Dartmouth Men's Soccer Plays to 1-1 Tie with Princeton in Ivy Opener

Saturday, October 4

Princeton, N.J.

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Princeton

Dartmouth Men's Soccer Plays to 1-1 Tie with Princeton in Ivy Opener

10/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

Princeton, N.J. ? The Dartmouth men's soccer team could not spoil Princeton's stadium-opening festivities, but still came out with a point after in a 1-1 double-overtime tie.

The Big Green moves to 5-2-1, 0-0-1 Ivy while the Tigers are now 2-6-1, 0-0-1 Ivy.

Two first half goals and a balanced effort of eight shots each left the teams deadlocked after 90 minutes. The Big Green peppered Princeton with six shots in the two overtimes, but was unable to break through with a winner. Princeton goalkeeper Joe Walter kept his team in the game with seven saves including three in overtime while Dartmouth senior Sean Milligan (Westport, Conn.) made two stops.

Dartmouth tested the Tigers' defense early with three shots in the first 20 minutes including two shots on goal by Lucky Mkosana (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) and Andrew Olsen (Norwell, Mass.) that were saved by Walter.

The Big Green broke through on its fourth try when senior Craig Henderson (Wellington, New Zealand) scored to put Dartmouth ahead, 1-0 at 21:23. Henderson connected on a header off a cross from sophomore Aaron Gaide (Avon, Conn.) for his third goal of the season.

The teams traded possessions for the next 20 minutes, with each getting another shot on goal. Princeton caught a break seconds before halftime when Dartmouth was called for a handball just outside the box. Josh Walburn stepped up and fired a low shot from 20 yards out that went through the Big Green's wall and just past a diving Milligan to tie it, 1-1 at 44:15.

Much like the first half, the Tigers weathered the storm early in the second as the Big Green seemed on the brink of the go-ahead goal. Dartmouth took five corner kicks from the 57th minute to the 61st but each was cleared out by Princeton. The Big Green had a chance with a free kick 30 yards out at 64:08 but it went just wide of the goal area.

Junior back Pumi Maqubela (Andover, Mass.) made a few nice runs up the right side to set up the offense late, but Dartmouth could not break through and the teams headed to overtime.

The Big Green dominated the two 10 minute overtime periods, taking three shots in each while holding the Tigers without an attempt.

Dartmouth had three big chances late in the first overtime including a free kick from 35 yards out that Walter saved and a shot by Gaide that was blocked after a wilds scramble in the box. It was all Dartmouth in the second OT but Walter stole the show to preserve the tie with three saves against the some of the Big Green's top offensive threats in Olsen and Henderson.

The Big Green ultimately outshot the Tigers, 14-8. The teams combined for 32 fouls and two yellow cards in the hotly-contested battle.

In addition to Milligan, five field players went the distance for the full 110 minutes including Henderson, Maqubela, Olsen, Bryan Giudicelli (Emerald Hills, Calif.) and Donnie Surdoval (Sparta, N.J.).

Dartmouth's next game has been circled on the calendar for nearly a year. The Big Green heads north to take on New England rival Vermont on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. Dartmouth and Vermont played to a 1-1 double-overtime tie in the first round of the 2007 NCAA tournament but the Catamounts advanced on penalty kicks.