On a frigid Homecoming night, the Dartmouth men's soccer team lost its first home game of the season to Ivy League foe the University of Pennsylvania, 1-0, Saturday in Hanover.
The loss dropped Dartmouth to 6-5-1 (1-1-1 Ivy), while the Quakers improved to 8-2-3 (2-1-0 Ivy). The Big Green is now tied for fourth place in the Ivy standing with Princeton, while Penn sits in a tie for second place with Brown. Harvard leads the conference with a perfect 3-0-0 league record.
The Big Green's level of play changed dramatically over the course of the game.
After a tough first half where it was out-shot by the visiting Quakers, Dartmouth came out and dominated the second half as the Big Green frantically looked for the equalizer.
"It's a disappointing loss," Dartmouth co-captain Craig Henderson '09, who had eight of the Big Green's 11 shots, said. "The way we played in the first half is just not really acceptable. In the second half we showed that if we had played that way for the full 90 minutes, we would have run away with the win.
Unfortunately for the Big Green, nobody seemed to be able to find the net, and the first half goal by Quakers' senior Alex Grendi ended up making the difference.
Penn came out strong against the Big Green, putting up seven shots to Dartmouth's four in the opening half. Despite a strong effort in goal by Dartmouth goalkeeper Sean Milligan '09, the Quakers broke through in 32nd minute.
Penn's Kevin Unger fed teammate Tobi Upalade, who found Grendi on the left side of the box. Grendi drilled a shot into the upper corner of the net for his second goal of the season at 32:31 elapsed in the game.
After a short Homecoming presentation of some of the Dartmouth men's soccer alumni at the halftime break, the Big Green came out in the second half with a sense of urgency that translated into an increased tempo.
Henderson said there was no strategy adjustment during halftime, but the team just came out looking to play to its potential, feeling that if the Big Green played its own game, Penn would not be able to keep up.
"We did what we know we can do," Henderson said. "We kept the ball, we put pressure on it, we won every ball at midfield, which we couldn't do in the first half. Once we do that, we can play with any team."
Dartmouth kept the Quakers pinned in their own half for the entire second half. The Big Green bombarded Penn goalkeeper Drew Healy with shots but failed to get on the board.
"That's the problem with putting yourself in a hole in the first half," co-captain Milligan said. "It's a lot easier for them when they just have to defend, and all the pressure's on us."
Dartmouth made a frantic push in the final 15 minutes to tie it up, with several shots hitting the post or missing just wide.
The Big Green's Henderson played like a man possessed as he tried to take over the game with several attempts on goal. Penn, however, held on to escape with the victory.
Dartmouth outshot Penn on the day, 11-7, with a significant 8-1 shot advantage in the second half.
Penn's Healy finished with nine saves for his eighth shutout of the season, while Milligan finished with five stops.
The Big Green has a week off now before it plays Columbia next Saturday. With four Ivy games remaining, both Henderson and Milligan agree that the team needs to identify its weak points and make adjustments quickly.
"We know we can play with anybody in this league," Henderson said. "We are going into games expecting to win now."
Dartmouth faces Columbia at 7 p.m. Saturday evening in New York City.
