Swarthmore, Dickinson All Tied Up
CARLISLE, Pa. - Swarthmore survived the sweltering heat, an aggressive Dickinson squad, and 75 minutes of man-down soccer, earning a hard-fought 0-0 tie with the Red Devils. The Garnet move to 5-1-3 (0-1-1 Centennial) on the season, while Dickinson stands at 7-0-1 overall (1-0-1 CC).
Dickinson started well, earning two corner kicks in the first five minutes, but both were quickly cleared away. The ball rarely entered either box for the next 20 minutes as two evenly-matched teams slugged it out in the midfield.
Swarthmore came close to scoring in the 23rd minute when senior Michael Bonesteel (Clifton Park, N.Y. / LaSalle Institute) rose up to head a Ladule Lako Lo Sarah '09 (Davis, Calif. / Claremont) free kick towards a goal, but the attempt went just high. The Red Devils took the ensuing goal kick right down the field, but senior Brendan Grady (San Jose, Calif. / Bellarmine) came up big, holding his ground in a 1-on-1 situation and blocking the Dickinson shot.
Two more Red Devil corner kicks followed in the 30th minute, but the strong Swarthmore air game again kept the ball away from the net.
At 34:42, Swarthmore freshman Morgan Langley (Honolulu, Hawaii / Ionali) was given a red card, forcing the Garnet play a man down for the remainder of the match.
Dickinson kept up the pressure, stretching the Garnet defense to its limits, but Grady and junior Rory Stackpole (Sanford, Maine / Sanford) each made last-second clears to prevent short-range attempts by the Red Devils.
The second half started out like the first, as a Dickinson corner kick in the first minute again failed to result in a shot on goal. As the half proceeded, the Garnet defense continued to bend, but not break. Frequent substitutions helped the Swarthmore players stay fresh in the sweltering heat and humidity.
Slowly, the Garnet reestablished an offensive presence, and by the 65th minute the ball was most often in the Dickinson end. With 19 minutes to go, Garnet freshman Toby Resch (Darmstadt, Germany / Ludwig-Georgs-Gymnasium) slammed a corner kick towards a group of teammates right in front of the net. The ball was banged around for several seconds, but was eventually cleared away. Dickinson came roaring back down the field, but a misfired header ended the transition scoring chance.
Dickinson's #6 Paul Coyle nearly scored a beautiful goal in the 80th minute after using impressive foot skills to get an open shot, but the ball sailed wide on the near side. Both defenses continued to play well, and the game headed to overtime.
Play went back and forth early in the extra session before Dickinson finally turned a pair of corner kicks into a good scoring opportunities. A fine play by Yoi Tibbets '09 (Sandwich, Mass. / Sandwich), who headed a contested ball away from the goal, set the stage for Swarthmore senior goalkeeper Ryan Sutcliffe (Milford, Del. / Milford) to make his finest save of the match. Sutcliffe went to his left to deny a header from Dickinson's Matthew Wood. The rest of the first overtime passed relatively uneventfully.
Dickinson created another opportunity in transition four minutes into the second overtime. An early cross found a Red Devil midfielder wide-open nearly the goal, but Sutcliffe came out, cut off the shooting angle, and forced the ball wide..
A Red Devil foul gave Swarthmore a free kick in the Dickinson half with 40 seconds to play, but Dickinson goalkeeper Rodrigo Barboza came out to pick the ball off, effectively ending the game.
Swarthmore has two Centennial home matches scheduled for the upcoming week. Washington (Md.) arrives on Wednesday, Sept. 26 for an 8:00 p.m. contest and Gettysburg will be on campus Saturday, Sept. 29 for a 7:00 p.m. match.