The men’s soccer team took on Brown University away in Providence, R.I., on Saturday for their Ivy League opener. Despite a late goal from the Big Green, the Bears held on for a 2-1 win, a reverse scoreline of last year’s match between the teams.
Brown took the lead within the first eight minutes after a misplaced Dartmouth header landed at the feet of Brown midfielder Mads Stistrup Petersen. Petersen played the ball to freshman forward Mateo Pareyra, whose outside-the-box shot found the back of the net.
The Bears remained in control for much of the first half, with more than 60 percent possession and seven shots compared to the Big Green’s two. Despite only one yellow card being shown, the first 45 minutes were very physical, with 10 fouls committed between the two sides.
The second half got off to a rough start for Dartmouth who conceded another goal after just two minutes. A Brown free kick bounced off the head of a Dartmouth defender and past goalkeeper Konstantinos Dellas ’28. Despite this, Dartmouth fared much better in the second half, holding onto longer spells of possession and better controlling the tempo of the game. In addition, the Big Green tested Brown’s goalkeeper Max Pfaffman more, with four shots in the second half compared to just two in the first.
Dartmouth head coach Bo Oshoniyi attributed this improvement to a change in perspective after the first two Brown goals.
“After we conceded early in the first half, it was almost like we felt sorry for ourselves a little bit,” Oshoniyi said. “When we conceded the second goal a minute into the second half, our perspective changed. We weren't going to just let this happen — we were going to start to play the kind of soccer that we know we can play.”
Dartmouth got one back in the 71st minute when forward James Wilson ’26 curled the ball into the box, finding Douglas Arveskar ’27. The forward, despite being under pressure, made a pass deeper into the penalty area, which bounced off a Brown defender and landed at the feet of Will Lulka ’27. Lulka calmly drilled the ball home from close range.
“There’s no feeling like it,” Lulka said. “Especially for the first Ivy League goal of the season, and my first Ivy League goal, it was a really cool experience. I was just glad to give the team momentum to try and crawl back from the 0-2 deficit.”
The Big Green couldn’t sustain the momentum, however, and Brown largely dictated play for the remaining twenty minutes. A Brown free kick in the 79th minute ended with a close-range shot from senior Jamin Gogo Peters, forcing a superb save out of Dellas to keep Dartmouth in the game. The Big Green saw a few chances in the remaining minutes but were unable to convert, leaving the scoreline at 2-1 at the final whistle.
The second half was equally as punishing as the first, with a total of nine fouls between the two teams. There were also more yellow cards to show for it, with the referee booking four players in the second half.
“For Ivies, you have to give everything you can, and I cramped out in the 80th minute just because of how much running I was doing,” Wilson said. “But I feel like if I’m giving 100%, and the team is 100%, then we come away with that result. So I can always do better, for sure.”
The second consecutive loss drops Dartmouth to 1-3-3 on the season, and 0-1 in the Ivy League. The Big Green fell to the University of New Hampshire on Sept. 20.
The team will host Cornell at Burnham Field this Saturday, Oct. 4, as they seek their first Ivy League victory this season.
“I think we’re really just focused on what we're going to do as a team, collectively, to build off of that second half against Brown,” Oshoniyi said. “Our group’s in a really good, healthy spot right now, even though we did drop that game, so I’m excited. It’s alumni weekend, so we’re going to have a lot of alums back, and that’s what we’re going to play for.”
