In a thriller at home, the Big
Green needed goalkeeper Sean
Milligan '09 to come to the rescue
in a 1-0 victory over Vermont. With a
supportive crowd at Burnham Field,
Milligan's brilliant saves kept the
Catamounts off of the scoreboard,
and the Big Green attack responded
in the 84th minute when Ben Salmon
'10 put a header
past Vermont
goalkeeper Tom
Critz to put the
Big Green ahead
for good.
Dartmouth improves its record
to 6-1-1 with the victory and extends
its unbeaten streak to seven games,
while Vermont falls to 3-7.
The first half was a physical battle
that featured very few chances for
either side, as both teams struggled
for possession in the midfield.
Head coach Jeff Cook stressed
the importance of playing well in the
midfield during physical contests,
and praised his midfielders.
"In this kind of game, it's more
about competing than anything,"
Cook said. "I think Brian Lappas ['08]
and Salmon did really well, they did
a lot of the dirty
work to help us
out."
It looked as if the
Big Green would
open the scoring
in the 10th minute, when Nick Christman
'08 played a beautiful through
ball into Matt Carroll '09, which
forced Vermont goalkeeper Tom
Critz to charge forward. Carroll then
passed to Mike Ordonez '08 who had
a shot at an empty goal, but the shot
was deflected away by a Vermont
defender.
Vermont's best chance in the game
came during the 21st minute, when
forward Matt Hennessey earned
a penalty kick for the Catamounts.
Panos Georgiadis stepped up to the
spot to take the penalty, but his low
drive to the right side found Milligan's
chest instead of the back of the net.
As the second half began,
Dartmouth stepped up offensively,
putting pressure on Vermont's shaky
defense. The Big Green began the half
with several shots by Pumi Maqubella
'10 and Christman, but none found the
back of the net.
However, just like in the first half,
it was Vermont who had the golden
opportunity, as a pass found forward
T.J. Gore all alone down the right side
of the pitch. Gore only had Milligan
to beat, but Milligan stepped up once
again and denied the Catamounts with
a textbook save.
Just when it seemed like the Big
Green would have to go to overtime,
Dartmouth struck gold in the 84th
minute when Ordonez's corner kick
found Craig Henderson '09 in the box.
Henderson sent the ball to teammate
Salmon, who took advantage of the
opportunity to put a header past the
diving Vermont netminder for the first
goal of his collegiate career.
Captain Tom Lobben '08 was satisfied
with the overall performance of
his team.
"We just try to go out there, keep
things simple and help each other out,
and I think we did that today," Lobben
said.
Dartmouth outshot Vermont 14-8,
and Milligan made four saves for his
fifth clean sheet of the season.
Cook was happy with the result and
the way his team played in the second
half.
"In the first half, we really struggled
against their style of play," Cook said.
"I think we could have made better
decisions and put more pressure on
the opponent, but I was very pleased
with how we responded in the second
half and created some chances."
Yellow seemed to be the color of
choice on the day, as seven players,
including five for the Big Green, were
booked.
"I think that for a team which has
only had two yellow cards, five in one
game is an awful lot, but it is a big rivalry
and maybe this is what happens in this
kind of a game," Cook said.
The Big Green will be back on the
pitch on Wednesday, Oct. 3, when the
squad will travel to Durham, N.H., to
take on the New Hampshire Wildcats
in a match-up of Granite State rivals.
New Hampshire is 2-3-3 overall,
and is coming off of a 1-0 victory
against Holy Cross.
According to Lobben, the Big
Green men expect to find themselves
locked in another physical battle.
"In the next game, we want to keep
the ball more," Lobben said. "New
Hampshire is going to be a similar
kind of opponent, because they are
very scrappy, and it will be important
to control possession."
