ITHACA, N.Y. — Dartmouth men's soccer traveled to No. 23 Cornell on Saturday afternoon for its fifth Ivy League game of the season. The Big Green cut the Big Red's lead in half in the second half, but Cornell protected its home field and won 3-1.
Saturday's game marked Dartmouth's first road game since Oct. 3. The Big Green came into the contest having earned a result in six of their last seven games.
Cornell struck first, scoring in the 21st and 23rd minutes to take a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Early in the second half, Dartmouth earned a foul call in the Cornell 18-yard box, resulting in a penalty kick.
Trenton Blake took the penalty and converted for his fourth goal of the season. Blake has scored in three consecutive games and is now a perfect 3-for-3 on penalty kicks in his career.
Blake was also named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week for his five-point performance last week.
Cornell then stretched its lead back to two goals, which held up for the win on its home field.
"Today was a good game at Cornell, and credit to Cornell for winning the Ivy regular season trophy. While the scoreline gap was larger than we would have liked, I was proud of our response after going down two goals, and our response again after it happened in the second half," said
Connor Klekota, the Bobby Clark Head Coach of Men's Soccer.
Dartmouth took 12 shots overall, with
Vasilis Moiras and Blake each taking three. Six of the 12 were on goal, forcing the Cornell backline to defend time and time again.
"I felt we improved today as a group, and we will take our lessons, learn, and move on. I'm proud of how our entire group is operating this season, and we will focus on continuing to improve together every day," Klekota said.
The Big Green remain well positioned in the playoff race, currently sitting third in the conference, tied with Harvard. Dartmouth is two points clear of Yale, which is in fifth.
Up Next:
Dartmouth will return home for Senior Day to face Brown at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.