Olsen's Winner Sends #10 Dartmouth Past Northeastern, 1-0

Boxscore

Hanover, N.H. – The 10th ranked Dartmouth men's soccer team picked up its second-straight shutout with a 1-0 victory over Northeastern this afternoon at Burnham Field.

Though the Big Green (2-0) outshot the Huskies (1-1) 14-7, Dartmouth withstood a late Northeastern surge to preserve the shutout for rookie Sean Donovan (Burr Ridge, Ill.) in his first collegiate start.

Dartmouth picked up the early lead with junior Andrew Olsen's (Norwell, Mass.) first goal of the season in the fifth minute. Olsen fired a booming free kick from 45 yards out on the left side, looping over keeper Michael Gallagher's head and in.

Donovan helped his own cause with his first real test in the 12th minute when he leapt to pick off a long cross and held onto the ball despite being hit low by a surging NU forward. Dartmouth maintained control of the contest for most of the first half, ultimately outshooting Northeastern, 8-2.

The Big Green nearly picked up an insurance goal in the 33rd minute when Lucky Mkosana (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) came streaking down the right side and fired a cross into the box for Daniel Keat (Wellington, New Zealand), who just missed connecting with an open goal. Several minutes later the Huskies nearly had it tied when Mike Kennedy pulled Donovan out of the box and had a wide open goal but he overplayed the ball and could not catch up to it to tap it in.

Dartmouth kept the pressure on in the second half, pushing to get a second goal on the Huskies. Five minutes into the period, Walker Linares (Santa Cruz, Calif.) sent a trademark long throw in to the far goal post where a waiting Craig Henderson (Wellington, New Zealand) connected with a header that was just high.

Olsen nearly repeated his first half goal in the 65th minute, this time from the left side but the ball just missed and hit the crossbar. Northeastern countered with a free kick of its own two minutes later but Donovan snagged the Lars Okland offering to thwart an attack.

Donovan earned every bit of the shutout in the last five minutes. Though he only recorded two saves in the contest, he intercepted several late dangerous crosses and controlled the defensive tempo for the 1-0 win.

Dartmouth is back in action at Burnham Field this Friday and Sunday when it hosts the 2009 Nike Hypertherm Classic featuring UConn, Rhode Island, Iona and the host Big Green. #10 Dartmouth takes on #12 UConn in what should be a thrilling New England battle on Friday, Sept. 11 at 7:00 p.m.

Schedules