Men's Soccer Hosts Ivy Rival Brown on Senior Day

The Dartmouth men's soccer team hosts #14 Brown this Saturday at 4 p.m. in its final regular season game - a contest that could have NCAA Tournament implications.

The Big Green (9-6-1, 3-3 Ivy) enters its final regular season game on a three-game winning streak with wins over Harvard, New Hampshire and Cornell. With Dartmouth sitting at 41st in the latest NCAA RPI ratings and Brown at 24th, a Big Green victory could propel it to an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Game 17: Dartmouth (9-6-1, 3-3 Ivy) vs. #14 Brown (11-2-3, 3-2-1 Ivy)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010 • 4:00 PM
Location: Burnham Field • Hanover, N.H.
Series Record: Brown leads, 37-30-4
Last Meeting: Brown 3 - Dartmouth 0, 11/15/09, Providence, R.I.
Streak: Brown +1
Dartmouth and Brown have had quite a spirited and back-and-forth rivalry over the years. Since 2002, each team has won three meetings and the squads have tied twice, including a 2-2 tie in 2005 and a 2-2 tie in 2006. In 2005, Dartmouth and Brown shared the Ivy League title. Prior to 2002, however, Brown won eight consecutive meetings between the two teams, but that was following a 12-game winning streak for Dartmouth. The teams first met in 1928, a 2-1 Dartmouth victory.

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A LOOK AT DARTMOUTH: After its 2-1 homecoming win over Harvard, Dartmouth had a quick turnaround before defeating New Hampshire in similar fashion. The Green trailed with just 10 minutes to play before Lucky Mkosana and Daniel Keat scored 30 seconds apart to go up 2-1. Dartmouth kept it rolling at Cornell on Nov. 6 with a 1-0 shutout of the Big Red thanks to an early Andrew Olsen goal. Olsen scored in just the 11th minute of play, assisted by both Brendan Lane and Maarten van Ess. Lyman Missimer, who has started the last five games in goal and won four games this fall, made two saves for the shutout.

Mkosana continues to lead Dartmouth in scoring with 11 points on four goals and three assists and Olsen ranks second with three goals and four assists for 10 points. Keat has also scored four goals and tallied an assist.

A LOOK AT BROWN: The fourth ranked opponent that Dartmouth will play this fall, #14 Brown certainly presents a challenge for the Big Green. With 11 wins overall, the Bears have struggled some in Ivy play, losing to both Penn and Princeton and tying Harvard, 0-0. Brown is fresh off a 4-1 win over Yale, who Dartmouth defeated 3-1 earlier this season. Sean Rosa is Brown's leading scorer with 16 points on six goals and four assists. Jon Okafor ranks second on the team with 11 points (four goals, three assists). Ivy opponents will not be sad to see senior Paul Grandstrand graduate as he has posted a staggering 0.42 goals against average with 51 saves. He has given up just seven goals all season and only give up multiple goals once, in a 3-0 loss to Ivy Champ Princeton.

SENIOR DAY: After the game on Saturday, Dartmouth will honor the nine members of the senior class: Austin Bowers, Aaron Gaide, Bryan Giudicelli, Daniel Keat, Brendan Lane, Walker Linares, Lyman Missimer, Andrew Olsen, and Donnie Surdoval. During their time at Dartmouth, these young men have been exemplary student-athletes, on and off the field. As a class, they have helped the Big Green to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and an Ivy League Championship in 2008, totaling 41 wins with 17 Ivy victories to date.

COMEBACK KIDS: Dartmouth has proven that it can never be counted out this season. Of its nine wins, five have been won in comeback fashion when the Big Green trailed by at least one goal: San Diego, Bradley, Vermont, Harvard and New Hampshire. Dartmouth's lone tie, 1-1 at UMass, was also a comeback game. In recent weeks, the Big Green has won two comeback games in even more dramatic fashion. Dartmouth scored two goals just over a minute apart in the final 20 minutes against Harvard and two goals 30 seconds apart with 10 minutes to play versus UNH.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For his efforts scoring the game-winner against Harvard, Mkosana was named the Ivy League Co-Player of the Week. The junior has now scored in the Big Green's last two games and has gotten the scoring touch back after a mid-season drought.

RPI ROUNDUP: The Ivy League has once again shown its quality this fall, with three Ancient Eight teams ranking in the top 25 in the latest NCAA RPI index, announced on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Princeton is the top rated Ivy at 20th, followed by Penn at 21st and Brown at 24th. Those three teams are also ranked in the NSCAA Top-25 poll. Most importantly, however, Dartmouth jumped up to 41st in the ratings after ranking 59th last week. Dartmouth sat at 31st at this time last season and still made the NCAA Tournament field even after a loss to Brown on the final weekend. The Big Green likely needs a win over Brown to have a chance at the dance.

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 Nov. 10, Mkosana now has 23 career goals, which is tied for fifth and is 10 away from the record of 33, held by Bob Drawbaugh '54. He also has 55 career points, putting him fourth all-time and just 22 points away from Vladdy Stanojevic's '90 record of 77. Senior Daniel Keat currently has 50 career points, in sole possession of eighth place on the all-time list. With 20 career goals, Keat is tied for eighth all-time.

Schedules