The Dartmouth Sports Weekly 10/05/15

10.05. 15

FOOTBALL BLOWS OUT PENN 41-20

MEN’S SOCCER BEATS PRINCETON 1-0

WOMEN’S SOCCER FALLS IN OVERTIME TIFFANY ZHAI, ELIZA MCDONOUGH, ZOE WANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 2

BY THE NUMBERS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2015

Men’s soccer opens Ivy slate with one-goal win

418 Total yards by Dalyn Williams ’16 against Penn

6 ZOE WANG/THE DARTMOUTH

Touchdowns by Williams in the win over Penn

Despite playing a man down for much of the game, the Big Green held on to take down Princeton University 1-0.

B y ray lu The Dartmouth Staff

65 Minutes played with 10 men by men’s soccer

3 Years since women’s soccer’s last loss on Burnham Field

The men’s soccer team started off their Ivy League slate this season with a gritty 1-0 win against Princeton University (3-4-1, 0-1-0 Ivy), who shared the Ivy title with the Big Green (4-3-1, 1-0-0 Ivy) last season.

“Overall, I’m just proud. One of the things we say is that our strength is our depth, and when you need energy like that our guys came in and everyone did a good job,” head coach Chad Riley said. “I think you always want to open up conference play with a win.”

Dartmouth started off the game well, attacking early and often. Yima Asom ’18 and Eduvie Ikoba ’19 both had opportunities on goal in the opening eight minutes.

“We started the game well,” Ikoba said. “We had a lot of the ball. It was a game where I felt like, if we continued playing like this, we could end up getting three or four goals on this team.”

The offensive push paid off in the ninth minute of play. Ikoba corralled a pass in the box that deflected off a Princeton defender.

The forward collected the ball and slotted it across to a waiting Amadu

Katie McKay ’16 Editor-in-Chief

10. 05. 15

Luke McCann ’16 Executive Editor

Kunateh ’19, who found the back of the net and put the Big Green up against the Tigers 1-0 early in the first period.

“A defender on their team lost it, but I saw space behind and I attacked it,” Ikoba said. “I saw [Kunateh] calling for it, so I was able to just look and flick it to him.”

Ikoba and Kunateh are tied for the team lead in goals with two for each player. The two freshmen have demonstrated their chemistry as the attacking force for the Big Green.

“We’re both freshmen, so we end up spending a lot of time together.

We practice well together. I think we just understand how each other both move,” Ikoba said. “There are times where I just dribble forward, and I know that [Kunateh] typically makes this run, so I can just see him and find him with no problem, and it’s the same the other way around as well.”

The Big Green continued to get

great, explosive runs from Ikoba and Matt Greer ’18 as the half progressed. A turning point came when Kunateh received a red card in the 25th minute. The expressive young forward made contact with a Princeton player and appeared to exchange some words before being sent off.

“A red card that I felt could’ve been a yellow, but it was a red. I thought it shook us a little bit,” Riley said. “It’s hard to have a calculated response when you have adversity like that, but we’ve dealt with adversity already this year. I think the guys responded very well.”

Dartmouth’s defense held its shape for the rest of the half, limiting Princeton to just three shots in the period as opposed to the Big Green’s five. To add on to the earlier red card, the Dartmouth bench earned a yellow card at halftime.

“We started off really well. We got the first goal, and then we got an

unfortunate red card,” goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland ’16 said. “At that point, you’ve just got to stay compact, stay tight and then make everything go wide and defend the middle.”

Coming out of the break and playing down a man, the Big Green maintained a defensive formation.

Princeton senior Thomas Sanner and junior Greg Seifert both had opportunities to score, but the efforts were either wide or saved by Cleveland, who had five saves in the game and tallied his fourth shutout of the season.

Princeton repeatedly had free kicks near the box and long runs on the wing, but the Big Green defense held strong against every Tiger effort. Princeton outshot Dartmouth eight shots to one in the second half, making for a game-wide 11-6 shooting advantage for the Tigers.

Despite the shot total, the Big Green was able to put together some offensive momentum throughout the period. Long runs down the sideline by Alex Marsh ’17 ate up clock time, and Cleveland turned back every one of Princeton’s efforts at the net.

“We did a hell of a job,” Cleveland said. “We didn’t give them any chances, and I didn’t really have to make any good saves. Much credit to the defense in that game.”

In the last 15 minutes, the Tigers pushed hard to get the ball up to take advantage of the man differential.

Sanner had a header that threatened, but Princeton could not even the score with the Big Green.

The men’s soccer team faces the University of Vermont this Tuesday in Hanover before traveling to continue conference play in New Haven, Connecticut, against Yale University on Saturday.

“It’s a good win, but there are still six more to go,” Cleveland said.

Justin Levine ’16 Publisher

Jessica Avitabile ’16 Executive Editor

Joe Clyne ’16 Henry Arndt ’16 Sports Editors

Eliza McDonough ’18 Photography Editor

ZOE WANG/THE DARTMOUTH

Dartmouth was outshot in the second half by an 8-1 margin, but no shots could find the back of the net for the Tigers.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2015

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

Women’s soccer falls in OT heartbreaker

SW 3

THE

RUNDOWN Football SCHOOL

IVY

OVERALL

HARVARD DARTMOUTH YALE PRINCETON BROWN PENN CORNELL COLUMBIA

1-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1

3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 1-2 1-2 0-3 0-3

Women’s Soccer ELIZA MCDONOUGH/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Women’s soccer fell to the Princeton Tigers in overtime 3-2, losing on Burnham Field for the first time in over three years.

B y EMILY WECHSLER The Dartmouth Staff

The women’s soccer team fell to Princeton University 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night, following a battle of stout defenses and high-pressure forward lines on both sides. Unbeaten in its last eight games, the Big Green — now 7-2-2 and 0-1-1 Ivy — had not lost a game on their home turf of Burnham Field since Oct. 1, 2012 when Pepperdine took a 1-0 victory in double overtime. Princeton now sits tied with Harvard University atop the Ivy League standings with a 2-0 conference record, as the Big Green slips to a threeway tie for fifth.

The match, Jill Dayneka ’16 said, was clearly not result that the team was looking for, but she said she thinks there is a lot that the team can learn from the loss.

Particularly as a senior, she said, such a narrow loss decided in overtime was “brutal.”

“It feels awful, and I know that I never, ever want to give a team that opportunity against us again,” Dayneka said. “And I think that’s generally the way that we’re feeling so we know we just want to be all in every chance we get.”

The game started out slowly with Dartmouth controlling the pace of the action. Ten minutes into play, though, the Tigers attack — averaging 2.5 goals per game this season — started making things happen.

Princeton freshman Mimi Asom muscled her way past defenders to take a shot that Dartmouth was able to prevent from reaching net. Over the next three minutes, the Princeton attack proved relentless. After two shots on goal in a span of 30 seconds, the Tigers broke the Big Green defense. Asom tracked down a cross dropped perfectly in the box and took a shot on her first touch that skidded right past the reach of goalkeeper Casey Cousineau ’17, putting Princeton up 1-0 early on.

The Big Green fought back to overtake the Tigers before the end of the first half.

With 18 minutes left in the first, Brittany Champagne ’18 curled a corner into the box, and Dayneka rose above the Princ-

eton defense to head the ball into the net for her first collegiate goal, leveling the game at 1-1. Sixteen minutes later on an almost identical set piece, Champagne and Dayneka connected for another corner kick goal. Once again Dayneka fought her way through a sea of orange to send the ball off her head into the net.

“That’s really been the mindset that this season — we need to be all in for every rep, and we responded so strong,” Dayneka said. “We had the ball, we were getting chances and it was just a matter of time who was going to get on it. If I wasn’t there, they wanted it, they were hungry and that’s really the mentality that is key for us.”

Yet the second half had just begun when Asom attacked again, marking an unassisted tally to tie the score. Toepoking the ball through the feet of her defender, she once again placed the ball around the sliding Cousineau.

The rest of the half remained scoreless, but Cousineau was tested on several occasions, marking six saves on 17 Princeton shots that game. With the score tied at 2-2 after 90 minutes of play, the two teams headed into overtime.

Competing for the critical three conference points, Princeton notched the win less than five minutes into overtime.

The Tigers earned a free kick near the midline, and Princeton senior Emily Sura sent the ball toward the 18, where Tigers sophomore Mikaela Symanovich headed it left across the box. Princeton sophomore Natalie Larkin was positioned in the center of the box and — with a step toward the six — headed it back across the goal and into the net for the gamewinning goal.

“It was a long ball in, headed across the face of the goal and then just put right back, no time to react,” Cousineau said. “With so much commotion in the box, its really hard to track the runners, track the ball, and I think that’s where we missed our opportunity.”

Princeton had not scored three times in Hanover since 1983.

“This has definitely been our toughest game as a back line, just in terms of our performance and also dealing

with a couple different threats at once,” Dayneka said. “I thought they were a pretty fluid team attacking wise and showed us a bunch of different looks that we had to respond to.”

Players and coaches agreed that the defense will have to regroup for its next matchup and make efforts to play as a cohesive line, backing each other up so that one mistake does not lead to others.

“I thought we created some chances,” Rainey said. “The game went back and forth. I can’t fault our effort. As we get this far in the season, it probably becomes ‘Who’s better in the 18s on the evening?’ and like I said they just made one more play offensively than we did defensively tonight.”

Amongst the notes of pride were the two set-piece tallies, as Dartmouth has been working hard to improve that part of its game. The Big Green had an 8-4 corner kicks advantage over Princeton for the night.

“Those were two really good goals,” Rainey said. “Now they’re on film and people will be able to see them so now we’ll have to be that much better if we want to continue to have some success with those reps.”

Dartmouth will hit the road during Homecoming weekend and will next face Yale University this Saturday. The players agreed that they would remember this game when they face Yale in Connecticut.

“As we talked in the circle immediately after the game, we had a pit our stomach,” Cousineau said. “We hear them celebrating — we hate that. It honestly is like nails on chalkboard. So we let that fire us up. We don’t let only that fire us up. We have to celebrate our successes this game and we have to celebrate what makes us special, and going into Yale that’s what we will do.”

With a loss and a tie, the women’s hopes for the season were more measured, but still confident.

“It’s always a toss-up, and it’s hard when you get an ‘L’ and you have to hope that [the team you lost to] also gets an ‘L,’ but honestly I’ve very proud of this team and I think we can do very well in the Ivies,” Cousineau said.

SCHOOL

IVY

OVERALL

PRINCETON HARVARD CORNELL COLUMBIA DARTMOUTH PENN BROWN YALE

2-0 2-0 1-0-1 1-1 0-1-1 0-1-1 0-1-1 0-2

7-3 4-6-1 8-0-3 5-5 7-2-2 4-2-3 3-5-2 3-5-2

Men’s Soccer SCHOOL

IVY

OVERALL

BROWN DARTMOUTH HARVARD PENN COLUMBIA PRINCETON CORNELL YALE

1-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1

5-3 4-3-1 2-4-2 2-5-1 4-2-1 3-3-1 1-8-1 1-7

Field Hockey SCHOOL

IVY

OVERALL

PENN PRINCETON HARVARD COLUMBIA CORNELL BROWN DARTMOUTH YALE

2-0 2-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 0-2 0-2

7-1 5-4 6-3 5-4 5-4 5-5 4-5 2-7

Volleyball SCHOOL

IVY

OVERALL

YALE BROWN PENN HARVARD DARTMOUTH COLUMBIA PRINCETON CORNELL

3-0 2-1 2-1 2-1 2-1 1-2 0-3 0-3

8-4 8-6 8-7 6-7 5-7 3-9 5-7 4-9

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

SW 4

SPORTS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2015

TUESDAY LINEUP

MEN’S SOCCER vs. Vermont 7 pm

Football blows out Penn by three touchdowns in Ivy opener

B y alexander agadjanian The Dartmouth Staff

Following two impressive blowouts in non-conference play to begin the season, the football team hardly missed a beat upon starting Ivy League play last Saturday.

Crossing the end zone on each of its first three offensive drives and accumulating a three-touchdown lead by halftime, the Big Green (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) easily trampled over the University of Pennsylvania (1-2, 0-1 Ivy) 41-20 with another superb performance from quarterback Dalyn Williams ’16 leading the way. On top of commencing Ivy play in assertive fashion, the win was Dartmouth’s first playing at Penn since 1997.

By the final whistle, the Big Green had posted yet another overwhelming effort, but also added a positive wrinkle into the mix. In completing 23 passes out of 25 attempts, Dalyn Williams set a school record with 92 completion percentage, to go along with 336-yards passing and 82-yards rushing for six touchdowns and over 400 yards of total offense.

Playing in windy and misty conditions in Philadelphia, Dartmouth won the opening coin flip and deferred to the second half. Born out of comfort with a resolute defensive unit, the decision produced benefits within two minutes. On third and short during the team’s first set of downs, Penn running back Tre Solomon got jammed at the line and — when attempting to extend the ball for the first down marker — had it jarred loose. Safety David Caldwell ’16 secured the recovery — notching his second turnover in as many games — as Dartmouth grabbed possession at Penn’s 32-yard line.

For the third consecutive game, the Big Green defense changed the course of the game early on.

The turnover marked the second straight contest in which the unit took the ball away on the opponent’s opening drive. Moreover, Dartmouth’s defensive gamechangers often come quick. In the first 20 minutes over the last three games, the defensive unit has created five total turnovers.

Linebacker Eric Wickham ’16, who brought down Solomon on Penn’s first drive, noted the significance

of these type of plays.

“I think as a defense we definitely preach turnovers and going for the ball,” Solomon said. “It’s huge early on in the game, turnovers like that.

It’s huge for momentum, and we just rode it on through the last few games.”

Gifted excellent field position, the dynamic Dartmouth offense did not need to do much to capitalize on the opportunity. Across a span of four plays, Williams connected with Victor Williams ’16 for a total 25 yards off two catches, the last of which found the receiver in the end zone with 11:59 on the clock. Victor Williams pointed to the importance of this early result after the game.

“It’s really important because when you come out you really need to set the tone about how the game’s going to go,” Victor Williams said. “[You’ve] got to let the opponents know you came ready to play.”

For the majority of the first half, the drive outcomes for the two teams adhered to an identical pattern. After Penn surrendered the ball away — whether through the opening turnover or three consecutive three-and-outs that followed — Dartmouth responded by subsequently executing a touchdown drive.

Accordingly, the Big Green offense sustained its rhythm after Penn’s second drive immediately flamed out. Running back Kyle Bramble ’16, sidelined by injury for the first two games, made his first appearance in this possession, taking his second carry for 10 yards. In the air, Dalyn Williams continued to cultivate a strong rapport with Victor Williams, as Victor caught two balls for 31 yards and garnered first downs on each.

One yard outside the red zone, Dalyn Williams showed off his versatility with a pair of scrambles that moved the Big Green to the Penn nine-yard line. Inside the 10, the quarterback ran to his right for a potential option pitch but kept the ball himself and barreled into the end zone for a rushing touchdown.

Dartmouth missed the extra point, but held a commanding 13-0 lead with seven minutes left in the first quarter.

Another Quaker three-and-out allowed Dartmouth a chance to manufacture a lengthy, successful drive. This time around, Dalyn Wil-

liams found even more success on the ground, evading Penn defenders in open space in silk-like manner for gains of 15 and 11 yards.

The quarterback followed that up by further showcasing his clinical accuracy, spreading short throws around the field to methodically move the ball. With four different players rushing the ball and five different ones catching it, Dartmouth’s third possession — a 16play, 90 yard drive — culminated with Dalyn Williams punching it in from one-yard out, good for a 20-0 lead a little over three minutes into the second quarter.

By the end of this drive, Dalyn Williams had already amassed an impressive stat line. Through the first three drives of the game, the senior quarterback went 9-10 for 107 yards and a touchdown through the air, complemented by seven carries for 53 yards and two scores on the ground. His primary pass-catcher, Victor Williams, had already snagged six balls for more than 80 yards and a TD. At the end of the first quarter, Dartmouth had out-gained Penn 185-24 in total yards and had converted seven first downs to the Quakers’ none.

One indispensable contribution to the Big Green’s abundance of first-half offense success came from the offensive line. As it continues to solidify in the young season, the group thoroughly stymied the Penn pass rush on Saturday, granting Williams copious amounts of time to stand in the pocket and make throws. Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens considered it another positive step for the line’s progress during this early season stretch.

“The offensive line continues to improve each week,” Teevens said. “[Offensive coordinator Keith Clark] has the guys getting into sync, protecting the passer better and we’re establishing some success on the ground as well.”

After Dartmouth topped off its fourth offensive drive with another touchdown — Williams finding Houston Brown ’17 for a 22-yard touchdown catch — Penn was finally able to have some success moving the ball. Notching its first first down conversion on its fifth drive — nearly 25 minutes into the game, the Quaker offense gradually paced upfield with the help of four

TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

In the first quarter, the Big Green outgained the Quakers by over 160 yards.

passing first down conversions and one rushing one from quarterback Alek Torgersen. Thirty-six seconds before the end of the first half, Penn junior Togersen plunged into the end zone from one yard out to cut Dartmouth’s lead to 27-6 at the break after a missed Quakers extra point attempt.

The third quarter of play offered more of the same — a display of dominance by Dartmouth on both sides of the football. Williams finished off the Big Green’s first drive with a 30-yard strike to Brown, and later launched a 43-yard touchdown pass to Victor Williams with 37 seconds left in the third quarter for a 41-6 advantage.

After replacing an injured Torgersen to start the third quarter, Penn backup quarterback Andrew Lisa found success in the air later in the half. Passing for 126 yards and two touchdowns in five second-half drives, Lisa managed to pull the Quakers within three touchdowns of Dartmouth. Lisa’s late success forced Teevens to send Dalyn Williams — who was taken out amid the blowout — back into the game.

Upon his return into the game, Williams led a time-consuming drive that did not lead to points, but effectively iced the Big Green’s advantage.

Victor Williams served as Dalyn’s primary recipient again, eclipsing his mammoth total from the prior week against Sacred Heart University and once again setting career records with 12 catches for

213 yards and two scores on Saturday. Without 2014 All-Ivy First Team receiver Ryan McManus ’15 for the second straight game because of injury, Williams’s rise has proven critical and fulfilling of the team’s next-man-up mantra.

“That’s the mentality for any football team,” Williams said.

“Guys get hurt, that’s the nature of the game. It’s a rough game. When someone gets hurt, the next guy just has to step in and play well.”

In what has become a mainstay through three games, the Dartmouth defense smothered the opposition from the start and maintained the intensity for the rest of the day. Another forced turnover — off a strip sack by Folarin Orimolade ’17 in the third quarter — made it two on the day, and 10 so far in the season to go along with a +7 turnover margin. In the more competitive opening half of play, the defensive unit constrained the Penn offense to just 103 yards and a 1-6 third-down conversion rate.

Wickham, who had a team-leading 11 tackles, emphasized the cohesion that defines the unit as a key trait.

“The defense as a whole played together, we played 11 as one,” Wickham said. “Everyone’s on the same page and it really showed on the field.”

This coming Saturday, the Big Green will travel back up to Hanover for its homecoming game and conference home opener against Yale University.