Soccer Headed West to Face #8 UCLA in NCAA Third Round

11/25/2010 11:10:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

Dartmouth Postseason Game Notes (PDF)

As one of just two unseeded teams to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16, the Dartmouth men's soccer team rides a six-game winning streak into a showdown at #8 UCLA this Sunday night at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST.

Dartmouth is the only Sweet 16 team that has played, and won, its first two games on the road. The Big Green knocked out Monmouth in New Jersey on Nov. 18, 4-0, and picked up a thrilling overtime upset at #9 seeded Notre Dame, 2-1, on Sunday, Nov. 21. Head coach Jeff Cook will rely on his nine seniors for leadership as his team takes on a much younger Bruins squad. Those seniors have not been denied in the tournament run to date, including 12 saves from senior goalie Lyman Missimer at Notre Dame, a game in which classmate and co-captain Andrew Olsen scored both goals. Of the 17 points the Big Green has recorded in its first two NCAA games, 13 have been contributed by seniors.

#8 seed UCLA advanced to the Sweet 16 after earning the first round bye and topping Sacramento State, 4-1, in the second round. The Bruins exploded for all four of their goals in the second half.

2010 NCAA Tournament: Third Round
Game 20: Dartmouth (12-6-1) at #8 UCLA (15-4-1)
Date: Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010 • 5:00 PM / PST/8:00 PM EST
Location: Drake Stadium • Los Angeles, Calif.
Series Record: First meeting

Multimedia
Live Stats
Live Audio Broadcast
NCAA Tournament Bracket

ROAD WARRIORS
Overall, Dartmouth has posted a 5-3-1 record on the road this season, but two of those wins have come when it's mattered most — the postseason. Dartmouth is one of just three unseeded teams in the Sweet 16 and is the only squad that has played and won its first two games of the tournament on the road. The Big Green quickly silenced the 1470 on hand at Monmouth in the first round and was not intimidated by the Notre Dame mystique in the second.

WAITING HIS TURN
Senior goalie Lyman Missimer turned in a performance that was nothing shy of heroic at Notre Dame, making 12 saves and keeping his composure as the Irish took 14 second-half corner kicks. Missimer, whose father, Lyman III, was an All-Ivy goalie for Dartmouth, had waited a long time for his shining moment. He spent his first two years behind All-Ivy keeper Sean Milligan '09 and started two games in 2009 but then freshman Sean Donovan beat him out for the everyday starting role. Donovan started the first nine games of the 2010 campaign before Missimer got the start in the win at Vermont on Oct. 6. In a cruel twist of fate, he suffered a concussion in that game that kept him out of the Yale game three days later. Fortunately for Missimer he recovered in time to play Columbia on Oct. 23 and has retained the starting job since, going 7-2 with three shutouts.

SUPERMAN WEARS ANDREW OLSEN PAJAMAS
Senior Andrew Olsen has been playing the best soccer of his career in the NCAA Tournament, clearly not ready to see his college playing days end. Olsen entered the postseason with 10 points on three goals and four assists and has wracked up seven points in the postseason already. The senior provided the first half game-winner and a second half assist at Monmouth in the first round. He scored both Dartmouth goals in the 2-1 upset at #9 Notre Dame, including the overtime winner. The senior, an honorable mention All-Ivy choice, now leads the team with 17 points on six goals and five assists and four of his goals have been game-winners.
For his career, he has been equal parts playmaker and finisher, with 14 assists and 16 goals. Of those 16, a staggering 11 have been game-winners.

IVY LEAGUE HONORS
For the second straight season, Daniel Keat (Wellington, New Zealand) and Lucky Mkosana (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) headline Dartmouth's five All-Ivy honorees as repeat selections to the first team. Mkosana, a junior forward, has earned his third straight first team All-Ivy honor while Keat, a fifth-year senior midfielder, has also made three appearances in 2006, 2009 and 2010.

Three other Dartmouth players were named honorable mention All-Ivy: senior defender Bryan Giudicelli (Emerald Hills, Calif.), sophomore defender Teo Larsson-Sax (Kalmar, Sweden) and senior forward Andrew Olsen (Norwell, Mass.).

A COURTEOUS KIWI
Daniel Keat, a fifth-year senior from Wellington, New Zealand, is widely respected as one of the nation's top midfielders. While he does not always pile up the stats, currently with 12 points on four goals and four assists, Keat is integral to Dartmouth's attack and often does the less noticeable work. The 2009 All-American came up big in the first round at Monmouth, setting up three of the Big Green's four goals and getting credited with three assists.

ANCIENT EIGHT ACHIEVEMENTS
The Ivy League sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season as Dartmouth, Brown, Penn and Princeton all earned bids. It was the first time since the 1971 and 1972 seasons that the League had sent four squads. All but Princeton advanced to the second round and both Dartmouth and Brown are in the Sweet 16. They are the only two unseeded teams to advance this far. Four other conferences: Big 10 (five), ACC (two), Pac-10 (two) and Conference USA (two) advanced more than one team to this round.

THE UNITED NATIONS
In addition to a roster filled with players from throughout the United States, Dartmouth has five international players on its squad. The first team All-Ivy duo of Daniel Keat and Lucky Mkosana is chief among those. Keat hails from Wellington, New Zealand and last year became the Big Green's second All-American from that nation, following in the footsteps of Craig Henderson '09 (2005-09). Mkosana calls Bulawayo, Zimbabwe home and spent one year at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire for prep school before coming to Dartmouth. Other international players include sophomore Teo Larsson-Sax, an honorable mention All-Ivy pick from Kalmar, Sweden, classmate Stoian Nedelchev, a midfielder from Sofia, Bulgaria, and freshman midfielder Andoni Georgiou, from London, England. Associate head coach Johan Cedergren, who played for head coach Jeff Cook at Cincinnati, is a native of Sweden.

IN THE CLASSROOM AND ON THE FIELD
Seniors Bryan Giudicelli (Emerald Hills, Calif.) and Andrew Olsen have been named to CoSIDA's Academic All-District first team. The teams are voted upon by members of CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) in each of eight districts. Student-athletes must have a minimum cumulative gpa of 3.2 and are selected based on both their academic and athletic prowess. Giudicelli, a defender, is making his second appearance on the all-district first team and it is the second-straight season that Dartmouth has had two players make the team.
As a team, Dartmouth was just honored as an NSCAA Academic Squad and the team's cumulative GPA for the 2009-10 school year — a 3.33 — ranked ninth nationally.

COMEBACK KIDS
Dartmouth has proven that it can never be counted out this season. Of its 10 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.

AGAINST THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
The Big Green has played seven of the other 47 teams in the 2010 NCAA Tournament field including Boston College, Bradley, Brown, Creighton, New Mexico, Penn and Princeton. In the regular season, Dartmouth was 3-4 against the field with wins over Bradley, Brown and New Mexico

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Dating back to the first game of the 2007 season, Dartmouth boasts a 26-5-3 record at its home pitch, Burnham Field. For the past two seasons, the Big Green has ranked first in the Ivy League in attendance, welcoming an average of 1,000+ per home game in each of the last three seasons. Against Brown on Nov. 14, 2008 for a nationally-televised game, Dartmouth broke the Burnham Field record with a sellout crowd of 2,114.

SUPER SENIORS
Including two fifth-years, Dartmouth has nine seniors on its roster: 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 four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and an Ivy League Championship in 2008, totaling 44 wins with 18 Ivy victories to date.

ASSAULTING THE RECORD BOOKS
Three current Dartmouth players have already inked their names on the program record books for scoring. Junior Lucky Mkosana 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. 25, Mkosana now has 24 career goals, which ranks fifth and is nine away from the record of 33, held by Bob Drawbaugh '54. He also has 57 career points, putting him fourth all-time and just 20 points away from Vladdy Stanojevic's '90 record of 77. Senior Daniel Keat currently has 53 career points, in sole possession tied for sixth on the all-time list. Keat ranks ninth all-time in career goals with 20 and ninth in assists with 13. Senior Andrew Olsen has played his way into 10th place on the all-time points scored list with 46 and ranks fifth in assists with 14.