HANOVER, N.H. ? With an Ivy Championship still in its sights, the Dartmouth men's soccer team returns to Burnham Field tonight to host conference rival Brown for the NSCAA College Game of the Week broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel. Admission is free.
If history holds, the matchup with Brown, scheduled for an 8 p.m. start, promises to have plenty of fireworks. The Bears lead the all-time series, 36-29-4, but the teams are 1-1-2 in the last four meetings. Last season, then #2 Brown took a 1-0 win in Providence on a late goal while the previous two meetings both resulted in double-overtime ties. Three of the last four Dartmouth-Brown meetings have decided the Ivy League Champion including last year and the 2004 and 2005 seasons when Dartmouth earned a share of the title.
This season, the Big Green is currently tied for second in the Ivy League and could take home at least a share of the Ivy title with a victory against the Bears. With Harvard at 5-1-0 and Penn at 4-1-1 and the two squaring off next week, it will all come down to the wire on Saturday night in Philadelphia. Dartmouth must win to have a chance at the title and a Penn victory or a Harvard-Penn tie would give the Big Green a share of the Ivy crown. If Harvard defeats Penn, it will win the title outright.
There are some tiebreaker scenarios regarding the Ivy's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Dartmouth has a tiebreaker over Harvard after beating the Crimson earlier this season but Penn has a tiebreaker over Dartmouth. Regardless of this, at 10-5-1 the Big Green looks to be in strong contention for an at-large bid to the Field of 48.
Important Fan Information: There is a men's hockey game scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday night which will result in limited soccer parking at Thompson Arena. Soccer fans can park for free in the Dartmouth Medical School parking lot and catch a free athletics shuttle to Burnham Field. The first 100 fans at the game will receive a free Dartmouth scarf.
Please see
this map for details on parking and the shuttle.