Dartmouth men's soccer defeated Yale, 2-1, in a come-from-behind overtime victory on the road Saturday, courtesy of two strikes by forward Lucky Mkosana '12.
Mkosana found the net seconds before the conclusion of the first overtime period, ending the game after 100 minutes of play.
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, Dartmouth (7-2-1, 2-0-0 Ivy) struggled to capitalize on any of its chances early, but was able to score in the 63rd minute to get back in the game.
The Bulldogs (3-5-2, 0-2-0 Ivy) had to fight to stay in the game after Dartmouth's game-tying goal, as they staved off multiple shots in the dying minutes of the second half.
Dartmouth started the game taking three shots on goal in the first 25 minutes, but the Bulldogs turned the tide soon after. In the 31st minute, Dartmouth keeper Sean Donovan '13 found himself losing a one-on-one to Yale striker Brad Rose, who then passed the ball to Scott Armbrust who scored on an open net.
Dartmouth failed to get another shot off for the rest of the half.
"We didn't play well at all in the first half, and I think we were slow to start," co-captain Dan Keat '10 said. "I don't know if it was because we were on the road, but we weren't quite there in the first half."
Keat said that in the team's next game, which is at the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday, it will be important to play well right from the start.
Yale kept the pressure on, and had six shots in the first half, forcing Donovan to make a couple of diving saves.
"At halftime, we talked about being more composed when we had the ball," head coach Jeff Cook said. "I thought we were very susceptible to counterattacks, but we started doing a better job of being more patient offensively to prevent Yale from getting any more chances to counter."
The second half was shaky at first for the Big Green, as the Bulldogs did not back down on offensive attacks. Matters were soon made worse as co-captain and last week's Ivy Player of the Week Craig Henderson '09 left the field due to injury after 56 minutes of play.
"Unfortunately, he had a pretty serious heel bruise and couldn't put any pressure on it, and the trainer couldn't do any extensive treatment to make it comfortable enough to play on," Cook said.
Henderson, whose has the second most points on the team, with 12, is expected to recover in time to play this Saturday, Cook said.
Dartmouth was resilient, however, and in the 63rd minute, Mkosana took a pass from Keat down the left wing and fired a goal from 15 yards out.
Mkosana led all players with seven shots, three of which were on goal. Two other Big Green players put a shot on goal Keat and Austin Bowers '11 had one and three, respectively.
"[Mkosana] was very dangerous in the second half, and his first goal was a calm finish, and a very well taken goal," Cook said. "The goalkeeper made some excellent saves, and I was encouraged because we were making a number of goal-scoring chances."
Closing out the second half with six shots, compared to Yale's two, Dartmouth almost ended the game in regulation as winger Bowers and Mkosana each had a close call in the last five minutes.
In overtime, however, Dartmouth was able to deliver. In the 100th minute, defender Pumi Maqubela '10 launched a long ball up to Mkosana.
Mkosana sprinted to get a foot on the ball, found himself in a one-on-one against Yale goalie Travis Chulick, and slotted home the game-winning score.
"I thought we were playing well at that point, and I did think the longer the game wore on, the better the chances were at getting a goal," Cook said. "But overtime is never really a comfortable feeling, because it's a sudden victory, and it was a very close game."
This game marks Dartmouth's third overtime game against the Bulldogs since 2006. Dartmouth won in the 2006 overtime thriller and settled for a double-overtime tie in 2007.
Dartmouth is now preparing to square off against Penn last year's co-Ivy League Champions along with the Big Green next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Philadelphia.
"We have a very strong record, and it's an excellent start in the league," Cook said. "But we just have to recognize that all of these games are extremely competitive and close, and although delighted with our position now, we have to keep our focus and have a lot of work to do looking forward."
