Sweet 16! Dartmouth Advances to NCAA Third Round on Penalty Kicks

Wednesday, November 26

Hanover, N.H.

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Boston College

Sweet 16! Dartmouth Advances to NCAA Third Round on Penalty Kicks

11/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. ? After 110 scoreless minutes, it was four spot-on penalty kicks and a big save by goalkeeper Sean Milligan (Westport, Conn.) that sent the Dartmouth men's soccer team to the NCAA Third Round, ousting Boston College.

#16 seed Dartmouth (11-5-2) and Boston College (9-8-3) played to a scoreless double-overtime tie in NCAA Tournament second round action and the Big Green advanced to the tournament's third round on penalty kicks, 4-2. It was a sweet reward for the Big Green, who failed to advance on penalty kicks against Vermont last season, giving head coach Jeff Cook his first success in the NCAA Tournament.

"The NCAA Tournament is so competitive and I am just delighted for our guys," said Cook. "We are excited to be in the final 16 and I believe in this team we have great spirit and ability and I'd put my group of players up against anybody in the country."

Boston College went first in the shootout and its first shooter, senior Dan Lane, fooled Milligan but hit the far post. Then Milligan helped his own cause, by stepping up and hammering a shot to the high corer past his BC counterpart, Chris Brown. Each team made its next two kicks, with Shawn Chin and Stephen Hepburn scoring for BC and Andrew Olsen (Norwell, Mass.) and Craig Henderson (Wellington, New Zealand) scoring for Dartmouth.

Having already given the Big Green a 3-2 advantage with his goal, Milligan faced Boston's Mike Konicoff and made a huge save. It was all up to junior back Pumi Maqubela (Andover, Mass.) who sealed the deal for the Green with a good PK.

Prior to the shootout, the game was contested largely in midfield, though Boston College held a 14-8 shot advantage. Brown made six saves for BC while Milligan was credited for seven saves for the clean sheet, putting him atop the Dartmouth career shutouts list with 18, tied with Rowan Anders '07.

Dartmouth travels to #1 seed and defending NCAA Champs Wake Forest for a 1:00 p.m. game this Sunday, Nov. 30.

It took both teams some time to get going and Dartmouth's first real scoring chance came in the 34th minute after freshman Arthur Harris (Framingham, Mass.) drew a foul on the far right sideline. Olsen sent in a booming kick but Brown was able to get a hold of it in traffic and clear it out.

Just minutes later Olsen broke away from the pack and took Brown one-on-one. The keeper stopped the ball in a collision but fell to the side and the ball was left free in front of the goal but Olsen could not get to it before a BC defender cleared it.

Overall, BC held a 5-2 shot advantage in the first half, with all but one attempt going high over the goal.

Dartmouth came out with great energy in the second half and after a few early BC attempts, won the majority of possession and continued to attack the Eagles defensive third. In the 60th minute Maqubela made a great run down the right side streaking past his man. He picked up a pass from Aaron Gaide (Avon, Conn.) in the center and sent a cross in but Brown picked it off

Boston College nearly had a golden goal in the 70th minute when the speedy Edvin Worley made a run at the goal and leapt to catch a cross but was just late and his shot went high. Dartmouth countered with a goalmouth scramble in 76th minute, with two shots saved at point-blank range by Brown.

The Big Green had a late chance with a long throw in from Walker Linares (Santa Cruz, Calif.) in the 88th minute, Donnie Surdoval (Sparta, N.J.) connected with a dangerous header but it went just wide. The Big Green nearly converted on its final attempt after a free kick from midfield fired in by Bryan Giudicelli (Emerald Hills, Calif.). Surdoval sent in a header in traffic that the BC defense somehow cleared out.

It was the Eagles turn for a fast start in overtime, pressuring Milligan and the back four early. Dartmouth countered and got a couple good looks on restarts but Brown continued to judge the ball well and his defense cleared out two-straight Big Green efforts.

Boston College kept its attack sharp in the second overtime, forcing Milligan into three saves off shots from Dan Lane, Alejandro Bedoya and a hard turnaround shot from Mario Uribe midway through the period. Overall, the Eagles had a 3-1 shot advantage during the final 10 minutes.

Dartmouth had one last chance for a winner when Henderson was taken down just past midfield. Olsen took the kick but Brown grabbed it out of the air before Dartmouth could get a shot off and the game went to penalties.

The Big Green hits the road to take on Wake Forest this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C.