When the Dartmouth's men's soccer team took the field Saturday afternoon the men in green were trying to stop a three game winless streak and get back on the right track as they prepare to tackle the most onerous part of their schedule in the next few weeks.
Unfortunately they ran into a stingy St. Francis squad who grabbed the lead late in the first half and never relinquished it, holding on for a 1-0 victory.
"We out shot them pretty badly," Keith Zadourian '98 said. "It was just unfortunate that we gave up a silly goal."
With just under eight minutes remaining in the first half St. Francis got on the board with a breakaway goal.
Goalkeeper Matt Nyman '99 attempted to cut down the angle of the shot, but the St. Francis attacker simply had too much space to work with and sent a soft shot into the back of the net.
After that St. Francis opted to sit on their lead by not attacking and forcing the Big Green to push the issue at St. Francis' end of the field.
"They packed their box in the second half of the game and we just couldn't score," Zadourian said. "I think they realized if they played another half like the first, that we'd eventually score a couple of goals."
Considering the fact that Dartmouth thoroughly dominated play, this weekend's loss was definitely disappointing, but in the big picture it really doesn't hurt them that badly.
Although it would have been good for the team's confidence to get a win against St. Francis it was nonetheless a non-league game. The real test for this year's squad will begin next weekend when they take on Ivy League nemesis Yale.
"We are still unbeaten in the Ivies," Zadourian said. "If we can beat Yale next weekend, that will put us in good shape for the Cornell game and the rest of the season."
Yale visits Dartmouth Sunday Oct. 20. Game time is 2:30 pm at Chase Field.
