Two goals and a penalty sealed the deal for the Dartmouth's men's soccer team as it beat the University of Vermont (0-6-3), 3-1, in a showdown of regional rivals at Burnham Field on Wednesday night.
Co-captains Daniel Keat '10 and Craig Henderson '09 both contributed assists, and were later rewarded with goals of their own. Striker Lucky Mkosana '12 had multiple reason to celebrate, as he capped his birthday off with a game-opening goal.
No. 18 Dartmouth (5-2-1, 0-0-0 Ivy) survived a scare in its own box five minutes into the game, leaving the Catamounts with a wide open net to pounce on, but the Big Green was able to clear the ball and go on the attack, earning a corner just two minutes later.
The first goal for the Big Green came in the 17th minute, as Keat brought the ball down the center and passed it to Henderson on the left wing, who fed it back to Mkosana at the top of the box for the shot. Mkosana left no room for error, as he delicately chipped the ball and swerved it into the upper left corner.
"When you come off two defeats, I think that our confidence was shaken a bit," head coach Jeff Cook said. "I felt the guys were almost trying too hard [at first] and the game became too open. But after we scored, it settled our nerves and our confidence became much better."
Suddenly picking up its momentum, Dartmouth waited only four minutes before striking again. This time it was Henderson who scored on a leaping header.
The Big Green ended the first half outshooting Vermont 13-3, and maintained its stronghold on the defensive side of the ball, preventing any corner kicks and forcing only two saves out of rookie goalie Sean Donovan '13.
The second half was no different from the first, as the Big Green created multiple chances early on, including a thundering volley from midfielder Teo Larsson-Sax '13, which was stopped by a diving save from Catamounts goalie Tom Crtiz.
It was almost deja vu in the 52nd minute, as Mkosana curled the ball in the box for Henderson to latch on to. This time, however, Henderson's header only found woodwork, and no other Dartmouth players were close enough to net a rebound.
It was not until the 63rd minute when the Big Green found the net again this time on a penalty kick. Keat's effort dribbling into the box paid off, as he was almost immediately brought down. Lining up to take the kick, Keat didn't hesitate, drilling a strike into the upper left corner.
The goal marked Keat's seventh of the season. He leads the team with 16 points, followed by Henderson, who has nine.
The Catamounts didn't give in without a fight, and made the best of a free kick just outside the box in the 74th minute. Midfielder Rem Kielman found an opening in Dartmouth's defensive wall and sent the ball sailing through into the bottom right corner too far for Donovan's diving save to push wide.
Henderson said that the team shouldn't have allowed Vermont's goal.
"We're pretty happy with where we are at the moment, but there are a lot of things we need to improve on," Henderson said. "We need to play the full 90 minutes and not let other teams get back in the game like we did with Vermont."
In the remaining minutes, Dartmouth found some opportunities to get a few more shots off for what seemed like easy goals, but only managed to send it over or wide of the target.
Dartmouth finished the game outshooting the Catamounts 23-4, and only allowed Vermont one shot in the second half.
Changing up the team's field formation from the previous season's 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3, with two wing midfielders supporting a striker up top, has benefited the team's overall success in goal scoring, as other players can take the weight off the lone striker to score, Henderson said.
This has certainly proven true so far, as eight different Dartmouth players this season have found the net.
The Big Green hopes to channel its offensive spark through to this Saturday's home game against Princeton (4-0-3, 0-0-0 Ivy).
"Ivy League games are very competitive, and are usually very close, and our team tends to tense up a bit, which makes it difficult to win," Cook said. "[Against Vermont], we attacked well, and if we can translate that into Ivy play, it can make a big difference."
The Big Green will take on Princeton in the team's Ivy League opener at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday in Hanover.
