Hanover
He was one of the only Huskies to receive such acknowledgement.
For the rest of the game the crowd, which swelled to 1,210 by the second half, was tense and anxious in Dartmouth’s 1-0 loss. The Big Green shelled Huskies goalkeeper Auden Schilder and the Washington defense with 13 shots, including several multi-shot rallies late in the second half, but couldn’t capitalize.
It was Dartmouth’s first loss this season after finishing its first two games, both on the road, in 1-1 ties.
“It was nice to get some pressure on them. The last 15 minutes, we were all over their net,” said Dartmouth junior midfielder Matt Greer, who finished with a team-high five shots. “A lot of shots were going, we just couldn’t seem to find the back of their net.”
Washington’s David Coly scored the game’s goal in the 23rd minute, finding a pass from Kyle Coffee inside the box before making a move on a Dartmouth defender and burying it inside the right post passed Big Green keeper James Hickok. It was his second goal of the season and the Huskies’ only shot on goal on Thursday.
“I’ll give Dartmouth a lot of credit,” Clark said. “There’s almost two ways of looking at it. One is, ‘Oh, we need to be better.’ Or maybe Dartmouth really pushed us to the limit. I think it’s a little bit of both. I don’t think we were at our best tonight, but I think Dartmouth forced that. That’s a good Dartmouth team.”
“You’ve just got to try and get out with a result sometimes,” he added. “It was clear that it wasn’t going to be our best game, when you’re turning the ball over in crazy places. But good teams win the games they shouldn’t sometimes.”
The Huskies are now 3-1-0 and will head to Harvard, a former pit stop on Clark’s coaching resume, on Sunday.
For Clark, returning to the Upper Valley has been as comforting as ever, making him revisit many of his old stomping grounds. Clark, a 1994 Hanover High graduate and son of former Dartmouth men’s soccer coach Bobby Clark, won two NHIAA Class I championships with the Marauders and earned all-New England and All-American honors as a senior. He was also named New Hampshire’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
“It’s been the best couple of days,” Clark said. “It’s been so fun. I told my wife, ‘I went for a run today.’ She was like, ‘What?’ Like yeah, I’m back in town and you’ve got the best trails in the world. It’s so fun, it’s so nice. It’s been good. I’m staying right in town, visiting a lot of old restaurants, seeing a lot of old friends.”
Fourth-year Dartmouth head coach Chad Riley, a Notre Dame graduate who worked with Clark as an assistant coach with the Fighting Irish under Clark’s father, said playing against an opposing coach he knows makes the contest that much more enjoyable.
“We’re both competitors; When you’re in the game, you’re back at it,” Riley said. “I actually enjoy coaching against people you know because you know what’s going on in your head. You can adapt, a little.”
Though in Riley’s case, he could have asked for a better result. Dartmouth’s offense pressed for much of its home opener, often looking desperate on its final touches around the goal.
While the midfield and defense looked methodical in its approach and its possession, the Big Green came up empty both on the scoreboard and in the standings. Dartmouth has managed only two goals in its first three games.
“Definitely some frustration,” Greer said when asked what was going through his head. “I think we’re all looking forward to our next game to make sure this doesn’t happen again. This is our home turf. That makes this a little bit of an extra blow.”
Riley said the offensive production shouldn’t be a concern just yet.
“This period is, you want to get as many results as you can, but you also want to force growth as rapidly as you can,” Riley said. “We’ve had three in a row. That’s the best preparation right there. I can’t believe what we look like now back to our first practice. I’m proud of that.”
“Like I told the guys, though, there are no moral victories. Let it sting,” he added.
Greer isn’t worried, either. It’s still early in the season, after all. Once the offense gets its confidence back, the goal-scoring will follow shortly thereafter. It’s only a matter of time, he feels.
“We’ve played three very good teams that will all probably be in the NCAA tournament,” Greer said. “Both of our first two games, the teams had played multiple games before us. It was our first two games, away. This game we definitely had a lot more … Definitely some improvement in this game, which is what we like to see. So I don’t think it’s too worrying yet, but we’ll see what happens.”
Dartmouth will host Seattle at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Notes: Clark has spent several days in his hometown, in part to prepare for Thursday’s game, but also to re-experience Hanover’s unique cuisine. “I’m a big Molly’s fan,” he said. “We went right to Molly’s and then a little bit of EBAs. Shot some horseshoes and ate some sandwiches.” … Dartmouth was awarded seven corner kicks. The University of Washington had three. … The Big Green’s Justin Donawa, a Bermuda native, attempted three shots.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.