On Sept. 28, Dartmouth men’s varsity soccer defeated the Brown University Bears 2-1 in their Ivy League opener at Burnham Field to continue their three-game winning streak.
Since losing 5-0 to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst on Sept. 17, the Big Green has won three straight games against Bryant University, Merrimack College and Brown.
“We’ve grown in a sense that we know when we don’t come with the intensity — the courage to actually play — that [loss] can happen to us,” head coach Bo Oshoniyi said. “Knowing that now, you don’t want that to happen again. Now, every time we step on the field, there’s a bit of a motive to make sure that we bring the intensity and we have the courage to try to play.”
Goalkeeper Costi Christodoulou ’25 said the team worked “extremely hard” after their defeat against UMass. These additional efforts contributed to their success in Saturday’s game.
“[The UMass loss] was a tough result,” Christodoulou said. “We got back to the training field, and we worked. We came back and ultimately got to win the next game. That was what mattered.”
Going into the conference opener, the Big Green knew how important it would be to start off with a win, Oshoniyi said. This was especially true in what Oshoniyi referred to as a “payback” game — since Brown ended the Big Green’s season last year with a 1-0 loss.
“We didn’t want to lose to them again,” Oshoniyi said. “That’s something that’s still fresh in my mind and our team’s mind. We wanted to have a little bit of redemption and beat them this year.”
The game, which coincided with Family Weekend, was packed, attracting around 1,500 spectators to Burnham Field. The crowd provided the energy and excitement that “helped [Dartmouth] finish up and get the 2-1 win,” Oshoniyi said.
For the first 28 minutes of the game, no goals were scored, and both teams showed strong defensive play. In the 29th minute, the Big Green broke through when James Wilson ’26 won the battle for the ball on the left side of Burnham. He kicked over, and Oskar Magnusson ’26 eventually scored on a header from Douglas Arveskar ’27.
“[Magnusson’s] been great,” Oshoniyi said. “He had a little bit of a knee injury, so he was slow in getting going in the start of the season. But little by little, he’s starting to find form. I was really excited that he was able to get the goal today in the first half and help us to the win.”
However, the Bears were quick to even the score, getting the ball past Christodoulou within 10 minutes of Magnusson’s goal. But that was the only goal that slipped by Christodoulou on Saturday.
“The focus was just to get three points, whatever it takes, and make sure our home crowd had something to celebrate,” Christodoulou said.
During halftime, with the score tied at one apiece, Vasileios Moiras ’27 focused on his mindset.
“‘Just keep going, keep believing,’” Moiras recalled thinking. “We knew that if we had the chance, we would score a goal, and that’s what happened.”
In the 61st minute of the game, Trenton Blake ’27 got the ball to Moiras, who sent it past Brown’s goalkeeper, upping the score to 2-1. The goal was Moiras’s first since Sept. 5, when the Big Green hosted Fairleigh Dickinson University for the second game of the season.
“That’s the life of a striker and a forward in general,” Moiras said. “You miss chances, but you just have to keep going until the last whistle.”
Oshoniyi was proud of Morias’ preformance.
“He puts in hard work every day,” Oshoniyi said. “[I’m] so happy for him to get the game-winning goal today. I do think it’s going to unlock a little bit more in him because he’s been so close in so many games.”
A series of key defensive plays in the last 10 minutes prevented Brown from scoring, giving Dartmouth their first conference win as they improved to 4-3-1 on the season.
“It’s a redemption season,” Christodoulou said. “Last year, we led the Ivy League after two games and threw it away and didn’t win a game in October. This year is all about showing our true colors, going all the way, going one step further, making sure we continue to pick up wins as we go. No matter what it takes, just getting three points.”
Oshoniyi has high hopes for his team this season.
“Our goal is always to win an Ivy League Championship,” Oshoniyi said. “That’s the goal every year. That’s the goal this season. We’re off to a good start. We’re one-and-oh. We’ll get rested up and go get to Cornell [University].”
