Some may say that Sunday's Ivy League soccer matchup (1:30 p.m., Chase Field) between the Dartmouth Big Green and the Cornell Big Red means nothing. They would say both teams are mired in the basement of the Ancient Eight with no chance of the postseason. Those people are wrong.
While the Dartmouth Big Green stands at 5-6-1 overall, including 1-3 in Ivy play, the team is a long way off from closing off ideas about the postseason. This matchup will be key in determining whether or not the men get selected to play in the NCAA Tournament.
The Big Green hasn't really had a scoring leader all year, but just like last year, a freshman has stepped up and come through when Dartmouth needs it the most. Scott Darci '05 has worked well up front with Juan Romera '03 and Matt LaBarre '04. These three must have a big game in order for Dartmouth to penetrate Cornell's stingy defense that allows about a goal a game.
The Big Green defense will also have to keep the pressure off goalkeeper Ben Gebre-Medhin '02, as Cornell forward and leading scorer Ted Papadopoulos will look to repeat the performance he had last time he visited Hanover. In 1999, he scored a game-winning overtime goal to lead Cornell past the Big Green.
With the stakes high on Sunday at Chase Field, you can bet that both Dartmouth and Cornell will not want to walk away losers and know that their postseason dreams are finished.
