WORCESTER, Mass. - Despite holding a 14-9 shot advantage, the Dartmouth men's soccer team couldn't find the game-winner in a season-opening 0-0 double overtime draw at Holy Cross on Friday night.
Senior forward Lucky Mkosana (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) led the Big Green offense with a game-high six shots. Freshman Alex Adelabu (Houston, Texas) and senior defender Nick Pappas (Scottsdale, Ariz.) contributed two shots each in the contest.
Dartmouth held the offensive advantage in the overtime periods outshooting the Crusaders a combined, 5-1, but couldn't find the game-winner after two extra periods and settled for the season-opening draw.
Entering the second half deadlocked at 0-0, the Big Green found some offense early. Dartmouth strung together several scoring chances, including a shot from just outside the 18-yard line from sophomore midfielder Colin Skelly (Wrightstown, Pa.) that threatened to give the Big Green the lead, but went just wide of the net.
Holy Cross threatened throughout the second half but Big Green goalkeeper Noah Cohen (Johannesburg, South Africa) was able to thwart the Crusaders at each turn even turning back a point blank shot from inside the six-yard line midway through the half. For the game, Cohen turned away four shots in his Big Green debut.
The first half proved to be a defensive battle between the Big Green and the Crusaders with neither team registering a shot until 20 minutes into the half. Cohen kept Holy Cross off the board with a huge save with 3:42 remaining in the first half.
Holy Cross forward Kevin O'Neill slipped through the Dartmouth defense at midfield and looked to be on a breakaway but Cohen extended his right hand to push the ball just wide of the corner to keep the game tied at 0-0 entering the second half.
The Crusaders pressured the Big Green backline from the outset with several scoring opportunities in the opening minutes, including a chance that was pushed just wide of the Dartmouth net by freshman defender Tommy Johnson (Spring, Texas) off the kick off.
The Big Green head home for a regional battle with No. 25 Boston College on Sunday (Sept. 4) at Burnham Field. Kick off is set for 3:00 p.m. Fans can follow along with livestats and live video (fee) at Dartmouthsports.com.
