Dartmouth Men's Soccer Falls at Brown, 3-0

Sunday, November 15

Providence, R.I.

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Brown

Preseason Accolades Continue for Henderson and Dartmouth Men?s Soccer

11/15/2009 4:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

Providence, R.I. - The Dartmouth men's soccer team saw its Ivy title hopes dashed with a 3-0 loss to rival Brown in the regular season finale today. Still in contention for an at-large bid, the Big Green learns its NCAA Tournament fate on Monday.

The NCAA Selection Show airs this Monday, Nov. 16 on ESPN News at 5:30 p.m. There are 27 at-large bids available in the 48-team field. In the most recent RPI report, Dartmouth ranked 31^st nationally. Last season as Ivy co-champs, Dartmouth earned a #16 national seed and the accompanying first-round bye, eventually advancing to the Sweet 16.

The Big Green battled for 90 minutes in a game that was closer than the score, with Brown holding just a 12-11 shot advantage. Dartmouth dropped to 10-6-1 overall and 4-3 in Ivy play, finishing fourth while Brown improved to 10-2-5, 5-2 Ivy to finish second behind Harvard.

It was a physical contest with the teams combining for 27 fouls and four cards.

Brown got on the board 16 minutes into the game when Nick Elenz-Martin crossed the ball into the box for Thomas McNamara, who fired a low shot past rookie keeper Sean Donovan (Burr Ridge, Ill.). McNamara's goal would hold up for the winner as Dartmouth only put two of its 11 shots on goal, both saved by Brown's Paul Grandstrand.

The Bears added to their lead just 12 minutes later in the 28^th. Jon Okafor sent the ball to Taylor Gorman, who beat Donovan to the right side for a 2-0 Brown lead.Dartmouth settled things down to keep Brown off the scoreboard for the rest of the half and trailed, 2-0 at halftime.

The second half was a battle and the Big Green controlled much of the tempo but could not find the back of the net. Brown closed the door in the 74^th minute when Austin Mandel headed one home to go up 3-0, putting the game essentially out of reach for Dartmouth. All four cards were issued in the last 21 minutes of play.

Brown held the 12-11 shot advantage and finished with four corner kicks to Dartmouth's one. Craig Henderson (Wellington, New Zealand) returned from injury having not played since Oct. 10 to bolster the Big Green, but it was not enough.

The Big Green has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons, when the Ivy League sent three squads each year. Check DartmouthSports.com tomorrow evening for details on Dartmouth's NCAA Tournament fate.