Despite forcing pressure for the entirety of the game, the Dartmouth men's soccer team fell to the University of Massachusetts, 2-0, in Amherst, Mass., on Saturday. The Big Green (3-4) posted 18 shots versus the nine fired by the Minutemen (3-3-2), but the men were unable to convert any in the loss.
Coming out of the half trailing 1-0, Dartmouth immediately began to attempt a comeback by attacking the UMass defense with a flurry of passes, registering the first three shots of the half. In the 62nd minute, however, UMass forward Peter Alvarenga who assisted on the first goal received a long throw-in and, while backpedaling, knocked a header past advancing Dartmouth goalkeeper Noah Cohen '14, who could not track down the ball as it slipped past him into the left side of the goal.
"The goal was scored on a long throw-in, which is unacceptable by us," co-captain Kevin Dzierzawski '13 said. "Not taking care of the little things came back to bite us in the end. We controlled the game for the most part, but that's college soccer you can control the pace throughout the game, but all it takes is one or two quick shots to pull away."
The two-goal lead would eventually prove too much for Dartmouth, as UMass then shifted to a containment-oriented defensive approach to keep the Big Green from penetrating the penalty area.
"They defended pretty well down the stretch," midfielder Sten Stray-Gundersen '16 said. "We had a few chances that we didn't get on target, a few feet wide or a few feet high, and we weren't as clinical as we needed to be in order to win."
Dartmouth coach Jeff Cook said that Dartmouth was simply unlucky in certain scoring situations.
"We had plenty of shots and scoring opportunities, but the ball didn't break our way," Cook said. "Sometimes that happens, and you just have to push harder to overcome it."
Although the UMass defensive switch was designed to preserve the lead, Dartmouth took twice as many shots in the second half as in the first half, six of which were on goal.
The Big Green did not relent against Minuteman goalie Brian Frame, who finished the game with six saves and was assisted by his teammates as they occasionally lingered on the goal line to knock away Dartmouth attempts on goal.
"While we're disappointed with the loss, it's hard to be too disappointed with the performance because we put them under a lot of pressure," Cook said. "Their goalkeeper had a good game, and players made saves off the line behind him. As a team, they were committed to making sure we didn't score."
UMass initially took the lead just before halftime on a goal from forward Zach Miller. After Cohen saved an initial attempt at goal, Miller collected the ricochet and redirected it with just enough power to get by a then-fallen Cohen.
Dartmouth got off to a quick start and kept UMass on its heels with crisp passes and overall play, pushing the ball into Minuteman territory for most of the first half. The Big Green posted six shots in the first half, but none of them made it on goal.
"During the first half, we controlled the tempo of the game," Dzierzawski said. "We had a couple of good scoring opportunities, but were unable to capitalize on any of them and that hurt us. Credit UMass for playing a good defensive game, but we've got to do better."
After Dartmouth failed to capitalize on two corner kicks in the 30th and 32nd minutes, UMass began taking on a more offensive approach. Relying mainly on quick counterattacks to get the ball into Big Green territory, the Minutemen scored their first goal on the final possession of the first half.
"Conceding a goal at the very end of the half was disappointing," Stray-Gundersen said. "But as a result, we were very determined to come back out and show [UMass] that we could play."
The game was a physical one, with several rough challenges, primarily from the Minutemen. In total, six yellow cards were given out five of them to UMass, and one to Cook for voicing his opinions on a call.
"Issuing yellow cards breaks up every kind of attacking flow and stops the momentum of the game," Cook said. "It can be very challenging to play on the road in Division-I soccer, and this was just such a situation."
UMass focused on containing forward Alex Adelabu '15, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, which hindered the Big Green's offensive strategy. Adelabu came into the game on Saturday riding a four-game scoring streak, but was unable to penetrate the stiff UMass defense and finished with no shots on the day.
"Alex worked very hard, and although he didn't score, he still played a very good game," Cook said. "It's important for the other players to fill the gaps and support him as well, and there were opportunities to, because other players got chances as UMass focused on Alex. Unfortunately, though, those chances didn't result in goals for us."
The team's freshmen have begun taking on a more expanded role as the season has progressed. In addition to Stray-Gundersen's 72 minutes, Elijah Soko '16 clocked 30 minutes on Saturday in his first career game.
"The freshmen have been playing well, and even though there's a learning curve like everything else, they've been getting comfortable with the team," Dzierzawski said. "It's been difficult, but they're adapting well, and as the season progresses they'll get better and better."
Dartmouth has a week-long break before heading to New Jersey on Sept. 29 to open up Ivy League play against Princeton University.
