Offense Leads Men's Soccer With 3-0 Shutout at Cornell

Saturday, November 8

Ithaca, N.Y.

5:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Cornell

Offense Leads Men's Soccer With 3-0 Shutout at Cornell

11/8/2014 8:31:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Dartmouth men's soccer team can claim the Ivy League's NCAA College Cup automatic bid with a win next weekend after defeating Cornell, 3-0, on Saturday evening at Berman Field.

Heading into the final week of the season, Dartmouth is tied with Princeton for the Ivy League's top spot with 13 points. Harvard is still in the picture with 11 points. Princeton meets Yale and Harvard travels to Penn. A complete list of the Ivy League title scenarios is listed below.

"I thought it was a great team performance against a very tough and determined Cornell team," said head coach Chad Riley. "I thought we carried out the plan well, and I was really pleased with the senior leadership. I felt they stepped up and led the squad extremely well tonight."

The contest finished with an outpouring of shots, as Cornell (9-6-1; 2-4-0 Ivy) edged Dartmouth (10-4-2; 4-1-1 Ivy), 19-15. Although the Big Green were outshot overall, the team did put 10 shots on goal forcing Zach Zagorski to make seven stops. Junior Stefan Cleveland made three saves for his fifth shutout of the season.

Freshman Wyatt Omsberg once again used his height to head in a corner kick cross in the 16th minute to give the Big Green a 1-0 lead. Senior Stefan Defregger was credited with the assist after he took the set piece. Dartmouth found the net on six of its eight shots in the opening frame and led 1-0 at the break. The team also took five of its seven corner kicks in the first 45 minutes.

"Wyatt did great finishing the play, he has been very solid for us in both boxes," said Riley.

In the second, Omsberg added his third point of the night in the 53rd minute on his free kick that was put home by senior Colin Heffron. After a Cornell foul in the offensive third of the field, Omsberg serviced a set piece that Heffron received and potted inside the right post.

The Big Green continued its offensive arsenal in the 74th minute, scoring their second goal via a header. The visitors held the ball for over four minutes in Cornell's defensive end and recorded four shots and two corners before the tally. Omsberg, looking to score his second goal of the game had his shot blocked, which allowed senior Nick Rooney the chance to volley a cross to the head of senior Alex Adelabu for the goal.

"Alex did a great job tonight, Cornell hasn't given up many goals this year, and we knew it would be tough, but I thought Alex was resilient and finished his chance well. He is playing so well right now, and really starting to peak at the right time. He has been scoring a lot of goals in training, and we know it will come out on the field," commented Riley.

Adelabu finished the game with a team-high three shots on goal, as the Big Green had six other players contribute on the offensive side.

"We will continue with our mantra of taking it one day at a time," exclaimed Riley. "Tomorrow one group recovers and another group will train to get back on the same page. Each day next week is important, both the rest days and the working days. Each day is preparation and then we get to compete on Saturday. This group loves to compete, but we have some work to do before we get to run out on Burnham and compete against Brown."

Dartmouth will host Brown in the Ivy League finale next Saturday at 5 p.m. and will also honor its 10 graduating seniors with a ceremony to recognize their accomplishments.

Ivy League Title Scenarios:

Dartmouth wins the Ivy League title and gains the bid if: Dartmouth wins or ties and Princeton and Harvard loses.

Dartmouth / Princeton Share the Ivy League title and Dartmouth gains the bid if: Both Dartmouth and Princeton — win or lose or draw — and Harvard loses.

Princeton wins the Ivy League title and gains the bid if: Dartmouth loses or ties and Princeton wins and Harvard loses.

Harvard wins the Ivy League title and gains the bid if: Harvard wins and both Dartmouth and Princeton lose.

Dartmouth / Princeton / Harvard Share the Ivy League title and Dartmouth gains the bid if: Dartmouth and Princeton both tie and Harvard wins. Dartmouth would claim the auto bid due to a three-way tiebreaker, as Dartmouth is 1-0-1 against Harvard and Princeton.

Dartmouth / Harvard Share the Ivy League title and Dartmouth gains the bid if: Dartmouth ties and Harvard wins and Princeton loses.

Harvard/ Princeton Share the Ivy League title and Princeton gains the bid if: Harvard wins and Princeton ties and Dartmouth loses.

Nov. 15 Schedule - All three Games will be streamed on the Ivy League Digital Network

Princeton at Yale, 3 p.m.
Brown at Dartmouth, 5 p.m.
Harvard at Penn, 7 p.m.