 With a mere seven seconds remaining in the first overtime period, junior Alexander Marsh scored his first goal of the season to lift the Justin Donawa and his Dartmouth Men’s Soccer teammates over Hartwick, 1-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on a rainy evening on Burnham Field.
“It was a great NCAA game,” Dartmouth head coach Chad Riley said. “The first game is always tricky. Hats off to Hartwick. You can see why they have won two Sun Belt titles. We were able to watch them play a lot leading into this and I have a lot of respect for them. They are very efficient in the attack and really tested our defense at times. But I was very proud of how we handled the game as a team.”
Freshman Amadu Kunateh gave the home team a great opportunity at a goal with six minutes remaining in the first, but his shot hit the crossbar and deflected out of the net. Senior Eric Jayne picked up the ball in the box and sent another shot, which also hit off the bar.
In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Dartmouth continually won the ball in Hartwick’s half and put a lot of pressure on the visiting team, but the Hawks’ defense managed to prevent too many close calls.
It looked as if Hartwick was going to break the scoreless draw in the 65th minute when Jamie O’Grady went to shoot from inside the box, but senior Sten Stray-Gunderson played great defense to clear the ball before O’Grady had a chance to fire at senior goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland. With 6:50 remaining in regulation, senior Alberto Gorini had an easy boot that barely sailed over the bar and, with the score till tied at zero, the game went to overtime.
With the rain coming down harder, sophomore Wyatt Omsberg had a perfect header off a corner kick from Kunateh three minutes into the first overtime period, but Hartwick’s David Styles’ strategic placement in the net was all that stopped Dartmouth from getting its golden goal.
With the clock at 9:53, Marsh received a cross from senior Emory Orr, who had been headed the ball by Kunateh. Marsh fought his way around a couple of Hawk defenders and shot into the far left corner of the net before goalkeeper Lenny Wilson could get there in time, ending the game just before it could go to the second overtime period.
Dartmouth outshot Hartwick, 18-13, and had a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks. A combined 33 fouls and three yellow cards were called throughout the aggressive contest. In net, Cleveland earned his ninth shutout of the season and made two saves, while Wilson had a pair of saves in the loss.
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