In its second Ivy contest of the season, Yale matched up against a red-hot Dartmouth, winners of six straight matches and possible title contenders for the Ancient Eight crown. And just as they have in every game this season, the Elis fell short.
In a victory characteristic of Dartmouth’s current form, the Big Green (7–2–1, 2–0–0 Ivy) dominated the Bulldogs (0–8–2, 0–2–0 Ivy) in a 4–1 thrashing.
In the first 45 minutes, Yale looked primed for an upset. After Alex Adelabu netted an early goal for Dartmouth only four minutes into the game, Yale fired back with a score of its own when defensive midfielder Ollie Iselin ’18 took advantage of a defensive lapse and scored an unassisted goal in the 11th minute to draw the match level.
“It was great to see Ollie Iselin get on the score sheet for us, and I think going forward we’re going to focus on creating more and more chances on the attack and becoming more dangerous,” forward Keith Bond ’16 said.
Both teams failed to find the back of the goal for the rest of the first half. After 45 minutes, the Elis and Big Green went into the locker rooms knotted at one.
It was the second half that would prove Yale’s undoing, as sloppy mistakes and a predatory Dartmouth offense opened up a scoring levee.
In the 59th minute, Dartmouth’s Jonathan Nirenberg took advantage of a bouncing deflected shot to put the Big Green ahead. Proving to be quite the nuisance for the Eli defense, Nirenberg completed his brace just four minutes later with a 25-yard strike that put the game out of Yale’s reach. Finally, in the 76th minute, Hugh Danilack iced Dartmouth’s win with a fourth score, crashing the net and forcing what proved to be the final tally of the night.
Goalkeeper Blake Brown ’15 notched four saves, an impressive statistic given that the Bulldogs were outshot 14–3 and allowed four corner kicks.
The struggling Elis will be forced to turn around quickly this week, with a non-conference matchup scheduled against Temple on Tuesday. With little rest and no momentum, the game will pose a challenge for a Yale team that is still searching for its first win.
Though scoring has improved recently for the Elis, with two goals in their last three games, they have not netted more than once in a single game. With five straight losses, Yale will look to right the ship against a Temple (2–8–2, 1–2–1 American Athletic Conference) squad that has struggled to put games away. With a 0–4–1 record on the road, Temple may prove Yale’s best opportunity of the season to finally secure a win.
Furthermore, like most stumbling teams, Temple’s scoring is far from balanced. The Owls rely heavily on four key offensive players, which could afford a usually sound Eli defense the ability to shut down Temple’s goal producing options.
“Everyone is itching to play on Tuesday and make a statement after a game [versus Dartmouth] that we certainly didn’t deserve to lose by three goals,” Iselin said.
The game against Temple kicks off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Reese Stadium.