The Dartmouth's men's soccer team closed out its season with a 1-0 double overtime defeat at the hands of Ivy League rival Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y. on Saturday. In the final collegiate game for four of Dartmouth's 11 starters, the Big Green failed to capitalize on a few good chances before letting in a goal off a corner two minutes before the end of extra time.
In spite of losing 3-1 to Harvard and surrendering their Ivy title hopes last weekend, the Big Green players were confident ahead of the matchup on account of the recent series history. For the five years that he has been with the team, fifth-year senior Peter Savidis '06 had not yet seen Dartmouth lose to Cornell, and even took part in a 7-1 thumping of the Big Red during the 2002 season.
In addition to Savidis, starters Rowan Anders '07, Mark Limpert '07 and Jacob Aguiar '07 each made their final appearance for the Big Green, along with Paul DuPuy '07 and the injured Lucas Richardson '07.
"We lose six outstanding seniors," head coach Jeff Cook said, "and they've been instrumental to the success of the program. I think they can look back and end their careers with a lot of satisfaction, and I'm very proud of what they've contributed to the program."
Dartmouth (6-8-3, 3-3-1 Ivy) started the game very positively, creating a number of chances in the first half. Daniel Keat '10 tested Big Red keeper Luca Cerretani from an indirect free kick 23 minutes into the game, but Cerretani made a big save to deny the freshman his seventh goal of the season.
The Big Red (3-8-3, 2-3-1 Ivy) also had its chances with Brian Kuritzky and Kyle Lynch threatening the Big Green goal. However, Anders was well positioned, saving his goal on three occasions. Dartmouth outshot Cornell 6-5 in the first half, with Michael Ordonez '08 and Limpert leading the attack.
While the first half was pretty evenly matched, Dartmouth completely dominated the second half of the match. The best chance of the half came in the 61st minute, when Dani Rothenberg '09 stole the ball in the midfield, but his breakaway resulted in a shot high above the goal.
Defenders Savidis and Aguiar were also active up front, trying to help the Big Green attack. However, Dartmouth failed to score in the second half, despite outshooting the Big Red 6-1.
Scoreless after regulation, Big Green headed into overtime for the sixth time this season.
Both teams were physically drained in the extra periods, and chances were rare. However, Dartmouth was the more active team, forcing Cerretani to make two saves in the first extra-time period.
However, even though they had dominated their opponents for most of the game, the Big Green players lost their focus in the last few minutes of extra time. Dartmouth's lapse of concentration allowed Brian Kuritzky's corner kick to find the unmarked Aaron Vieira in the penalty area.
Vieira's header found the back of Anders' net, giving Cornell the victory on the day after 108 minutes of play.
"It was such a disappointing game," Ordonez said. "The corner kick came with 1:40 to go in the last period and we had been dominant the whole game. It was really not the way we wanted to end our season."
In the end, the game was emblematic of Dartmouth's performance this season. Even after outshooting their opponents in most encounters, the Big Green players were often unable to convert the chances that they had created, allowing a goal after their only mistake of the game.
"We've been very consistent in our performances," Cook said, "and last night, if you look at the overall play in the game, it would be hard for anyone to say that we didn't dominate the game in terms of chances created. Unfortunately when you leave a team alive you're open to the possibility of getting stung by a counter-attack."
On the day, Dartmouth outshot Cornell 15-10, also recording 12 corner kick opportunities to the Big Red's three. In his last career game, Limpert led the Big Green attack with four shots, two on goal.
The Big Green finished the season tied for fourth place in the Ivy League, with Cornell also holding the same record.
"We were just unlucky this season," Savidis said. "We lost a few guys throughout the season, but even then, the ball simply wasn't bouncing our way."
The finish was the team's second worst since Jeff Cook became head coach in 2001. In 2003, the team finished with a 6-9-2 record, recording only one win to six defeats in the Ivy League. The team's finishes have resembled a rollercoaster ride under Cook, arguably Dartmouth's most successful head coach.
In his first season in charge of the team, Cook led the Big Green to a joint fifth-place finish in the league with a 2-4-1 record, 7-7-2 overall. In 2002, Cook's second year in charge of the team, Dartmouth clinched a share of the Ivy League title with a 5-1-1 finish, 9-7-1 overall.
After recording the team's worst finish in recent history in 2003, Cook managed to achieve a feat that no other Big Green coach has ever achieved, winning back-to-back Ivy League titles in 2004 and 2005. In his six years in charge of the team, Cook's record stands at 45-37-20.
