its longest seasons this winter. Without Lisowski, the job of moving the ball belongs to Bobby Clark, a five-foot fiveinch 132-pound senior who never made the team until now. He's gutsy and fun to watch, but like just about everyone on this team, he'll be overmatched in every game.
This is the year that Dartmouth pays the price for the string of coaching turnovers that marked the past four years and made a mess of the recruiting effort. There are encouraging signs on the freshman team, but it will be more than a couple of years before Walters can reasonably restore his team to the competitive level he seeks. If he can wheedle and cajole six wins this winter, he'll be more deserving than last year when he was New England's coach-of-the-year.
Outside of the two aforementioned sports, squash (1-1), women's swimming (0-1) and fencing (2-0) were the only varsity teams to compete prior to the holiday break. The longest Dartmouth win streak of late came to an end when the jayvee swimmers lost their opening meet after winning 25 in a row over three seasons.
DARTMOUTH'S field hockey team has gained approval for a two-week trip to Ireland in early September that will include upwards of six matches against various club teams and will be a homecoming for Coach Mary Corrigan, who has guided the Green to a 14-4-4 record during the past two seasons.
That will be the second trip for a Green team to the British Isles during coming months. The Dartmouth Rugby Football Club, which had four teams in competition during the fall term and won 22 of 25 matches, is planning a spring vacation swing to England.
Football honors have flowed for Dartmouth players in the aftermath of the past season, and Pat Sullivan, the co-captain and offensive tackle, has become the most honored of all. The senior from Dubuque, lowa, was a unanimous all-Ivy selection and also won first team selection in the all-New England voting as well as all-East and all-America recognition. In addition, he cushioned the route to medical school next fall by becoming the 17th Dartmouth student to be awarded an NCAA postgraduate fellowship (the program was initiated in 1965) and the fourth Dartmouth player to win an Earl Blaik Fellowship, presented by the National Football Foundation.
The Green had more players on the all- Ivy first team than any other squad. Sullivan was one of seven - guard Don Thomas, center Jim Lucas, kicker Nick Lowery, split end Harry Wilson, defensive tackle Gregg Robinson and linebacker Kevin Young were the others - and five more made the second team - the entire offensive backfield of Kevin Case, Sam Coffey and Curt Oberg plus defensive back Dave Van Vliet and defensive tackle Dave Casper. Case also won the New England Football Writers' Senior Achievement Award.
You've been in hibernation if you haven't heard the word that Bob Blackman, Dartmouth's coach from 1955-70, has returned to the Ivy League - at Cornell - after six seasons at Illinois (29- 36 record). It's an understatement to say the Cornell-Dartmouth game at Memorial Field on October 22 will take on a new emotional dimension. Said Jake Crouthamel, "He's a lively man at 58, a good coach who knows the league and knows the pitfalls. You win with football players. If he gets football players, he will win at Cornell."
Kevin Johnson twice put the puck past Clarkson's all-America goalie, Brian Shields, but it wasn't enough
"Size" becomes a relative thing: five-footfive-inch Bobby Clark drives against Navy.
