Coming off a disappointing overtime loss to No. 16 Creighton University on Sunday, the Dartmouth men's soccer team (3-2, 0-0 Ivy) is hoping to get back on track with a win against the University of New Mexico on Saturday.
"This game can be a huge springboard for the rest of the season," co-captain Andrew Olsen '11 said. "It could be the start of a long winning streak."
Last Sunday, despite a career-best eight saves by goalie Sean Donovan '13, the team lost out in extra time when Creighton's Jose Gomez scored a goal that would propel the Blue Jays to a 3-2 victory over the Big Green.
Coach Jeff Cook said the team should have been more "attack-minded" during the game against Creighton.
"We need to have the attitude that we're looking to score goals in the game," he said. "When we're at our best is when we have the attacking mentality."
Still, co-captain Dan Keat '10 said he was proud that the team pushed another very good team to the brink a sentiment that coach Cook shared with his captain.
"The players showed a lot of character," Cook said. "We came behind twice against one of the top teams in the country and played really well against them."
Going into Saturday, the team faces a matchup against yet another top-notch team New Mexico, which has only lost one game so far this season. The game marks one of the last games for the team before they begin play against other members of the Ivy League.
"[New Mexico] has traditionally been one of the most outstanding teams in college soccer," Cook said. "The team wants to prove a point that not only can we compete against the best teams in the country, but that we can defeat them."
Keat said the disappointment from last week's loss has been a huge motivation for the team to work harder to secure a victory against New Mexico.
"Any time you lose, you can't wait to get back out on the field," he said. "We go out every game expecting to win, so that's what we're going to continue."
At this same point in the season last year, the men's team had an impressive record of 5-0-1. Olsen said that despite the two losses the team has suffered this season, they still have the ability to be a top-10 team in the NCAA.
"I have all the confidence in the world in our team," he said. "We've been preparing for this game since Sunday, and we're really looking to get back on the winning track."
This season, nine seniors are playing for the Big Green, making the team one of the most experienced groups the men's team has had in a long time, according to Cook.
"The combination of a lot of seniors and the hunger to prove that we can do better than last year is fueling us," he said.
He added that one of the biggest strengths of the team this year that will help them against New Mexico is their commitment to working together.
"Our team play is really ahead of where we were at this stage last year," he said.
Looking forward to the rest of the year, the Big Green is setting its sights on winning the Ivy League title. Last year, it earned fourth place in the Ancient Eight, behind Brown University, Princeton University and Harvard University. Although they did not win the title, they qualified for the NCAA tournament through an at-large bid based on its overall record. In the 2008-2009 season, the men's team earned first place in the Ivy League, sharing the title with the University of Pennsylvania.
"We just really want to dominate the Ivy League this year and win [it] outright," Olsen said. "I can easily see us ending up in the final four the potential is very high for this team."
Keat said he was confident that the team can achieve its goals because of the incredible amount of depth this year.
Cook said that as long as the men continue to grow both in their technical skills and as a team, he is optimistic at their chances of excelling this season.
"[The team] has a lot of confidence in each other and in the quality we have across the team," he said. "The season is going to be a process of developing our style of play offensively and defensively, and I'm very encouraged by how it's gone so far."
