Princeton Falls To Dartmouth 23-21 On Late Field Goal

Friday, November 3

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

4-4 , 3-2

Dartmouth

4-4 , 3-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Princeton

Dartmouth

Princeton Falls To Dartmouth 23-21 On Late Field Goal

November 03, 2023 | Football

Box Score

Time was winding down. Dartmouth trailed Princeton by a point. It was fourth and 1 for the Big Green at the Tiger 30. This was the game.

What do you do? Go for it? Or send out your freshman placekicker? Maybe if it had been on the 29 or 31, Dartmouth would have gone for it. From the 30? There was no choice.

Owen Zalc kicked a 47-yard field goal with 1:28 to go to give Dartmouth a 23-21 win over Princeton Friday night in Hanover, a place where the Tigers have not won since 2009. Zalc, a freshman, is now 4 for 4 on 47-yard field goals this season. He's missed from other distances. From 47? He's perfect.

Princeton now is one of six teams in the league — six of eight — with exactly two losses. Only Harvard is ahead of the pack, with one league loss, to Princeton, as the Crimson take on Columbia Saturday.

The loss was a tough one for the Tigers, who never could put away the Big Green after falling behind 10-0 and then rallying for leads of 14-10 and 21-17. It certainly got off to a rocky enough start for Princeton,

By the time the game was 10 minutes old, the Big Green had already had a pick-six, a 26-yard run off a fake punt, a fumble recovery and 10 points, but Princeton came back with second-quarter two touchdown drives, both of which finished on John Volker runs.

Dartmouth took a 17-14 lead in the third quarter after an eight-play, 57-yard march ended in a nine-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Proctor to Jackson Gerard, but the Tigers answered that with a 62-yard TD pass from Blake Stenstrom to Luke Collela.

Zalc was 3 for 3 on the night, including a 38-yarder with 1:48 left in the third to make it 21-20. It stayed that way through a sloppy fourth quarter before Dartmouth blocked a Princeton FG attempt and seemed to bring it back for a touchdown, only to have a penalty push the Big Green back to the Tiger 48 with 4:57 to go. Dartmouth moved the ball in range for Zalc's preferred distance, and he hit a low line drive that put his team back on top.

Princeton got one first down after that before turning it over after a fourth down near midfield went incomplete.

Next up for Princeton will be a home game next Saturday against Yale, followed by the season-finale at Penn.