Wake Forest Eliminates Dartmouth

Defending National Champs Too Much in 7-0 Loss

December 1, 2008

The No. 1 seed and defending national champion Wake Forest men's soccer team proved too big, too tough and too much to handle for 16-seed Dartmouth, taking a huge 7-0 win over the Big Green in the third round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday.

The Demon Deacons poured it on offensively with the rain increasing to an absolute downpour by game's end. Dartmouth (11-6-2) had its chances during the first 45 minutes but Wake Forest (20-1-1) took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

Sean Milligan

Sean Milligan and Dartmouth lost, 7-0, to Wake Forest on Sunday. (Dartmouth Athletics)

It was all Deacs in the second half, however, as their speedy offense capitalized on a slippery field to light up the scoreboard five more times. Ultimately, Wake Forest outshot Dartmouth just 16-11, but 12 of its shots came on goal, to just three for the Big Green.

"We are upset about the final result and it doesn't reflect the season we had," said head coach Jeff Cook, after leading the Big Green to its fourth NCAA Tournament in the last five years. "I am very proud of our players and the year that we were able to have. We got behind in the first half and it is hard to get back into a game with a team like Wake Forest."

The game marked Dartmouth's first time in the third round of the NCAA tournament since 1992, when there were just 32 teams in the field.

Wake Forest struck early and never looked back. In the seventh minute, Corben Bone collected the ball from Jamie Franks and beat the defense about 15 yards from the net. Dartmouth keeper Sean Milligan (Westport, Conn.) used every inch of his 6-foot-5 frame to get a fingertip on Bone’s shot, and though he deflected it, the ball hit the post and deflected into the goal.

The Demon Deacons nearly scored again just two minutes later when Cody Arnoux took Milligan one-on-one, but the senior keeper dove for the save. Dartmouth settled things down and the teams played a relatively even half. Junior back Donnie Surdoval had the Big Green's first real threat of the game in the 12th minute when he headed the ball just high after a long throw-in by Walker Linares.

Dartmouth kept the pressure on when Craig Henderson fired a shot wide minutes later followed by a Surdoval shot that was blocked in the box. The Big Green earned consecutive corner kicks in the 26th and 27th minutes with Derek Stenquist (Hudson, Mass.) connecting for a blocked shot off the cross from Andrew Olsen (Norwell, Mass.). Brendan Lane (Southport, Conn.) controlled the rebound and fired, but Wake keeper Akira Fitzgerald was there for the stop.

Wake Forest countered during the next 10 minutes but Milligan remained steady, saving a header by Ike Opara off a Deacons corner kick in the 36th minute.

It appeared that Dartmouth would trail just 1-0 at halftime when in the final minute of the half, the Big Green was whistled for a handball in the 18 box. Wake's Sam Cronin stepped up to the spot and shot to the right with Milligan diving left, making it 2-0 Deacons at the break.

The Big Green had the first attempt of the second half when Henderson charged the Wake goal and had his shot blocked. The Deacs collected that rebound and it was off to the races for Marcus Tracy and Arnoux. Tracy brought the ball down the right wing and crossed to Arnoux for an easy tap-in goal, making it 3-0 Wake Forest at 49:42.

Wake Forest kept at the Big Green's goal and Milligan made three big saves in a two-minute span, all off shots by Zack Schilawski. Schilawski finally broke through on his fourth straight attempt with a close finish at 61:25, inflating the lead to 4-0, Deacons.

The quick counter-attack once again provided Wake Forest's speedy offense with a goal in the 67th minute. After a long throw-in by Linares, to which Dartmouth had committed many players, Bryan Giudicelli sent in a header that Fitzgerald saved.

Wake's forwards sprinted and had their fifth goal just 25 seconds later when Arnoux scored off a cross from Michael Lahoud.

Dartmouth had a legitimate scoring chance on the restart after playing the ball back-and-forth in the Wake Forest 18. Surdoval positioned himself in the middle of the box, trapped the ball and fired point-blank but sent the ball just high.

The Deacons scored two more times in the final seven minutes with goals from Luke Norman and Schilwaski.

Milligan made five saves in goal and finishes his stellar Dartmouth career as the all-time leader in goals against average at 0.824. He is also tied for the most career shutouts with 18.

Dartmouth ends the 2008 campaign with an 11-6-2 (5-1-1 Ivy) record, bringing home the eighth Ivy League championship in program history.