A muddy field and adverse wind conditions in Ithaca, New York, over the weekend could not stop the Big Green from rolling to a 3-0 win over Cornell University.
The win brought goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland ’16 his fifth shutout.
“I think at the end of the day we just really have to put those goals away, and I’m really proud of the fact that we took our chances well,” head coach Chad Riley said.
Dartmouth (10-4-2, 4-1-1 Ivy) was able to extend its unbeaten streak to four, topping a Big Red (9-6-1, 2-4 Ivy) squad that had won its last two matchups. The men’s soccer team sits atop the Ivy League standings tied with Princeton with one game remaining in the season.
“I think soccer is always fine margins,” Riley said, “I think we had a tremendous offseason. You know, they call it an offseason, but I just think preseason starts in January.”
Wyatt Omsberg ’18 scored an emphatic header off a set piece in the 15th minute, with the assist coming from Stefan Defregger ’15. Seven minutes into the second half, Omsberg found himself involved again, setting up Colin Heffron ’15 on a free kick.
“We put one away second half, and then Cornell just kind of fell apart after that,” Cleveland said.
The dagger came in the 73rd minute, when the team’s leading goal scorer, Alex Adelabu ’15, buried a header on a cross by Nick Rooney ’15.
“After the first goal, we just settled down into the game,” said Adelabu, “The third goal just killed the game off. I thought it was a really good performance by everybody.”
With his seventh goal, Adelabu surpassed his total from last season, currently tied for fourth in the Ivy League.
“We’re still hungry for more,” Adelabu said. “I want to get more goals.”
He credited his success to the talent around him. This season, 14 players have scored for the Big Green, demonstrating the depth of the squad.
Riley said the seniors provided the team with strong leadership.
The Big Green faces off against Brown on Saturday in the last Ivy game of the season.
The team is focused on “doing the hard work” late in the season, Cleveland said.
“It’s cold and nobody wants to be outside running around,” Cleveland said. “The teams that do put their heads down, work the hardest, are the teams that come out.”
The Big Green’s last game will determine the Ivy League championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament that goes to the Ivy League champions. Dartmouth and Princeton are tied atop the league, while the Crimson sits within striking distance, just two points back.
The Big Green sits in the catbird seat entering Saturday’s games, as Dartmouth holds the tiebreaker over both Ivy League foes. The Tigers are heavily favored to beat the cellar-dwelling Yale Bulldogs, but a Dartmouth win guarantees the team at least a share of the Ivy League title.
The Big Green and Bears kick off at Burnham Field Saturday at 5 p.m.
