Brown, Dartmouth and Penn Each Net NCAA Men's Soccer Championship First Round Wins

Portions courtesy of Brown Sports Information and Dartmouth, Penn and Princeton Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Brown, Dartmouth and Penn all booked places in the second round of the NCAA men’s soccer championship on Thursday with first round victories. Dartmouth set the tone for the Ivy teams early as it recorded a 4-0 win at Monmouth in a game that started at Noon in West Long Branch, N.J. In the evening games, Brown downed Boston College in a home contest, 2-1, while Penn advanced with an overtime home win against Bucknell,1-0. Elsewhere, Princeton was edged by UMBC, 2-1.

All three Ivy victors will play second round games on Sunday, Nov. 21. The Big Green, which advanced to the second round for the first time since 2008, travel to play at ninth-seeded Notre Dame in a 6:00 p.m. contest. Brown plays a 1:00 p.m. tilt at 11th-seeded Connecticut, while Penn takes on second-seeded Maryland at 5:00 p.m. in College Park, Md.

It is the first time since the 1973 season that three Ivy League teams have advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Dartmouth Recap
The Dartmouth men’s soccer team had breathing room in a match for the first time in more than a month, taking a dominant 4-0 win at #11 Monmouth in the NCAA First Round today. The Big Green (11-6-1) won its fifth-straight contest by blanking the Hawks (14-2-4) for its third consecutive shutout. Dartmouth led the game 1-0 at halftime and after staving off an early Monmouth attack in the second, dominated late for the comfortable win. It marks the first time since a 3-1 victory over Yale on Oct. 9 that Dartmouth has won a game by more than one goal.

Dartmouth held a 16-12 advantage in shots and took six corner kicks to Monmouth’s three. Lyman Missimer made two saves in goal for his third straight shutout while Bryan Meredith made six stops for the Hawks. Four different players scored goals for the Big Green but senior Daniel Keat stole the show by assisting on three of them.

Senior Andrew Olsen put Dartmouth ahead in just the ninth minute of the game, picking up a pass from Keat and firing from the left side top of the 18-box. Meredith got both hands on what might have been a routine save, but the ball skipped off his hands and into the far corner for an early 1-0 lead.

Dartmouth wasted little time getting some insurance in the second half when junior Nick Pappas used his size to connect on a header in traffic off a corner kick by Olsen, putting the Green up 2-0 in the 53rd. Missimer made one of the biggest plays of the game in the 62nd minute when Monmouth’s Ryan Kinne stepped up for a free kick just outside the box. He hooked his shot around the wall and Missimer made the save to keep the Hawks off the board. The momentum carried over into the offensive end when just minutes later, Lucky Mkosana put the game out of reach with his fifth goal of the season in the 66th minute.

Complete Dartmouth Recap here

Brown Recap
In the final game of the 2010 season at Stevenson Field in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, No. 14 Brown (12-3-3, 3-3-1 Ivy) took on No. 21 Boston College (10-5-5, 2-2-4 ACC), and even though the two teams had not met in over two years, it proved to be a hotly-contested match. The Bears netted a goal early in the game and one late in the first half to take a 2-1 win and advance to the Second Round.

Even though Boston College head coach Ed Kelly had coached more games against Brown than Bears first-year head coach Patrick Laughlin had coached at Brown, it was the Bears that came out as the poised yet aggressive and ready-to-strike team, especially in the first 10 minutes of the match, as they registered five shots to BC’s zero.

Senior Jon Okafor started the first half off with a bang as the forward took control of the ball 15 yards off of midfield on the pass from junior Taylor Gorman. Okafor put on a clinic in dribbling as he streaked towards the goal with a BC defender draped all over him. The senior remained calm however, breaking slightly right, then firing left, beating the Eagles keeper for the first goal of the game just 10:02 into the match.

Brown was able to squeeze off two more direct shots on net, but Luthy was able to square up and make the save on each attempt to keep the Eagles in the game. A minute later, it was Boston College sophomore Kyle Becker who put one in from 25 yards out and tied of the game at one at the 40:23 mark.

Just over two minutes later, a pass in from sophomore Thomas McNamara set up Gorman who was able to find Austin Mandel. The junior forward took quick control and blasted one in from the right side to put Brown back up 2-1.

As much as the Brown offense was relied upon in the first half and much of the second, it was First Team All-Ivy keeper Paul Grandstrand and the Bear defense that closed out the game. Grandstrand made four saves and faced 15 total shots.

Complete Brown Recap here

Penn Recap
The Penn men’s soccer team got a goal from Christian Barreiro just 1:38 into overtime, propelling the Quakers to a 1-0 win over Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA Championship.

Off a throw-in from the left side, Jason Gorskie collected the ball and sent it across the top of the goalmouth. Barreiro came rushing in and fired a 22-yard shot that squirted just under the left side of a diving Marc Hartmann.

Complete Penn Recap here

Princeton Recap