Dartmouth Men Upend #17 Harvard, 1-0

Saturday, November 1

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Harvard

11/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. ? The Dartmouth men's soccer team added some excitement to the Ivy League men's soccer race when it handed #17 Harvard its first conference loss, 1-0, tonight at Burnham Field.

Though the thermometer dipped below 30 degrees, there was plenty of fire on the field as the two teams engaged in a midfield battle for the critical Ivy win. Dartmouth, bolstered by a spirited home crowd, improved to 8-5-1, 3-1-1 Ivy while Harvard dropped to 9-4, 4-1 Ivy.
For the second-straight week, freshman Maarten van Ess (Marlborough, Mass.) came up big for Dartmouth, this time scoring the winner in the 76th minute of the game. The Crimson now share the Ivy lead with #23 Penn, who stunned Brown with a 4-0 win tonight. The Big Green sits in third with the Bears on their heels at 3-2. The November 14 matchup between the two could prove critical in the race to the NCAA Tournament.

Dartmouth came out of the gates with plenty of confidence, pressuring Harvard from the start. Rookie Lucky Mkosana (Bulwayo, Zimbabwe) had a chance to put the Green ahead in just the seventh minute but Harvard keeper Austin Harms made a nice play to meet him and stop his shot short. The Crimson struggled to make anything happen for much of the half, sending long balls into the Dartmouth half from its own backfield only to see them cleared right back. The Big Green's back line did a tremendous job neutralizing Harvard All-American Andre Akpan up front.

Senior Craig Henderson nearly broke the stalemate in the 35th minute when he fired from 25 yards out and had Harms beat high, but hit the crossbar. The Crimson finally got its first shot on goal of the day five minutes later when Luke Sagar headed the ball in off a long throw-in by Dillon O'Neill but Dartmouth keeper Sean Milligan (Westport, Conn.) was right there to snag it.

Dartmouth finished a fairly dominant first half leading in shots with 7-2, but still scoreless. Harvard also suffered when it saw two key starters make early exits with injuries.

The second half began as a midfield war for possession. Much like his first effort, Mkosana had a breakaway in the 55th minute but was tackled cleanly from behind by a Crimson defender. Even as he lost his footing, Mkosana got a touch on the ball but Harms scooped it up. Akpan finally got a shot off in the 58th minute but it was off balance thanks to pressure by Dartmouth centerback Donnie Surdoval (Sparta, N.J.), who also blocked the shot.

The Big Green escaped a scramble at the top of its own box with multiple Crimson players clamoring to get a shot off around the 65th minute and followed with some good possessions of its own. Andrew Olsen (Norwell, Mass.) made a great run in the 72nd minute but the Harvard backs caught up to him and cleared it. Fellow sophomore Bryan Giudicelli (Emerald Hills, Calif.) nearly scored in the 75th minute with a header that went just wide.

Dartmouth finally broke through at 76:40 when van Ess converted the eventual game-winner. Senior Craig Henderson (Wellington, New Zealand) sent the ball in for van Ess who fired a high shot from the right side. Harms actually got a hand on it but did not punch it high enough and it looped over his head and in.

Akpan had Harvard's sideline on its feet when he ran into the box but tripped up and collided with a surging Milligan. He tried to get a shot off but Milligan collected the ball and cleared it with a booming punt. He nearly tied things up again in the final minute of play but he missed high on a wide open shot from the top of the box.

Dartmouth controlled the ball in the final 30 seconds and held on for the win. The Big Green had an 11-8 shot advantage for the game while Milligan made four saves for the shutout to Harms' three.

The Big Green has a quick turnaround before hosting instate rival UNH this Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m.