The Big Green men's soccer team suffered its fourth defeat in as many games at the hands of the University of Vermont Catamounts today.
The loss ended a string of six straight wins over Vermont including last years 1-0 win in Burlington.
Over 500 fans turned out to watch the game in which Dartmouth started eight freshmen, including keeper Matt Nyman '99 who played on the under-20 US national team.
From the opening touch the game was face paced and evenly matched. Hunter Paschall '96, easily the quickest man on the field, combined well with Chris Pedrick '98 and Bobby Meyer '99 to create some early shots on goal.
The Big Green's best opportunity of the first half came when Paschall dished a grounder to Meyer at the UVM 35.Meyer one-touched the ball in perfect position and let fly a rocket that ricocheted off the upper right corner, just high.
After 45 scoreless minutes, the second half began with the Catamounts trying to take command of the game. They controlled the midfield and concentrated on Paschall.
"I think it was a fairly even game," co-Captain Dave Moran '96 said. "We should have beaten them though because of the opportunities we had. I think we had the talent to beat that team by two or three goals."
Moran is one of the Big Green's major casualties this year. He will be out all season because of a knee injury.
Defensively, the Big Green stayed strong. Noah Waterhouse '97 was the heart of the defense as UVM mounted their relentless attacks on the net. In one series, the ball crossed the net three times until Waterhouse dove in front of an UVM cannon shot from 12 yards out by Eric Horigan, deflecting the ball and saving a sure goal.
In the back with Waterhouse were a talented group of freshmen led by Andy Warner '99 who did a good job of shutting down UVM striker and captain Paul DeCastro, who was blatantly the most talented Catamount.
UVM continued to cycle in fresh players but after 90 minutes of regulation the score remained tiedat 0-0
The game's lone goal came in the 93rd minute when DeCastro's brother Mark took a pass from his left in the middle of the box.He instinctively redirected it into the lower right corner just out of reach of the diving Nyman.
The Big Green had some great bids in the second over time to score the equalizer, but couldn't punch it in. The best chance came on a loose ball four yards in front of the open net. Tui'one Faleafa '99 charged it but just missed the tricky volley left.
"I think we totally dominated the second overtime and should have scored," Moran said. "I think there was just some lack of composure in front of the net. The guys missed some shots they wouldn't miss in practice."
Despite the loss, the Big Green does see steady improvement from their inexperienced squad.
"Each game has been an improvement and today's game was the best so far," Coach Fran O'Leary said. "We played a game that could have gone either way. We're just not getting a break."
With more games under their belts, the Big Green looks to become more cohesive.
"We showed today that we can play, but we didn't put it all together when we needed to," Co-captain John Bosacco '96 said. "It's just a matter of the team gelling together."
Dartmouth will have another chance at home this weekend to earn its first win for the season whenthe Big Greentake on Northeastern at 2:30 p.m. on Chase Fields.
"We're looking for a win," Bosacco said. "We've been improving, but it's not there yet. We're looking to turn it around. We just need to keep our heads up and take it day by day."
Yesterday's loss dropped Dartmouth to 0-4-0 overall while UVM improved to 3-5-0.
