Men's Soccer Hosts UMass in Non-Conference Tilt on Saturday Night

THIS WEEK
Saturday, Sept. 24 - vs. UMass (Burnham Field), 7 p.m.
Live Stats Live Video ($$)

The Dartmouth College men's soccer team (1-3-2) returns to Burnham Field for a single non-conference game this week. The Big Green will take on UMass Saturday (Sept. 24) at 7 p.m. The game marks one of three remaining non-conference contests. In addition to UMass, the Big Green will take on rivals Vermont (Oct. 4) and New Hampshire (Nov. 11). The Vermont contest is at Burnham Field and the New Hampshire game is in Durham, N.H.

BIG GREEN TIDBITS

Help Pack Burnham on Sat. Night - The men's soccer team will attempt to break the attendance record when they take on UMAss on Saturday. The Big Green own a 29-7-4 all-time record at Burnham and are looking to shatter the record of 2,114 set in 2008 against Brown in a nationally-televised game. Dartmouth has led the Ivy League in attendance each of the last four seasons.

Noah Cohen and Nick Pappas Named to SMU Invitational All-Tournament Team - Sophomore goalkeeper Noah Cohen (Johannesburg, South Africa) and senior defender Nick Pappas (Scottsdale, Arizona) were named to the SMU Invitational All-Tournament team for their efforts throughout the weekend. Pappas earns his second all-tournament selection this season after being named Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Dartmouth Classic while Cohen earns his first all-tournament honor.

Murray Comes to Life - Sophomore forward Patrick Murray (Lakewood, Ohio) has been a bright spot in the Dartmouth offense as of late. Murray has scored two goals in Dartmouth's last three games, including the equalizer in Dartmouth's, 3-3 2OT tie, with No. 17 South Florida (Sept. 11). Murray, whose goal against South Florida was his first collegiate goal, has played in five of Dartmouth's six games this season.

Mkosana and Adelabu "Assist" Each Other - Senior forward Lucky Mkosana (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) and freshman forward Alex Adelabu (Houston, Texas) have found ways to "assist" each other this season. Both players have one assist and have assisted on each other's goals. Mkosana assisted Adelabu on the game-winning goal against South Carolina (Sept. 9) while Adelabu assisted Mkosana on a goal against Tulsa (Sept. 18).

Overtime ... Again - The men's soccer team continued its streak of overtime contests at last weekend's SMU Invitational. The Big Green played an overtime contest with SMU on Friday night and was on the losing end, dropping the contest 2-1. The SMU game marked the third overtime game this season but the first overtime loss for the Big Green this season. Dartmouth's other two overtime contests against Holy Cross and South Florida both ended in ties. The Ivy League as a whole has played quite a few overtime games this season and just last week had six games go into extra sessions.

Tough Stretch is Over - Dartmouth's season-opening stretch of five 2010 NCAA Tournament squads in the first six games of the season has concluded. With the exception of Holy Cross in the season-opener, Dartmouth has played teams that reached the 2010 NCAA Tournament in each of its games. The Big Green finished with a 1-3-1 record against those squads with a win over South Carolina and a tie with South Florida.

Captain My Captain - Seniors Lucky Mkosana (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) and Nick Pappas (Scottsdale, Ariz.) have been named captains this season. The duo will wear the captain's armband for the Big Green throughout the season.

Cook Approaching 100 Wins -- Head coach Jeff Cook entered the 2011 season with 89 career wins as Dartmouth head coach and is poised to become just the second coach in Dartmouth men's soccer history to reach the 100-win plateau. Thomas Dent, Dartmouth's longest tenured coach, is Dartmouth's all-time winningest coach with 143 career wins in 35 years. After a win over South Carolina, Cook is sitting at 90 all-time wins at Dartmouth.

Big Green Heads Towards 500 Program Victories - The Big Green men's soccer program is approaching its 500th program victory. Currently, the Big Green has an all-time record of 496-446-109 and is just four wins away from the 500-win mark. The earliest the Big Green can reach the milestone would be on Oct. 8 when they take on Yale in New Haven, Conn.

Looking at UMass -- Saturday's meeting with UMass marks the 31st meeting between the squads with the Big Green holding a 21-5-4 series advantage. The teams met last season and played to a 1-1 2OT tie in Amherst, Mass. Prior to last year's meeting, the teams hadn't played since the 2007 season, also a double overtime contest. In all, Dartmouth and UMass have played six overtime contests. The Minutemen will face Hartford on Wednesday (Sept. 21) before making the trip to Hanover, N.H. Currently owning a 1-6-0 record, the Minutemen have dropped three straight including a 1-0 double overtime contest to Ivy League member, Harvard. UMass is led by Bryant Craft and Matt Keys who each have one goal while Shane Curran-Hays has a 1-4-0 record with a 1.14 goals against average and 23 saves.

Keep Up With the Big Green -- Stay current with everything going on with your Big Green by following Dartmouth men's soccer on twitter (@DartmouthMSoc) and "liking" the Big Green men's soccer team on Facebook.

UP NEXT
Saturday, Oct. 1 - vs. Princeton (Burnham Field), 3:30 p.m. - Ivy League Opener
Tuesday, Oct. 4 -- vs. Vermont (Burnham Field), 7:00 p.m.

Schedules