Slow start opens door for big upset

Dartmouth (6-7, 2-3) was firing on all cylinders from the first whistle. Midfielder Jimmy Mullen opened the scoring when he came off the bench early in the first quarter and scored at 11 minutes, 32 seconds from just inside the restraining line. Attack Brian Koch gave the Big Green a two-goal lead 41 seconds later, and attack Josh Gillam continued the Dartmouth onslaught half a minute later to increase the Big Green’s lead to three.

Senior midfielder Pete Striebel was finally able to slip a shot past Dartmouth goalie Michael Novosel to put the Tigers on the scoreboard with 4:27 remaining in the half, but midfielder Tim Daniels immediately countered to give the Big Green a 4-1 lead at the end of the first frame.

Novosel entered the game with a rather unimpressive .479 save percentage, but he was outstanding in the cage. The Tigers tallied 43 shots, 25 of which were fired on goal, but Novosel rose to the occasion for Dartmouth and made 16 saves.

Koch and attack Ari Sussman would score back-to-back goals in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter. Though faced with a five-goal deficit, the Tigers refused to concede. Junior midfielder Josh Lesko gave Princeton the spark it needed at 8:45 when he scored his first goal of the season after receiving a pass from junior attack Tommy Davis. Senior attack and tri-captain Bob Schneider made it 6-3 a minute later.

Lesko earned his second goal of the game with six minutes left in the quarter, but goals by Sussman and midfielder Christopher Root gave the Big Green a four-goal lead heading into the locker room.

Senior defenseman Dan Cocoziello notched his second goal of the season just 12 seconds into the third quarter. Schneider put Princeton within two with 3:27 remaining in the third, but Sussman scored again to lift the Big Green to a 9-6 lead just before the quarter ended.

The beginning of the fourth frame seemed promising for the Tigers, as it appeared they would mount a comeback attempt as they did two weeks ago in Cambridge.

Within the first two-and-a-half minutes, Davis, senior attack Alex Haynie and freshman midfielder Connor Reilly pummeled Novosel to tie the game at nine.

Reilly’s second goal of the season came at a crucial time, fueling the Tigers’ momentum, but Dartmouth midfielder Philip Killian reversed the trend with his first goal of the season when he converted on a bounce shot with 10:31 to go.

“Certainly by getting all the way back to 9-9 we started thinking about [a comeback],” head coach Bill Tierney said. “But lots of times in those situations, what happens is that you spend so much emotional energy getting back into it that there’s a sense of relief that you’re back. Your assumption is, ‘OK, now we’ve got it,’ and then you have a letdown.”

Mullen would score at 1:42 to seal the Big Green’s first win against Princeton since 2003.

Despite the loss, all hope for the postseason is not lost, as Princeton still has a solid shot at receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Cornell defeated Brown, 11-7, Saturday afternoon in Ithaca, N.Y., to clinch a share of the Ivy League title. Should Princeton defeat the Bears next weekend, it would share the league title with the Big Red and earn the automatic bid. If Brown wins, Cornell and Brown would be co-champions and Cornell would advance to the tournament.

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The contest against Brown will be far from easy, especially since Princeton has struggled on the road this season, having lost all but one away game. The Tigers, however, have shown incredible resilience, responding well to adversity and managing to triumph in when their backs are against the wall.

“We haven’t played well on the road — that’s clear,” Tierney said. “We’ve only won once on the road and that was at Harvard in overtime. But I think the guys know what’s at stake, and they’ll have to put that aside. It’s going to be hostile, but that’s what you play these games for. I think they’ll be ready to go.”