Overall, the team was satisfied with its play on Saturday.
"We played pretty well," team co-captain Brian Lappas '08 said. "We had a couple lapses in the first half but we still controlled the game."
The Big Green started the game off with a bang. Just 47 seconds into the match, Nick Christman '08 put Dartmouth ahead with a goal assisted by Matt Carroll '09.
Not long after Dartmouth took the early lead, the Big Green added another goal in the 25th minute. This time, Bryan Giudicelli '11 came up big for Dartmouth, recording his first goal in intercollegiate play.
Despite Dartmouth's sizeable lead after the goal by Giudicelli, Cornell hung in the game and attempted a comeback before halftime.
Sure enough, in the 36th minute, Cornell successfully picked up some momentum when it cut the deficit to 2-1.
According to Lappas, holding and defending leads has been a focal point for the Big Green all year.
"We're still working on handling our leads well," Lappas said. "We dealt with it when they came back, but it's something we're continually working on."
Although the Big Red made a late first-half charge, Dartmouth played a strong second half, shutting down the Cornell offense and adding one more goal to close out the game at 3-1.
Co-captain Tom Lobben '08 attributed much of the team's success against Cornell to great performances from Dartmouth's deep lineup.
"We had a lot of great performances, especially from players coming off the bench," Lobben said. "One or two players alone can't win a game; it's got to come through a team showing, and I think that's what we got against Cornell."
After last week's upset over Harvard, the Big Green men have garnered significant national attention and have put themselves in a solid position for the Ivy League title.
Dartmouth has earned a national ranking of 23rd from the socceramerica.com poll and has received votes in many of the major polls. Also, in the NCAA's ratings percentage index, Dartmouth was ranked 22nd.
Next weekend's matchup with #3 Brown, who is ranked among the top five teams in almost every major poll, is the pivotal game for this year's Ivy League Championship.
Lobben stressed the importance of the team's upcoming contest.
"This is what it's all about, the showdown between the top two teams in the league," Lobben said. "This is definitely the most important game of my Dartmouth career."
If Dartmouth defeats Brown next week and follows up its victory by beating Princeton the following week, then the Big Green will be crowned Ivy League Champions for the fourth time in the last six years -- and the team seems to feel optimistic about this prospect.
"I feel great about our Ivy chances," Lappas said. "We're taking it one game at a time and both games are crucial, but I really feel great about it."
Lobben agreed with Lappas and thinks the team will have a good shot at beating a tough Brown squad next weekend.
"I hope that our preparation and hard work this season pays off and that we can go out there with loads of energy for 90 minutes and get the result we need," Lobben said. "They're a very good team with an immaculate record, but we're definitely looking to change that."
The two teams will battle it out next Saturday at 4 p.m. at Stevenson Field in Providence, R.I., in a game likely to decide this year's Ivy champion.
