Dartmouth's men's soccer team, ranked 22nd in latest national pole, played successfully against two nationally ranked teams at the Stanford / Nike Classic in Palo Alto, Calif.
On Friday, the Big Green defeated the University of California (5-2-1) in overtime, 2-1, and gained a 0-0 tie with host Stanford University (9-0-1) on Sunday. Dartmouth (4-1-2, 1-0 Ivy) shared the Trophy with Stanford, who was also 1-0-1 on the weekend. The Cardinal are ranked No. 11 in the country and are considered one of the hottest teams in the nation.
On Friday, against the 25th-ranked California, forward Nicholas Magnuson '01 scored his first collegiate goal in overtime to help Dartmouth win 2-1 in the first game of the Stanford/Nike Classic. Magnuson found the net shooting from right in front of the goal.
California Bear's Adam Hunter scored in the 78th minute to take the lead. But the Big Green tied the game just in time to save their four game undefeated streak.
Chris Dedicik '99 kicked in a rising shot with 3:17 into the regulation. Dedicik, who converted from back to forward this season, scored his first career goal.
Both goalies, Doug Brooks of Cal and Matt Nyman '99 of Dartmouth, made just one save each. Cal out shot the Big Green 12-10.
"In the Cal game, we never really got things going. Cal's goal was the "wake-up call" we needed. The momentum changed in the game when Cal scored," Magnuson said. "We continued to dominate into overtime and I thought it was only a question of time as to when we were to score. I was just fortunate to score that goal."
Nyman believes the team proved its resilience by fighting off the No. 25 Bears.
" I don't think our comeback win over Cal was so much a confidence builder as it was a test of our team resilience," Nyman said. "Any time a team can come back and win a game after being down with 10 minutes to go says a lot about their character and toughness.
On Sunday, Big Green tied 11th-ranked Stanford, which boasted a 14-game-winning streak into the game. In the scoreless game, the Big Green's defense, one of the best in the region, kept Stanford from scoring a goal. For Dartmouth, the match represented a meeting with former mentor Bobby Clark who now coaches the Cardinal.
The closing match of the Stanford/Nike Classic was very physical to say the least. Fifty fouls were called in total and four yellow cards were given out. Bobby Meyer '99, Jamie Hozack '00 and Tui'one Faleafa '99 each received a yellow card for Dartmouth. Meanwhile, former Hanover High School sensation Jamie Clark, the son of Stanford's coach, received one for the Cardinal.
"The game on Sunday against Stanford really wasn't any more physical than the others we've played. We're always a tough hard team and that's the way we played," Nyman said.
Junior back Brendan Reidy '99 who was named Ivy League honor role last week, led the Big Green defense, which has allowed only two goals in the last six games. Although being out shot 12-11, Nyman only had to make two saves on the afternoon.
Nyman has played every game this season with four shutouts. Meanwhile, Stanford's Adam Zapala also had a pair of saves. Nyman now has 0.55 Goals Against Average (GAA) and .789 saving percentage
""The Stanford game was like playing your clone," Magnuson said. "We played the same style (as Stanford) defensively and offensively, much attributed to Clark's influence on Dartmouth's program.
Stanford's a great team and we proved we were as well by competing with them for 120 minutes.".
Playing the third-straight overtime game, Big Green hold on to the tie to break Stanford's longest winning streak in the nation. Dartmouth is 1-0-2 in the overtime.
With the tie against Stanford, the Big Green is now 2-0-2 against nationally ranked soccer teams, and 4-1-2 overall. The only loss for the Big Green was the first game of the season against La Salle. Since then, Dartmouth has six games undefeated streak while outscoring the opponents 12-4.
"This past weekend's performances have just proved what we've known all along. We knew we could compete against the top teams in the country, now we just have to follow through and keep winning," Nyman said..
The Big Green will host Ivy League foe Princeton this Saturday afternoon at Chase Field.
