Football Stumbles, Soccer Surges

Friday, November 4, 2005

Football

After a strong showing Homecoming weekend in a 17-6 victory over Columbia, Dartmouth Football lost the next Saturday in a tough 42-14 loss to Harvard in Cambridge. The loss to Harvard brings their record to 2-5, with a 1-3 Ivy League record.

The Homecoming win against Columbia ended a four game slide that the team had been on since the season's opening victory over Colgate. The victory came on punishing defense and a powerful running attack that racked up 134 yards on the day. Senior tailback Jason Bash led the men in green with 73 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. Columbia could only manage to put up two field goals and the Dartmouth defense held the Lions down by forcing two turnovers on downs in the fourth quarter. Dartmouth was also successful in the air as freshman quarterback Josh Cohen completed 19 of 34 passes tallying 220 yards.

The loss to Harvard this past Saturday was a tough loss as Harvard performed well and Dartmouth missed several opportunities. The Dartmouth offense didn't get running until early in the third quarter when Cohen connected on a 13 yard pass to senior wide receiver Ryan Fuselier making it 21-7. Harvard got on the board with two more quick scores, one off of a Dartmouth fumble, making the lead 35-7 going into the 4th quarter. Dartmouth and Harvard exchanged touchdowns in the final quarter to make the final 42-14.

This weekend Dartmouth hosts SUNY-Cornell on Saturday on Memorial Field at 12:30. The game promises to be a good one as Dartmouth must win its final three games to finish Ivy league play with a winning record.

Hockey

After a spectacular home debut on Homecoming weekend with a 5-2 win in an exhibition game over McGill, Dartmouth Hockey lost their regular season opener to Harvard 6-2 in Cambridge on Saturday. Dartmouth opened up both the first and second periods with early scores, but Harvard kept pace with the men in green and after the Crimson tied it up in the middle of the second period they continued to pile it on, eventually tallying five unanswered goals.

While the opening loss is disappointing, it should in no way prevent the Indians from putting together an excellent season, which exceeds 28 games and doesn't conclude until the end of February.

Dartmouth will also have an opportunity to exact revenge when Harvard comes to town on December 16th. The early season action continues this weekend, as Dartmouth hits the road to face Princeton and Quinnipiac. They return to Hanover next weekend to face Colgate on Friday, November 11th and Cornell on Saturday, November 12th. Both games start at 7pm in Thompson Arena.

Soccer

Placing them in the hunt for the Ivy League Championship, men's soccer has built a strong record of 9-2-4 for the season. The men in green are one game behind Brown, who is undefeated in Ivy league play, while at 4-1 Dartmouth maintains sole possession of second place in the Ivy League standings. Dartmouth comes off of two strong wins both off of the goal-scoring prowess of senior midfielder Darnell Nance. Darnell scored both goals on Wednesday in a 2-0 victory over UNH, and snagged the game winner in the closing minutes of a 2-1 contest against Harvard in Cambridge on Saturday.

Nance was named Eastern College Athletic Conference Division I Men's Soccer Player of The Week and Ivy League Player of the Week. "I have had a lot of support from my coaches and teammates," said Nance in regards to receiving such great athletic recognition: "Without them, my achievements, past and present, would not have been possible."

With two games left in the regular season, Dartmouth is poised to capture the championship, providing them with an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. The Indians host Cornell on Sunday at 1:30 on Chase Field. If Brown drops a game against Yale this Saturday, it sets up an exciting match for the Ivy League title on November 12th in Providence, RI. Certainly a thrashing of Cornell on Saturday will be a step in the right direction.

Football Stumbles, Soccer Surges

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