Men's Soccer Knocks Off Harvard, 2-1

Saturday, October 30

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Harvard

10/30/2010 10:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth men's soccer team capped Homecoming weekend with a well-deserved 2-1 victory over Harvard at Burnham Field.

Dartmouth (7-6-1, 2-3 Ivy) snapped a three-game skid with the win in which it dominated Harvard (4-6-5, 1-2-2 Ivy) statistically. The Big Green held a 16-4 shot advantage and a 7-2 lead in corner kicks. Harvard goalie Austin Harms kept the Crimson in the game with seven saves while senior Lyman Missimer (The Woodlands, Texas) made two stops for the Green.

"'This was a comprehensive win - Harvard is a very good team but for 90 minutes tonight we were the better side and deserved to win," said head coach Jeff Cook. "It had been three real body blows in the last three games and for this group of nine seniors that's hard to take so I'm happy for them. It's a credit to our players to how much they want to win and what it means to represent Dartmouth."

Dartmouth opened the game with an offensive spark and though it took until the 71^st minute for Nick Pappas (Scottsdale, Ariz.) to put the Green on the board, it never stopped pushing. Senior Daniel Keat (Wellington, New Zealand) fired a rocket to force Harms into a save in just the first minute of the game.

The teams tussled back and forth in the early goings and Harvard managed to get on the board with its lone shot of the first half after a nice build up. Alex Chi send the ball across the box to Brian Rogers, who fired from close range to beat Missimer to the left side for the 1-0 lead in the 35^th.

Pappas had the first of several close calls in the 36^th minute when his header was saved on the line by a Crimson defender. Freshman Gabe Hoffman-Johnson (Falmouth, Maine) nearly scored four minutes later but had his shot blocked as well. Harms made another tremendous stop in the 42^nd from point blank range against senior Austin Bowers (Old Greenwich, Conn.) to keep Harvard up 1-0 at the half.

Dartmouth dominated much of the second half but did not break through until the 71^st minute. Pappas had been knocking on the door all day - with two headers already saved earlier in the game. He finally broke through to tie the game with a thrilling play off an Andrew Olsen (Norwell, Mass.) corner. Pappas headed the ball and Harms appeared to have timed his save perfectly, but the ball skidded off his fist and into the goal to make it a 1-1 game.

The Big Green used that momentum to gain the lead just over a minute later. Mkosana made one of his trademark runs, ditching his defenders from about 30 yards out and bringing the ball into the box. He blasted one to the far post from the right side, giving his team a critical 2-1 lead in the 72^nd.

Dartmouth's offense continued to pressure the Crimson and the defense held Harvard at bay down the stretch to ensure the 2-1 victory.

The Big Green has a quick turnaround before hosting New Hampshire this Tuesday night, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m.