The No. 16 Dartmouth men's soccer team claimed the first-place rank in the Ivy League this Sunday, defeating last year's co-Ivy League champion, the University of Pennsylvania, 3-1 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Snowy and rainy conditions postponed the game by a day, but Dartmouth (8-2-1, 3-0-0 Ivy) was not deterred, as three different goal scorers helped to secure the victory for the Big Green.
Winger Austin Bowers '11 found the net early in the first half to give the Big Green a short-lived early lead, until Penn (4-6-3, 0-2-1 Ivy) responded just 10 minutes later. Facing a tied score at halftime, the Big Green jump-started the second half with a goal just four minutes in from defender Bryan Giudicelli '11 his first of the season. Striker Lucky Mkosana '12 finished the Quakers off, beating both a defender and the goalie in the game's dying minutes to notch his sixth goal of the season.
Dartmouth dominated the shot count in both halves, accumulating a total of eight, compared to the Quakers' three.
The Big Green came out strong as, just 13 minutes into play, Bowers got his foot on a cross from midfielder Ben Salmon '10 to score from five yards out.
"It was a great goal to go ahead and a very good build-up play," head coach Jeff Cook said. "Salmon did a fantastic job playing the ball across, and I was delighted to be in front."
The Quakers, however, soon bounced back, taking advantage of a long throw-in just 10 minutes later. A header from Alex Takakuwa tied the game.
"It was a momentary lack of concentration and a good run by the Penn player, but it was a little disappointing because up to that point, they hadn't really threatened," Cook said. "If a team has a guy who can really throw the ball, it creates a lot of confusion, and there were several of those balls that night."
The Big Green notched what would prove to be the game-winning goal early in the second half, as Andrew Olsen '11 sent in a cross from the left wing, and Giudicellli connected to reclaim the lead for Dartmouth.
Penn could do little to get back in the game, and posted only one more effort on goal, which was saved by rookie keeper Sean Donovan '13 in the 90th minute of play.
Dartmouth, on the other hand, only picked up its intensity, working to create more chances. In the 88th minute, Mkosana took charge from midfield and, in a breakaway, sped past the defender and beat the goalie to notch an insurance goal.
"[Olsen's goal] was a great second goal in the second half, and we looked very dangerous on our counterattacks," Cook said. "We looked very threatening, and I thought that our third goal would come a lot earlier than when it came."
The Big Green's physicality was evident in its foul total on Sunday: With a total of 15 fouls compared to Penn's 10, the Big Green was cautioned twice, as both center midfielder Adam Rice '12 and Salmon received yellow cards. Penn also received one cautionary warning.
Now the only team to remain undefeated in Ivy League play, Dartmouth rests atop the league with nine points, followed by Harvard University (9-2-1, 0-2-1 Ivy) with seven.
With four more Ivy games to go, Cook said that he is happy with the team's position, but said he believes that there is still a long way to go before the team can claim the title of Ivy League champions.
"We won two games on the road in the league, which is a very difficult thing to do, but with four [league] games to go, we're really looking forward to coming home for the Homecoming game against Columbia," he said. "The nice thing with our position is that we can kind of control what happens [to our standing] in terms of it being our responsibility." But before the Big Green faces off against Columbia University (3-6-1, 1-2-0 Ivy) this Saturday, it must travel down to Florida to square off against the No. 12 University of South Florida (9-2-2, 4-2-2 Big East) on Wednesday.
Because the game against Penn was pushed out by one day, the team will have even less time to prepare for what is expected to be a tough matchup.
"There's going to be very little practice, and I want to try to get everyone recovered and rested for the game on Wednesday," Cook said. "As a coach, I would love to have more days [to rest], but I think the team is in a good place and we know what to do."
USF will be hosting Dartmouth after its own bit of traveling, as the team journeyed north to Syracuse University (2-12-0, 1-7-0 Big East) on Saturday, earning a 3-0 victory.
Kickoff for Wednesday's game is at 7:30 p.m in Tampa, Fla.
