Ninth-Ranked Washington Rallies from Two-Goal Deficit

Friday, September 18

Seattle, Wash.

10:30 PM

Dartmouth College

Washington

Ninth-Ranked Washington Rallies from Two-Goal Deficit

9/19/2015 12:30:00 AM | Men's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

SEATTLE, Wash. — Dartmouth owned a 2-0 lead on the road at the half against ninth-ranked Washington on Friday night, but the Big Green could not pull off the upset as the Huskies rallied for three goals in the second stanza to pull out a 3-2 victory over the visitors.

James Moberg supplied the winning goal for Washington (4-0-1) off a penalty kick with 14:15 to play, little more than three minutes after Quentin Pearson had knotted the score with his second goal of the evening.

“I am very proud of the guys tonight,” head coach Chad Riley said after the game. “We really put a lot into the game and I am proud of the way we stood up to the challenge of playing a top-10 team on the road. We had some excellent play tonight, especially the first half, against a very talented Washington team that has the ability to make a deep run come NCAA Tournament time. They certainly tested us more than any team thus far this season.”

Dartmouth (2-2-1) took the lead right out of the gate as freshman Eduvie Ikoba scored off a long throw from sophomore Tyler Dowse into the box barely four minutes into the contest.

A stunned Huskies squad went to work in putting pressure on the Big Green defense, peppering senior goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland with eight shots throughout the half, four of which required him to intervene to keep Washington off the board. Four of those shots came in a span of little more than two minutes in the middle of the period, the first two of which were on goal.

The first of four yellow cards handed out to Dartmouth players on the night came shortly thereafter, but the defense continued to thwart every UW advance. Another flurry of Husky shots in the final 10 minutes before the intermission were denied, and in the final minute, the Big Green countered to take a two-goal lead shortly after a yellow card was issued to Washington's Justin Fiddes. Senior captain Eric Jayne took a cross from junior Alexander Marsh and one-timed it home with 12 seconds showing on the clock for his second career goal.

“Two very good plays allowed us to get our two goals tonight,” Riley added. “We had other opportunities, and maybe we weren't quite aggressive enough on a few in their attacking third in the second half. But despite not pulling out a victory tonight, this is a game that will serve us well going forward this season.”

After both teams caught their breath at half, the Huskies quickly took away Dartmouth's breathing room on the board as Pearson scored after hardly a minute had passed. Justin Schmidt sent a corner kick into the box where Pearson got his noggin on the ball and redirected it past Cleveland. It was the first goal against Cleveland this year in 256 minutes.

The Big Green kept Washington at bay for the next 25 minutes, firing off three shots in the process, all of which were blocked by the Huskies defense. But in the 73rd minute, UW knotted the score on a similar goal to the first one as Pearson headed a corner from David Coly across the goal and into the back of the net for his second tally of the night and the season.

It did not take long before the Huskies had another scoring opportunity and took full advantage. A Dartmouth foul — one of 21 on the night — allowed Moberg to line up a penalty kick, which he fired past Cleveland for what turned out to be the game-winner at 75:45.

The Big Green amped up the pressure in the final seven minutes with four shots, the last of which came from point-blank range by senior Sten Stray-Gundersen off a cross. But Washington keeper Ryan Herman picked the right time to make his lone save of the night, preserving the 3-2 advantage.

Dartmouth returns to the pitch on Sunday afternoon when it plays at Seattle at 4 p.m. (EDT). Washington finishes its Ivy League weekend on Sunday by hosting Harvard at 3 p.m. (EDT).