Dartmouth Drops Overtime Heartbreaker to UMass in Season Opener

Boxscore

Hanover, N.H.? The Dartmouth men's soccer team opened the new Burnham Soccer Field with an exciting overtime contest, but UMass went away with the 2-1 win after an early overtime goal by Prince Ofosu.

"That was a fantastic crowd today and we have a lot of games to look forward to," said Head Coach Jeff Cook. "We will keep this loss in perspective and certainly hope this great home support continues."

The Minutemen struck first in the contest when Douglas Rappaport nailed a rocket from 35 yards out, beating Dartmouth junior goalkeeper Sean Milligan (Westport, Conn.) at the top left corner of the goal at 29:07.

The Big Green had some chances late in the half, but the Minutemen maintained their defensive composure to take the 1-0 lead into the break.

Dartmouth came out on fire in the second half, winning almost every ball in the midfield and mounting a solid offensive attack. It paid off when junior Craig Henderson (Wellington, New Zealand) scored an unassisted goal at 62:55 to tie it up at 1-1. UMass goalkeeper Zack Simmons stopped Henderson's first attempt, but Henderson gathered the rebound and beat him for the score.

Both teams had their chances to win it in regulation including a big play for UMass with just two minutes left. The Minutemen took a free kick on the right side but Milligan snagged the ball in the air before the offense could attack.

The teams rolled into the overtime period knotted at 1-1. It did not take long for the Minutemen to clinch the game-winner, however, as Ofosu benefited from a breakaway by Byran Hogan. In a two-on-one situation with Milligan, Hogan passed the ball to Ofosu who beat the Big Green keeper on the right side at close range.

"I think we came out tentative in the first half and our players were anxious because they wanted to do well in the new facility," said Head Coach Jeff Cook. "Our offense picked up in the second half and it really looks as if any team was to win the game it would be us, but unfortunately they scored that goal in overtime and there wasn't much Sean could do about it."

Dartmouth outshot UMass, 10-8. Milligan had three saves in goal for the Big Green while Simmons made seven saves to help the Minutemen to the 2-1 win.

Dartmouth hits the road this week and will play Sacred Heart at Yale at 5:00 p.m on Friday.

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