Most teams do not consider the prospect of playing two games on consecutive days to be fortuitous. Ask the University of Maine, which lost two games this weekend.
But the Dartmouth men's soccer team perceived such a situation to be a wonderful opportunity. Benefiting greatly from their improved depth, the Big Green gained two important victories this weekend.
In yesterday's 3-1 triumph over Maine, who lost on Saturday to University of Vermont, 17 different players saw considerable playing time.
"A lot of people are starting to contribute," Coach Bobby Clark said. The victory over Maine "was a total team effort."
David Moran '96 got off to a fast start when he scored his second goal of the season just five minutes into the game. Moran finished a cross from Bepi Raviola '94 with a one-touch, right-footed shot from six yards out that easily beat Maine goalie Seb D'Appolonia.
"Our game plan initially was to take control right from the beginning," Moran said. "Both teams had played the day before. It was crucial to come out strong."
Dartmouth then continued to dominate the half, but was caught by surprise with 3:26 remaining in the first half when Black Bear freshman Paul Davison got free on the right side and beat goalie Jeff Cucanato '95. Davison's curving chip found the left-side netting and tied the game, 1-1.
The Big Green answered just over a minute later as Raviola hit a wicked knuckling shot from 20 yards out that D'Appolonia had a hand on but could not save. The goal was the first of his career scored in front of the home crowd at Chase Field, giving Dartmouth a 2-1 halftime lead.
The offense continued at the beginning of the second half as Bill Cronin '95 scored off a cross from Co-Captain Blaine LeGere '95. LeGere collected the ball, which came loose after a corner kick, and struck a low cross that Cronin one-touched past a hapless D'Appolonia.
Cucanato, in his first varsity start, then secured the win by sliding to stop Maine sophomore Mike Dunphy at the 63-minute mark and diving to deny Black Bear sophomore Jake Quimet 87 minutes into the game. Cucanato made three saves on the day and recorded his first career victory.
In Saturday's 1-0 win over Brown, defender George O'Brien '95 provided the Big Green offensive spark for the second straight game, teaming up with Cronin for the game's only goal.
On a glorious run that began at midfield and ended in the Brown penalty area, O'Brien beat three Brown players -- one who chased him for 30 yards -- and crossed the ball to Crone. Beating both his defender and goalie Tim Webb to the ball, Cronin scored the first of his two weekend goals.
"The situation presented itself," said O'Brien, who scored the only goal in Dartmouth's 1-0 double-overtime victory over the University of New Hampshire on Wednesday. "The outside back is normally looking to hit long balls to the forwards, or sometimes hit a cross. However, whenever there's an opportunity to get forward, I've got to take advantage of it."
O'Brien "made a great run and hit a low, hard cross," Cronin said. "All I had to do was get to the right spot and finish it."
Cronin's goal 58 minutes into the game came after a scoreless first half during which Dartmouth endured a scary moment. With seven minutes left in the first half, goalie Brian Wiese '95 was tangled up with Bear forward Darren Eales after saving Eales' shot. Wiese was shaken up, but was able to continue.
Wiese then made two huge saves in the last minutes to preserve the shutout. With six minutes to play, Wiese dove to his left and snared midfielder Shaun Harkin's shot. With 3:10 left, Michael Barrish was open after receiving a pass from Eales, but Wiese stopped his rocket shot.
Brown then continued its relentless offensive pressure, but with 30 seconds left the Bears' best scoring chance was denied. Brown sophomore Ted Foster's header beat Wiese and appeared headed into the net, but Ian Saward '95, standing on the Dartmouth goal line, headed the ball out of danger.
The shot "came right at me," Saward said. "I was just in the right place at the right time."
Wiese made six saves on the day and shared the shutout, his third of the season, with Cucanato, who played the last 23 seconds.
With the two wins, Dartmouth improves to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Ivy League.
"These wins were big," Clark said. "Over the last three games, we've started to play together."
The Big Green has two more home games this week -- against Boston College Wednesday and against Princeton Sunday. Clark called the Boston College game "a huge interregional match." Kickoff against BC is at 3:30 p.m. at Chase Field.
