Men's Soccer Blanks #14 Brown, 1-0, in Critical Ivy Contest

Saturday, November 13

Hanover, N.H.

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Brown

Men's Soccer Blanks #14 Brown, 1-0, in Critical Ivy Contest

11/13/2010 6:03:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth men's soccer team picked up a key 1-0 shutout of Ivy rival Brown tonight, bolstering the Big Green's NCAA Tournament resume.

Dartmouth (10-6-1, 4-3 Ivy) ranked 41st in the national RPI rankings this week while Brown (11-3-3, 3-3-1 Ivy) sat at 24th. The Big Green has a strong chance at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but must await Sunday's conference tournament finals from around the nation and will learn its fate on Monday afternoon.

After the game, Dartmouth honored its nine seniors, who likely played their final game on Burnham Field. Seven were in the starting lineup and all nine saw playing time in the shutout win.

The Big Green held a 14-9 shot advantage in the game and controlled the pace of play for much of the contest. It all paid off in the 74th minute when junior Adam Rice (Manalapan, N.J.) scored the game-winner off a long throw-in by senior Walker Linares (Santa Cruz, Calif.).

Senior goalkeeper Lyman Missimer (The Woodlands, Texas) matched his counterpart, Brown's Paul Grandstrand with four saves, and each turned in impressive performances, picking off numerous crosses and corner kicks. Grandstrand came into the game with a 0.42 goals against average and Brown had given up just seven goals all season prior to tonight.

Dartmouth tested Grandstrand and the Brown defense early and often including a sequence around the 18th minute that included an Andrew Olsen (Norwell, Mass.) shot saved by Granstrand and a Daniel Keat (Wellington, New Zealand) offering stopped on the line by a defender. Missimer made his first stop in the 29th minute in a scramble in traffic against David Walls after a Brown corner kick.

Rookie Gabe Hoffman-Johnson (Falmouth, Maine) made his presence known at the end of the first half, firing three shots in the last seven minutes including one blocked and one saved. Dartmouth outshot Brown, 8-3, in the scoreless first half.

Dartmouth attacked furiously in the early goings of the second half, but it was Missimer who kept making the big plays for the Big Green. He made a huge diving save to his left on an Austin Mandel rocket in the 63rd minute. The Big Green took some momentum from its defensive stops, ultimately leading to Rice's winner.

Brown did not go quietly and the Bears looked like they would get the equalizer in the 75th minute. Thomas McNamara had a shot blocked in the box but Mandel was there for the rebound and fired, but hit it just soft, allowing Missimer, to regain his balance and snag the ball. Brown's last real good look was a free kick from the top of the 18 box that David Walls sent just wide.

Junior Lucky Mkosana (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) led Dartmouth with four shots and put three of them dangerously close to the goal.

The win put the Big Green in third place in the Ivy League, just ahead of Brown. Princeton won the league, earning the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament while Penn finished second and is expected to get an at-large bid as is Brown. Dartmouth is in good position and will learn its fate on Monday.