Big Second Half Gives Dartmouth Men 3-1 Win over Yale

Saturday, October 9

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Yale

Big Second Half Gives Dartmouth Men 3-1 Win over Yale

10/9/2010 9:37:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth men's soccer team evened up its Ivy League record with a big 3-1 victory over Yale at Burnham Field tonight.

After a scoreless first half, Dartmouth (6-3-1, 1-1 Ivy) rallied to score three goals in a dominant second half performance to send Yale (1-9-1, 0-2 Ivy) packing.

The Big Green held a 20-7 shot advantage and took 10 corner kicks to Yale's five. Sophomore goalkeeper Sean Donovan (Burr Ridge, Ill.) made three saves in goal for the win while his counterpart and classmate Bobby Thalman kept Yale in it with eight saves.

Junior striker Lucky Mkosana (Bulwayo, Zimbabwe) tallied a goal and an assist - scoring for the first time since the first game of the season.

"It's been a really challenging few weeks playing a difficult schedule and the loss at Princeton, though we didn't play poorly, the score was a kick in the stomach," said head coach Jeff Cook. "The response at Vermont midweek [W, 3-2] and tonight was excellent. I told our players it's not enough just to work hard and it's not enough just to try and play soccer, you have to do both. I think we're getting that we have to compete for everything, doing the dirty work and adding the quality."

Dartmouth tested Yale early and often in the first half, with much of its offense coming on set pieces and booming throw-ins from Walker Linares (Santa Cruz, Calif.). Despite scrambles in the box off those set pieces, Thalman did a solid job to direct his defense and clear the Big Green threats.

The Big Green had several shots go just high including offerings from Bryan Giudicelli (Emerald Hills, Calif.) and Teo Larsson-Sax (Kalmar, Sweden).

Cook's halftime adjustments were taken to heart by his players, who wasted little time taking the lead in the second half. Senior Brendan Lane (Southport, Conn.) sent the ball into the box for Daniel Keat (Wellington, New Zealand), who scored for the second-straight game with a one-timer past Thalman. Keat's strike put the Green up 1-0 in the 48^th minute.

Yale got the goal back 10 minutes later, tying the game at 1-1 in the 58^th minute. Eric Meyer passed the ball up to Sebastian Serra at the top of the box, who sent a strike past Donovan to knot it up.

The Big Green was not shaken by that, however, and continued to push offensively. Mkosana got the helper this time when he sent a cross through the box where senior Aaron Gaide (Avon, Conn.) took a sliding shot to bury the ball in the right corner, making it 2-1 in the 60^th. It was Gaide's second straight game with a goal as well.

Yale was about an inch away from the equalizer when Serra fired from just outside the box and Donovan made a fingertip save. The ball appeared still headed for the net but it nicked off the post. Donovan corralled the loose ball and made a play that led directly to Mkosana's strike. Mkosana picked up the punt from Donovan and made short work of the Yale defenders before firing one past Thalman for the 3-1 lead in the 66^th.

Dartmouth did not settle with the lead and continued to attack the Yale goal, but Thalman kept the Big Green from adding to its advantage.

"I'm convinced that the Ivy League is going to send multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament and that it's going to be a fight to the end to win the league."

The Big Green will have a full week off before continuing that quest for the Ivy title when it hosts Penn on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. at Burnham Field.