Two second-half goals from Columbia were enough to break the No. 15 Dartmouth men's soccer team's undefeated Ivy League run on Sunday. The loss marks Dartmouth's second in a row after a 1-0 defeat on Wednesday against the No. 8 University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla.
Despite outshooting the Lions 15-10, Dartmouth (8-4-1, 3-1-0 Ivy) could not convert any of its chances into goals.
After a scoreless first half which saw the Big Green dominate possession, Columbia (4-7-1, 2-2-0 Ivy) secured its first goal in the 69th minute, when striker Bayo Adafin received a long ball and beat the Dartmouth defender to tuck the ball away in the bottom right corner.
The Big Green responded with a flurry of attacks, but no one could find the tying goal.
The Lions sealed their victory late in the 84th minute, when a scramble in the box left a forward open to pounce on a loose ball.
"We came out lacking a bit of emotion in the first half," head coach Jeff Cook said. "It was a slow half, and when they scored, we were beginning to finally come into the game. It caught us off-guard and we started creating good chances, but couldn't get the equalizer."
Cook said that the Dartmouth team did not play as well as it had in its loss to South Florida (11-2-2, 5-2-2 Big East) on Wednesday.
Outshooting the Bulls 15-10, the Big Green was stalled by South Florida's resilient defense in a game that highlighted the skill of Bulls goalkeeper Jeff Attinella, who made eight saves on the day.
Dartmouth's several scoring chances never resulted in a goal, and in the 27th minute, South Florida midfielder Jorge Mora scored the game's only goal.
From the start of the first half, the Big Green tested Attinella, as forward Lucky Mkosana '12 and midfielder Austin Bowers '11 each tried a shot on goal in the first 10 minutes of play.
The Bulls charged into action at the start of the second half, attempting three more shots and winning four corner kicks in the first nine minutes.
In net, Sean Donovan '13 made three saves over the course of the game.
"It was indicated that USF was a counterattacking team, and very athletic," Cook said. "On the defensive side, we wanted to contain them so that they didn't have the opportunity to counter quickly."
The Big Green's first real chance of the second half came in the 57th minute, when Bowers latched onto a corner kick from Andrew Olsen '11, but Attinella stood his ground and made the save.
Co-captain Daniel Keat '10 nearly tied the game in the 88th minute with a free kick, but was similarly foiled.
Dartmouth came into Wednesday night's game after a tough travel schedule, including last weekend's game at the University of Pennsylvania (5-6-3, 1-2-1 Ivy), where Dartmouth cruised to a 3-1 win over the Quakers.
"I think we did as well as we could in terms of getting ready, and we used a lot of players in the two games, and had a pretty good proportion of players off the bench who did a good job for us," Keat said. "It's disappointing, obviously, because if we want to do what we expect to do this season, we have to win those games."
South Florida is the third nationally ranked opponent to meet the Big Green this year, and is in the midst of an impressive season of its own.
In 2008, the Bulls progressed to the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight, and were then knocked out by Wake Forest University the same squad that defeated Dartmouth just one round earlier. So far this season, the Big Green has not defeated any nationally ranked teams.
Now with its first loss in the Ivies, Dartmouth must settle with a tie for first place alongside Brown (8-1-5, 3-1-0 Ivy) in the league standings. Following in third place is Harvard (10-3-1, 2-1-1 Ivy) Dartmouth's next opponent.
"It's going to be a huge game, but that's the most disappointing aspect [of the loss to Columbia], because we had the opportunity to give ourselves a little cushion going into that game," Cook said. "Now there's only one thing for us to do which is to go and win against Harvard."
Kickoff against Harvard is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., Saturday in Cambridge, Mass.
