HANOVER, N.H- Senior forward Lucky Mkosana (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) became Dartmouth's all-time leading scorer as the Dartmouth men's soccer team defeated league leader, Cornell, 3-1, in the final home game of the 2011 season.
Dartmouth (8-5-3, 4-1-1 Ivy League), who entered the day tied for second place, moves into first place with the win and hands Cornell its first loss in Ivy League action while snapping a 13-game unbeaten streak for the Big Red.
With Dartmouth leading, 2-1, and time winding down in regulation, Mkosana connected with classmate Aaron Gaide (Avon, Conn.) in the 88th minute for his 10th goal of the season and his 34th career goal, breaking the scoring record that stood intact for nearly five decades. Mkosana also set a new Dartmouth points record with 79 career points, the previous record was 77 points held by Vladdy Stanojevic.
The Big Green ended a 0-0 stalemate in the 49th minute when junior midfielder Kevin Dzierzawski (Oakland Township, Mich.) found himself alone in the Cornell box and put the ball just past the outstretched hands of Cornell goalkeeper Zach Zagorski to take a 1-0 advantage.
Mkosana's five shots led the Dartmouth offense while Dartmouth goalkeeper, Noah Cohen (Johannesburg, South Africa) made six saves in 90 minutes of action in net. The win also moves Cohen's unbeaten streak to five games.
The squads played evenly for the remainder of the contest, but Dartmouth found away to unlock the Cornell defense late in the game. Senior forward Maarten van Ess (Marlborough, Mass.) was the recipient of a ball from Gaide and Adam Rice (Manalapan, N.J.) deep in Cornell territory and put it into the back of the net for what would prove to be the game-winning goal.
Cornell (8-2-5, 3-1-2 Ivy League) would not go quietly, and recorded six second-half shots, forcing Cohen to make three second half stops. Cornell got on the board in the 86th minute with a goal from Patrick Slogic to make the score, 2-1, but that was as close as they would get.
The teams entered the second half deadlocked at 0-0, but it wasn't for lack of chances on both sides. In the opening stanza, Dartmouth had several impressive scoring opportunities including back-to-back chances from Mkosana. Dzierzawski slipped a ball in behind the Cornell defense to Mkosana, who was streaking down the sideline, but Mkosana sent the ball just wide of the net.
The Big Green's next opportunity came just before the end of the first half. Mkosana had the ball on his foot with Cornell goalkeeper, Zach Zagorski, out of position and hit the ball just wide of the net.
Rice had a header that went just over the crossbar while Stoian Nedelchev (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Nick Pappas (Scottsdale, Ariz.) also had shots on goal in the first half.
Cornell also had a chance to get on the board with a free kick just outside the Dartmouth box in the first half. The Big Red took aim at the goal but the Dartmouth defensive wall deflected the shot out of harms way.
Dartmouth concludes the 2011 regular season on the road on Saturday (Nov. 12) when they take on Brown. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. at Brown's Stevenson Field.
