The men’s soccer team extended its unbeaten streak to seven games in the first leg of a four-game homestand with a dominating 3-1 win over Central Connecticut State University on Tuesday night.
The Big Green (6-2-1, 1-0-0 Ivy) came out of the gates strong, generating two corner kicks within the first minute of the match. After the Blue Devils (4-5-0) failed to out-possess the Big Green early, Dartmouth capitalized on a goal by defender Ricardo Gomez ’17 just over 6:30 into the game.
The Big Green crossed a ball into the box off a corner kick that forced CCSU senior goalkeeper Josef Abele to move out of position. The ball eventually fell to Eric Jayne ’15, whose shot rebounded off of Abele and came to rest at Gomez’s feet, who placed the ball into the open net.
“I thought it was a great play as a team, we’ve been working on set pieces a lot,” Gomez said. “It was a ball that popped off a corner kick and it came back in, we won the header. Eric Jayne did a great job of laying it off for me. It was a great team effort on that goal.”
Head coach Chad Riley said he thought highly of his sophomore defender’s performance, calling Gomez “dangerous on set pieces,” and said he was pleased with the entire squad’s energy level.
The Big Green continued to push up the field down the right flank through Alexander Marsh ’17, but could not convert, largely due to an outstanding effort between the pipes by Abele, who had six saves in the first half alone.
The flow of the game then rapidly livened up, as Riley sent in four key senior players off the bench, including leading scorer Alex Adelabu ’15 and co-captain Hugh Danilack ’15. Though the four usually start, Riley said he wanted to give his starters more rest as the team moves into the Ancient Eight slate.
“We wanted to get a couple players rested,” he said. “One of the things we have this year is a deep squad, so we have a lot of confidence in a lot of players.”
Within a minute, midfielder Stefan Defregger ’15 paced down the right wing, passing the ball off to Adelabu, who fired a shot parried away by Abele.
“I thought it took us a little bit to get going, but that’s a credit to Central Connecticut, I think they’re a good team,” Riley said.
In the remaining 15 minutes of the opening half, the senior substitutes produced six more dangerous shots, with Danilack figuring prominently in the aggressive momentum.
Just more than a minute away from the half’s conclusion, Adelabu fought off a CCSU defender to gain control of the ball inside the opposing goalie box. After creating space, the senior striker calmly slotted home a goal, giving Dartmouth a crucial cushion heading into the break.
“It’s good to be back in the scoring sheet,” Adelabu said. “When you come into the game, especially with my pace, you know at the 30th minute that the [opponents] are already tired, so it’s an advantage for me.”
To start the second half, Riley took out some of his key seniors once again for the first 15 minutes of play. While the Big Green continued to dictate the match’s tempo, the offense failed to create many more scoring opportunities, as the game drifted into a relative lull.
CCSU gradually developed more chances during this period, and, after a hand ball by Gomez set up a penalty shot in the 79th minute, senior Blue Devil Stephen Walmsley easily knocked the shot past starting goalkeeper James Hickok ’17, cutting his team’s deficit in half.
But the Big Green was not phased by the goal, storming back just 2:10 later to re-extend its lead to two goals. Danilack stormed down the left side of the field and crossed the ball into the box that settled on Adelabu’s foot. Adelabu deposited the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the night and fourth of the season.
The teams traded one shot in the final nine minutes, each missing the target. As the horn blew on a 3-1 Dartmouth win, Adelabu said the team could have done more on the offensive end of the field.
“We should have had more goals,” Adelabu said. “I think that was the disappointment of the night, but we’re going to keep working, be more sharp and put the games away earlier.”
The team has not lost since an early-season trip to Indiana to play the last two national champions, and has won six of its last seven games. It now heads into the teeth of the Ivy schedule, with six of the team’s final eight games coming against conference foes. After last season’s Ivy record of 1-6, this year’s team is looking for revenge.
The Big Green returns to action Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against Yale University at Burnham Field. The Big Green lost to the Bulldogs last season 1-0 in New Haven, Connecticut.
