Dartmouth (5-1-1) found itself in an early hole in the final, but was able to claw back to earn the victory. The first half saw the Big Green controlling the possession in midfield, but the Red Flash (2-5-0) did not allow any good looks at the goal. St. Francis struck in the 39th minute in an opportunity resulting from a corner kick into the mixer. Forward Andrew Stephens slotted home a loose ball resulting from a blocked shot to give his team the early lead.
Dartmouth continued to control the possession in the second half. The Big Green got a golden opportunity in the 77th minute when Matt Carroll '09 was fouled on a poor challenge. Mike Ordonez '07 sent a free kick into the penalty area where Carroll headed the ball to Craig Henderson '09 who put the it into the back of the net.
Less than a minute later, the Big Green struck again, as Carroll swung in a cross from the right side, where Olsen met it perfectly with his head to give Dartmouth the 2-1 advantage.
"I think Matt Carroll really stepped up, it was the best I had ever seen him play," Captain Brian Lappas '08 said.
In the opening round, Dartmouth came out firing on all cylinders to secure an advantage less than nine minutes into the game. Henderson, a member of New Zealand's under-20 national team, spotted striker Andrew Olsen '11 making a run. Olsen coolly collected Henderson's pass and hit a low left-footed shot past the outstretched arms of Panthers (0-8-0) goalkeeper Ryan Germann to jump out to a 1-0 lead.
"[Olsen has] been really solid. All of the freshmen have been great, but he's made a big impact in particular, and it's always good to see that," Henderson said.
The Big Green had numerous opportunities to add some goals, but could not capitalize. The best opportunity came in the 40th minute, when Ordonez sent a screaming free kick towards the goal, only to see it come off the post. A slew of mistimed runs led to seven offside calls against Dartmouth.
In the second half, the Big Green men, who committed numerous fouls, were on their heels as the Panthers desperately sought to even the score. It took two great saves by goalkeeper Sean Milligan '09 within a three-minute period to preserve the victory.
The game was a physical contest that saw 29 fouls. Milligan, who made four saves, earned his fourth clean sheet on the season.
A shocked St. Francis team looked to level the score again with a late shot, only to see the shot parried away by Milligan. The Big Green had no problems melting away time at the end of the game to preserve the victory, their first coming from behind.
Lappas was satisfied with the results, saying that the team's play left a little more to be desired.
"Honestly, I think we could've played a little sharper throughout the tournament," Lappas said. "On Friday our play should've been sharper, but on Sunday it was good to show that we can come from behind and win. Personally, I'm coming off of surgery this summer, so I'm not 100 percent yet, but I'm slowly but surely getting there."
For the tournament, Henderson was named the offensive MVP, while Milligan earned the goalkeeping MVP award. St. Francis's Brian Maguire was the defensive MVP.
The Big Green will be back on the pitch on Saturday, Sept. 29 when the team will play host to Vermont at Burnham field. The Catamounts (3-5-0) have endured a rough start to the season.
"I think we need to be able to start better," Henderson said. "Also, we need to make sure to hold the lead better by not getting into a scrappy match by controlling possession in the midfield."
