Men's Soccer Claims NCAA Automatic Bid and Shares Ivy Title

Saturday, November 15

Hanover, N.H.

5:00 PM

Dartmouth College

BROWN

Men's Soccer Claims NCAA Automatic Bid and Shares Ivy Title

11/15/2014 6:57:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – The Dartmouth men's soccer team punched its Golden Ticket as the Big Green defeated Brown on Saturday evening at Burnham Field, 3-0, to claim a share of the Ivy League title and the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

By virtue of its win over Yale, 1-0, Princeton will share the Ivy League title with Dartmouth, after both sides finished league play with 16 points. Princeton's fate will be determined on Monday, when the Ancient Eight finds out if it will have two representatives in the field of 48. The Big Green, on the other hand, will sit back and wait for their name to be called at 1 p.m. live on NCAA.com. Dartmouth's national ranking and top 30 RPI should put the Big Green with a good chance of hosting the opening round on Thursday evening, but that decision has yet to be determined.

"We knew at the beginning of the night that it was just a game against Brown," head coach Chad Riley said. "We understood it was a challenge to play the game and not the occasion. The team knew it was a big night, but they did a great job staying focused."

The Big Green took an early lead in the 11th minute on the beautiful shot off the foot of senior Alex Adelabu off a pass by freshman Tyler Dowse. Dartmouth moved the ball into Brown's zone, as the rookie defender dribbled the ball into the 18-yard box. Dowse then saw Adelabu whose back was facing the net and blasted a low shot past the Brown keeper.

"Alex has become a real threat. He is more comfortable with the ball and it showed tonight," Riley said.

Junior Stefan Cleveland made a big save for the Big Green in the 35th minute after a missed clear by the defense saw a wide open shot by Ben Maurey, but the Big Green keeper pushed it aside.

"Stefan has played well for us. He is moving his feet and is focused on the ball," Riley said.

Dartmouth completed the first half with a 5-4 edge in shots, but the Bears hit the target twice — both saved by Cleveland.

Brown's Aiden Quinn has a chance to tie the game in the 62nd minute after he moved past senior Hugh Danilack and then went one-on-one with Dowse, but Cleveland scooped his dribbler up.

Dartmouth added an insurance tally in the 67th minute after a free kick and then a header found Adelabu in front of the net. Senior Stefan Defregger sent the free kick into the center of the box found classmate Nick Rooney who headed the ball to the left side where Adelabu was waiting to capitalize.

"We work on set pieces a lot and Stefan did a great job once again," Riley commented.

The Big Green offense continued to penetrate in the 80th minute, as Adelabu added his fifth point of the night when he slipped a pass to classmate Tommy Johnson at the near post. The goal was Johnson's first collegiate goal to give the hosts a three-goal advantage.

"It was awesome to see Tommy score. He has a tremendous attitude. We know when he is out there he is steady on both ends of the field. I thought he was going to score last week at Cornell, but he held a shot. It is great to see him get a goal on senior day," Riley said.

Cleveland finished the game with seven saves, while his counterpart Mitch Kuptas also made three saves. The team from the Upper Valley held a 9-5 advantage in shots.

"Understanding that we have the automatic bid is very important. We can take the next few days to breathe a little bit, but at the same time prepare our team for the postseason," Riley Exclaimed.

After the game and the celebration ended, the Big Green honored their nine graduating seniors — Alex Adelabu, Robin Alnas, Hugh Danilack, Stefan Defregger, Colin Heffron, Gabe Hoffman-Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Nick Rooney and Gabe Stauber — with a special ceremony led by head coach Chad Riley and his staff.