Dartmouth got on the board early when Bryan Giudicelli '11 drilled home the follow-up off a free kick from Craig Henderson '09 in the second minute. No other goals were scored by either team on the day.
Despite heavy pressure by the Aztecs (2-5-0, 0-0 Pacific-10), a strong performance by Dartmouth's back line iced the victory, pushing the Big Green's record to 5-2 (0-0 Ivy).
Henderson, one of Dartmouth's three co-captians, noted that the team wanted to put pressure on its opponents from the beginning of the match by planting some long balls and keeping play in its opponents' half of the field.
Having played the second half from behind on Friday against Sacred Heart, that strategy seemed to work to Dartmouth's advantage against San Diego State.
After the team was shut out last Friday at Sacred Heart -- the first time the team failed to score this season -- Giudicelli's early goal, his third this season, was an important confidence boost.
The two squads remained balanced for the rest of the half with five shots apiece, but Dartmouth held on to its lead heading into the break.
San Diego came out hot in the second half, but could not find a way past Dartmouth goalkeeper and co-captain Sean Milligan '09. Milligan was helped by a strong performance from Dartmouth's defenders, especially during a San Diego State flurry in the 65th minute.
Milligan made a save and appeared out of position to prevent San Diego from evening it up on the rebound, but Donnie Surdoval '10 managed to appear out of nowhere and head the ball out of the box.
"Our defense has come a long way in just the three or four weeks we've been together," Milligan said. "Our team's defense is really what we base everything around, all the way up to the front and pressuring with the forwards. We just try to make sure we don't give anybody an easy game."
Dartmouth had its own opportunities to score as well. In the 73rd minute, Pumi Maqubela '10 lifted a pass up to Lucky Mkosana '12 for a point-blank shot. But San Diego State's goalkeeper Morgan Maestas, who matched Milligan's seven saves on the day, made a great save and kept San Diego State within reach.
"We definitely had some chances of our own that we missed, but it was such an even game, so we're pretty happy to get the win," Henderson said. "But we know we still have a lot to work on."
Dartmouth survived two more Aztec corner kicks in the last minute to escape with the win and give Milligan his third shutout of the season.
"It was a pretty even game," Henderson said. "San Diego is a really good team -- maybe one of the best we've played so far this season. They really made us work for it today."
Milligan added that the team is pretty happy with where it is as Dartmouth heads south to New Jersey to face Princeton in the Big Green's Ivy opener on Saturday. This week the squad will be looking to just tighten things up.
"At this point it's just mental -- we need to be fired up for every game," Milligan said. "I don't think that will be a problem this weekend."
