Dartmouth Men off to Columbia for Key Ivy Matchup

Revenge will be on the menu on Saturday afternoon as the Dartmouth men's soccer team looks to pick up a crucial Ivy win and avenge last season's loss to Columbia.

Dartmouth (6-4-1, 1-2 Ivy) needs to get a victory over Columbia (4-7-1, 0-3 Ivy) in order to remain in the hunt for the Ivy League title. Last season the Lions rolled into Hanover with a losing record, but left with a 2-0 win over then #15 Dartmouth, knocking the Big Green from the ranks of the Ivy unbeatens. While the Lions are winless in Ivy play, they played first place Princeton to a tough 3-2 loss last weekend.

Game 12: Dartmouth (6-4-1, 1-3 Ivy) at Columbia (4-7-1, 0-3 Ivy)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010 • 4:30 PM
Location: Columbia Soccer Stadium • New York, N.Y.
Series Record: Dartmouth leads, 23-21-7
Last Meeting: 10/25/09, Columbia W, 2-0 (Hanover, N.H.)
Streak: Columbia +1
Dartmouth holds the all-time lead in the series against Columbia by a narrow margin, 23-21-7, but has dominated it in recent history. Last year's Columbia victory snapped a five-game Dartmouth winning-streak. The Lions heyday in the series came in the mid-70's to mid-80's enjoying a 12 game unbeaten streak (9-0-3). Five of the six meetings from 1996-2001 went to overtime, with Columbia winning two and three ending in ties. Dartmouth won the lone regulation game in the stretch, 1-0 in 1998.

Livestats

A LOOK AT DARTMOUTH: The Big Green (6-4-1, 1-2 Ivy) experienced some Ivy League heartbreak at the hands of first place #17 Penn last Saturday. The Quakers scored a goal in just the fourth minute of the game and held on for the next 86 to lock in a 1-0 shutout of Dartmouth at Burnham Field. It marked just the fifth loss at Burnham Field since 2007 for the Dartmouth men. The Big Green thought it had gotten the equalizer with five minutes to play but the goal was disallowed when a questionable foul was called against Dartmouth in the box.

Dartmouth's offense continues to be well spread out, with seven players tied for the team lead with two goals each. Lucky Mkosana (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) is the overall leading scorer with seven points on three assists and two goals. Andrew Olsen (Norwell, Mass.) ranks second on the team with six points on two goals and two assists. Sean Donovan (Burr Ridge, Ill.) has started 10 of 11 in goal, posting a 1.25 goals against average and 28 saves.

A LOOK AT COLUMBIA: The Lions have had their share of ups and downs this season and are currently on a three-game losing streak with losses to Brown, Penn and Princeton. Columbia's offense is evenly spread out, with Henning Sauerbier and Francois Anderson leading the charge with eight points each. Sauerbier is the only Lion with more than two goals, having scored three to go along with two assists while Anderson has four assists and two goals. Alexander Aurrichio has played all but 62 minutes in goal for Columbia with a 1.56 goals against average and 40 saves on the season.

PLENTY OF BIG GAMES LEFT: Following the game at Columbia, Dartmouth still has plenty of chances to get near the top of the Ivy League standings and shore up its NCAA Tournament at-large resume. The Big Green heads to ACC foe Boston College on Wednesday, Oct. 27 and also hosts Harvard and Brown, who are in the top four in the Ivy standings, this fall.

NCAA QUALITY HISTORY: The Big Green has played in the last three NCAA Tournaments, all on at-large bids. In 2008, Dartmouth and Penn tied for the Ivy Championship but the Big Green got the better of the Quakers come tournament time, earning the #16 national seed. Penn received the Ivy's automatic bid by virtue of its regular-season win over Dartmouth. After a first-round bye, Dartmouth advanced past Boston College on penalty kicks and ultimately lost to defending champ Wake Forest in the Sweet 16.

ASSAULTING THE RECORD BOOKS: Two current Dartmouth players have already inked their names on the program record books for scoring. Junior Lucky Mkosana (Bulwayo, Zimbabwe) should have his sights set on the career records for both goals and points as he was more than halfway to both marks after just two collegiate seasons. As of Oct. 21, Mkosana now has 21 career goals, which is tied for seventh and is 12 away from the record of 33, held by Bob Drawbaugh '54. He also has 51 career points, ranking seventh and just 26 points away from Vladdy Stanojevic's '90 record of 77. Senior Daniel Keat currently has 46 career points, which has him tied for eighth place on the all-time list. Keat's 18 goals have him one away from cracking the career top-10.

NEXT TIME OUT: The theme of revenge continues in Dartmouth's next outing when the team heads to Boston College for a midweek showdown on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 4 p.m. The Eagles bested the Green, 2-1 in overtime in last season's NCAA Tournament first round matchup. Dartmouth returns home to host Harvard for homecoming on Oct. 30.

Schedules