Men’s Soccer Battle Wildcats to Draw

Tuesday, October 8

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-4-2, 1-1-0

UNH

3-2-5, 1-0-1

New Hampshire

Dartmouth

10/8/2024 10:34:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Rebecca Osowski

HANOVER, N.H. - After a loss on the road to Cornell, the Big Green looked to get back on track in a midweek nonconference matchup with UNH. Despite neither team finding the back of the net, Dartmouth played strong defensively and racked up multiple quality offensive chances in the 0-0 draw.

With the draw, the Big Green move to 4-4-2 on the season.

Both teams started the game quick, wasting no time getting to their game plan. After swapping chances, most of the Wildcats' coming from corners, play slowed down as each team looked to see what was in front of them before making plays.

The Big Green were all over the Wildcats, double teaming, stealing the ball, and boxing them out to limit their plays in the offensive zone. The Wildcats were just as successful though, keeping Dartmouth toward the edge of the box and out.

Despite trading scoring opportunities, Big Green keeper Costi Christodoulou and Wildcats netminder Erik Lauta stood strong, sending the game into halftime tied at zero.

UNH and Dartmouth came out just as hot in the second half, but neither team was able to find a goal. The momentum seemed to shift in the Big Green's favor in the 57^th minute though when the Wildcats picked up two red cards and a yellow call on an altercation, playing a man down for the remaining time.

The Wildcats seemed to not be phased, still getting chances early on and putting balls through the defense and on Christodoulou. Eventually though, the Big Green took over, creating multiple quality chances for the remainder of the game.

One of those chances was for one of the Big Green's leading scorers Vasilis Moiras who found himself in all alone with the goalkeeper. Lauta played it right though, making the save and keeping the game tied.

The Big Green continued to fire shots on net but nothing got through Lauta, resulting in the Wildcats and Big Green earning the 0-0 draw.

"I thought overall we possessed the ball the way we wanted to; we created chances. We just have to be a bit more clinical in the final third so that we can reap the benefits of all the possession that we had," Bobby Clark Head Coach of Men's Soccer Bo Oshoniyi said following the game.

While disappointed his team could not finish some of their chances, Oshoniyi said he was overall happy with the amount of chances the Big Green created against an "NCAA tournament team" and a "quality opponent."
For Oshoniyi, the takeaway for his team is to nail their timing in the box and continue to play with the intensity they had Tuesday.

"I think it's the timing, getting in the box at the right time to you're not standing and trying to react," Oshoniyi said. "The mentality of intensity which is what we had today and something we want to continue to build on going into Saturday against Columbia, because Ivy League matches are intense. If you don't have that level of intensity, you don't really give yourself a shot to win those games."

The Big Green return to action and Ivy League play Saturday when they host Columbia on Burnham Field. Dartmouth will then play their final nonconference match of the year on the road Tuesday at Northeastern before the final stretch of conference play.