The defeat continued the difficult early goings for the Big Green (2-3-3, 0-0-1 Ivy), and bolstered the hot start of Fairfield (4-2-1), now ranked second in the NSCAA North Atlantic region poll.
The Big Green took the lead under two minutes into the game. Daniel Keat '10 continued to impress at the outset of his college career, following his magnificent bicycle kick goal against Brown on Saturday with a nifty score against Fairfield. Striker Mark Limpert '07 sent a low cross into the box from the left wing, and the freshman standout got in front of the defenders at the near post to redirect the ball into the lower right corner of Jon Paul Francini's goal. The tally was Keat's third goal of the season and his second in four days.
The Big Green did not handle its lead well, however, and allowed Fairfield to equalize just four minutes after Dartmouth took the lead. Alex Cunliffe took a free kick for Fairfield from just outside the box and curled the ball past both the wall and Big Green keeper Sean Milligan '09 into the right corner of the goal.
"The team did OK in patches but struggled for the consistency of the weekend's performance. We needed to be stronger mentally when we go a goal up and at the end of the day put away our chances when they come," Keat said.
The Big Green dominated play in the next 20 minutes, recording four consecutive shots and not allowing any. However, Matt Carroll '09, Tom Lobben '08 and Keat all failed to convert chances as the squad out shot its opponents 7-5 in the first half.
The second half was an exciting, back-and-forth, physical battle that kept both goalkeepers busy. Milligan was forced to make six saves, while his Fairfield counterpart Francini intervened seven times, as all of the teams' shots in the second half were on target. In the second collegiate start of his career, Milligan played a crucial role in the effort to keep the Big Green in the game, pulling off a few great saves down the stretch.
At the other end of the field, Stags keeper Jon Paul Francini was also in fine form, pulling off two fantastic saves in quick succession to deny Limpert of the winning goal for the Big Green. Dartmouth took six corner kicks throughout the half, but failed to convert any of them, forcing the game into overtime.
Extra sessions are hardly unknown territory for the Big Green players, as this was their fourth overtime contest of the season. Dartmouth had drawn against their opponents in the previous three occasions, finishing with goalless draws against the University of New Hampshire and Colgate, and a 1-1 draw against Brown.
The Stags won the game only two minutes into overtime, after Aldo Hope put a pass from Paul McQuade past Milligan into the top corner of the net.
Even though he scored two goals in the last two Big Green games and currently leads the team with three goals and seven points, Daniel Keat was not satisfied after the game.
"I am really not happy unless the team does well and to get two goals was great but I would rather have two wins," he said.
Dartmouth will be back in action on Saturday, September 30, when it continues the defense of its Ivy title with an away game at Princeton at 4 p.m. Last season, the Big Green won against the Tigers on the strength of a Mike Ordonez '08 overtime goal in a very one-sided encounter.
