Last weekend, Dartmouth dropped a horrendous double overtime game to the Cornell Big Red. Even though the score was close, the game was a disappointment for
fans and players alike. It seemed that the Big Green had hit bottom. They must have had nowhere to go but up.
Dartmouth rebounded beautifully from Sunday's 2-1 loss to Cornell with a 2-0 win over the University of New Hampshire. The win, only Dartmouth's second of the season, improving their record to 2-7-3 overall.
The game opened up with Dartmouth looking like their old selves again. The offense was producing chances, as the Big Green outshot the Wildcats in the first half 7-6. However the Wildcats' steady defense and goalkeeping kept the Big Green scoreless in the first half. Similarly, the Wildcats were not able to penetrate a strong Dartmouth defense.
In the second half, after 78 minutes of scoreless play, the Big Green broke the ice. Midway into the 78th minute, Kapono Chong-Hanssen '03 and Nick Magnuson '01 set up a scoring chance in which the ball almost crossed the goal line. At the last second, New Hampshire cleared the ball out of bounds. After being awarded a corner kick, Magnuson kicked to Chong-Hanssen who fired the ball into the net. With the goal, Dartmouth jumped ahead 1-0 and Chong-Hanssen scored the first goal of his collegiate career.
Eight minutes later, freshman Juan Romera found himself in the Wildcat zone with two defenders standing between him and the goalie. The fundamentally sound Romera faked his way through the defenders before passing to a wide open Mike Lewis '00. Lewis received the pass and immediately put the ball into the the net.
All in all, Dartmouth finally looked like the team it was supposed to be a month ago.
Dartmouth dominated the game, outshooting the Wildcats 22-8, and taking six fewer fouls. Dartmouth goalkeeper Ben Gebre-Medhin '02 went the distance for the Big Green, making three saves on his way to the shutout.
The Big Green return to Ivy League action on Saturday when they travel to Harvard in an attempt to make Halloween a bit more somber for the Crimson.
