NCAA Second Round: Dartmouth at No. 6 Seed Syracuse

NCAA SECOND ROUND
Dartmouth Big Green (12-5-1) at
No. 6 Syracuse Orange (13-5-3)
Date: Sunday, Nov. 22 – 2 p.m.
Location: Syracuse, N.Y. – SU Soccer Stadium
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SUNDAY'S GAME
Following an exciting overtime win in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, the Dartmouth men's soccer team will have a quick turnaround before traveling to New York for the Second Round against sixth-seeded Syracuse on Sunday.

LAST TIME OUT
With a mere seven seconds remaining in the first overtime period, Alexander Marsh scored his first goal of the season to lift Dartmouth over Hartwick, 1-0, on a rainy Thursday evening on Burnham Field. Both teams had a handful of chances throughout regulation, but both defenses were on top of things and managed to prevent too many close calls. After going through a scoreless 90 minutes, the game went to overtime. With the clock at 9:53, Marsh received a cross from Emory Orr, who had been headed the ball by Kunateh. Marsh fought his way around a couple of Hawk defenders and shot into the far left corner of the net before goalkeeper Lenny Wilson could get there in time, ending the game before it could go to the second overtime period. It was a tough defensive battle that saw the Big Green outshoot the Hawks, 18-3. A combined 33 fouls and three yellow cards were called throughout the aggressive contest. In net, Stefan Cleveland earned his ninth shutout of the season with two saves, while Wilson had a pair of saves in the loss.

SCOUTING THE ORANGE
Looking at Syracuse's 3-4-1 record against ACC opponents, it may seem hard to believe that the Orange earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Over the last two weeks, Syracuse picked off teams one by one in the ACC Championship, defeating NC State (2-0), advancing over North Carolina in penalty kicks (T1-1, 4-3 PK), and taking down No. 2 Clemson (2-0) and No. 9 Notre Dame (1-0) to win its first conference title since 1985. The Orange earned a program-best No. 6 seed in the tournament and will be making their second consecutive appearance and third in the last four years. Ben Polk and Julian Buescher are tied for the team lead with 24 points apiece. Polk has 10 goals and four assists, while Buescher has eight of each.

LAST TIME AGAINST SYRACUSE
The year was 1935 and the game took place on Orange turf. That's about all that is known of that contest. Except for the fact that Dartmouth returned to Hanover victorious after defeating Syracuse, 5-2, in the home team's final game of the season. Sunday's game will be just the seventh meeting between the two teams and the Big Green and the Orange are tied with three wins apiece.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR
After winning a share of the Ivy title with Princeton last season, the Big Green received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, drawing Fordham in the First Round contest. On Nov. 20, 2014, on a chilly night at Burnham Field, Alex Adelabu broke a one-all tie with 4:18 remaining in regulation to propel Dartmouth into the Second Round with a 2-1 victory over the Rams. Adelabu's game-winner came after passes from Matt Danilack and Colin Heffron that found the striker posting up for his team-leading 10th goal of the season. The Green had their postseason cut short three days later with a 3-0 loss to Providence on the road.

LEADING THE WAY
A pair of rookies is currently leading the team in goals, as Eduvie Ikoba and Amadu Kunateh have both netted four goals. Ikoba has tacked on three assists for 11 points – and is the only Big Green player to have double-digit points – while Kunateh has added two helpers and is sitting one point behind with 10.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Stefan Cleveland has been having a great senior campaign. In 1208 minutes of action, he has made 54 saves while allowing just seven goals, has a .885 save percentage and 0.52 goals against average. With his 9-3-1 mark, he has recorded nine shutouts throughout the season. James Hickok has a record of 3-2-0, has made 15 saves, and a .789 save percentage and 0.78 goals against average. He last appeared in net against Northeastern, earning his second shutout of the season in Dartmouth's 2-0 win.

LOOKING GOOD
The Big Green boast a stingy defense that has allowed just 11 goals and has recorded 11 shutouts this season. Dartmouth is second in the nation in save percentage (.863), fifth in shutout percentage (0.61) and sixth in goals against average (0.59). Individually, Cleveland is second in the country in save percentage and sixth in goals against average.

POSTSEASON AWARDS
Dartmouth snagged three of the four main postseason awards, as announced by the league office on Thursday. For the second year in a row, head coach Chad Riley was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year, while Cleveland claimed Defensive Player of the Year and Kunateh was tabbed Rookie of the Year. In addition to those awards, seven players received All-Ivy honors. Cleveland, Matt Danilack and Wyatt Omsberg were First Team selections and Kunateh and Tyler Dowse were named to the Second Team. Justin Donawa and Eduvie Ikoba received Honorable Mention recognition.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The winner of Sunday's game will advance to the Third Round next weekend to face the winner of the No. 11 Seattle/UCLA matchup.

Schedules