Men's Soccer Opens Ivy League Action with Princeton

THIS WEEK
Saturday, Oct. 1 - vs. Princeton (Burnham Field), 3:30 p.m.
Live Stats Live Video ($$)

The Dartmouth College men's soccer team (2-3-2) continues a three-game homestand with its Ivy League opener against Princeton on Saturday (Oct 1) at 3:30 p.m. The Big Green and the defending Ivy League champion Tigers will square off at Burnham Field as the second game of a doubleheader with the women's team, who will also host the Tigers, beginning at 1:00 p.m.

BIG GREEN TIDBITS

Home Sweet Burnham - The Dartmouth men's soccer team, which owns a 30-7-4 all-time record at Burnham Field, is in the midst of a three-game homestand, its longest homestand of the season. This season, the Big Green owns a 2-1-1 record at its home field.

Ivy League Opener - Saturday's contest with Princeton will be the Ivy League opener for both teams. The Tigers are the defending Ivy League champions and enter the contest unbeaten in its last 12 Ivy League games (11-0-1). Dartmouth also enters Ivy League play on its own streak having closed the 2010 season on a three-game winning streak in Ivy League play.

Ivy League Opener Part Two - Not only are the Big Green entering Ivy League action with a three-game Ivy League unbeaten streak, but is looking for its fifth consecutive Ivy League home-opening win. The Big Green is undefeated in each of its last six Ivy League home openers with only one tie in the 2006 season. Dating back to the 2005 season, Dartmouth has a 2-1-3 record in Ivy League openers.

Princeton For the Opener ... Again - Dartmouth and Princeton will be squaring off for the fourth consecutive time in Ivy League openers. Dartmouth has a 1-1-1 record in the last three meetings with the Tigers.

Mkosana named to Ivy League Honor Roll - Senior forward Lucky Mkosana (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) was named to the Ivy League honor roll for his team-leading fourth goal of the season in Dartmouth's 2-1 win over UMass on Saturday. Mkosana was named Ivy League Player of the Week (Sept. 12) for his efforts at the Dartmouth Classic.

Dzierzawski Finds The Net - Junior midfielder Kevin Dzierzawski (Oakland Township, Mich.) picked up his first career game-winning goal against UMass on Saturday (Sept. 24) and his first goal of the season. The junior is second on the squad in shots (10) and shots on goal (6).

One Goal Apart - Dartmouth has played several close games this season and each of its last three games has been decided by one goal. The Big Green have a 1-2 record in its last three games and on the season, have played to two ties and three one-goal games.

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 91 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 497-446-109 and is just three 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 Princeton -- Saturday's meeting with Princeton marks the 63rd meeting between the two Ivy League foes. The Tigers own a 19-36-7 series advantage but this has been a competitive series. In the last 10 meeting between the programs there have been five overtime contests, including each meeting from 2002-2005 and five games decided by one goal. The Tigers enter the contest with a 1-5-1 record after losing to St. John's on Wednesday. The Tigers are currently on a three-game slide with the St. John's loss. Cameron Porter leads the Princeton offense with three goals on the season, two coming in the Tiger's last outing against St. John's. In addition to Porter's six points, Antoine Hoppenot also has six points with one goal and four assists. Hoppenot and Matt Sanner lead the offense with 14 shots each. Max Gallin leads the Tiger defense and sports a 1.58 goals against average and has made 25 saves on the season.

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
Tuesday, Oct. 4 -- vs. Vermont (Burnham Field), 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 8 - at Yale (New Haven, Conn.), 3:00 p.m.

Schedules