HANOVER, NH - On Sunday, September 8th, Saint Mary's concluded their east coast road trip with a hard fought 2-2 draw against Dartmouth to come away undefeated on the weekend. The Gaels gave up two first half goals but with a thin squad they were still able to climb back into the match with second half goals from
Bastian Toelhoej and
Ian Smith to earn a point. Both Toelhoej and Smith would record their first goals of the year as Saint Mary's earned their second draw of the season.
FIRST HALF SMC 0-2 DARTMOUTH
After the two red cards on Thursday, head coach
Adam Cooper would turn to midfielders
Storm Schmidt Hollensted and
BJ Ruzmir for their first starts of the 2024 season. The Gaels would put up a whopping 12 shots in the first half with some quality chances on goal but the Big Green would strike first in just the third minute off an inswinging cross to the back post. Minutes later, the Gaels would settle down and put together their best spell of possession that resulted in a shot on target from senior forward
Jude Zamora.
Saint Mary's would force three saves in the first half but surrender a second goal off a Dartmouth corner kick in the 35th minute. As the ball swung in, Gaels keeper
Sam Bentley would rise to the back post and catch the service but he would take a hit on the way down forcing the ball loose in which the Big Green would score on the loose ball. The controversial no call would help double Dartmouth's lead just before the end of the first half.
FINAL SMC 2-2 DARTMOUTH
Right out of the gate, you could sense the urgency from the Gaels offensively as they applied early pressure on the Big Green's backline. Outside back
Luke Lawrence would let a shot go off a dangerous free kick just outside the box that deflected and resulted in a header attempt from
Justin Sosa that just soared over the crossbar.
Nearing the halfway mark of the second half,
David Christensen would rattle the crossbar with a left footed shot after another great spell of possession down the right side of the field. Christensen was very effective off the bench for Saint Mary's finishing with 42 minutes of action and a shot attempt.
With their offensive pressure building, the Gaels would finally break through and earn a penalty in the 67th minute. Senior forward
Cade Cowan made his season debut on Thursday and was also effective in the team's midfield in the second half of today's game. Cowan would get the ball in the middle of the pitch and ping a beautiful diagonal ball to Christensen who got on the end of it and cut inside to avoid the charging goalkeeper but would get clipped to earn the penalty. Captain
Bastian Toelhoej would step up and beat the keeper to the left side to get the Gaels on the board and make it a one goal game. The goal would go down as his first of the season and third of his SMC career.
The Gaels would smell blood and strike again in the 83rd minute off a fabulous first time strike from outside back
Ian Smith. Once again, Saint Mary's would get down the right side of the field as Toelhoej would play Zamora into the right corner. Zamora would send a terrific cutback ball to the top of the penalty box and Smith would calmly guide the ball into the bottom right corner of the net to equalize with seven minutes remaining.
The late game drama wouldn't stop there though as Dartmouth would get a shot attempt off in the final minute of regulation off a cross from the near side. Bentley would leap to his right to make the initial save and then the Big Green would have a forward in an offside position on the rebound to blow the play dead. Bentley would finish with a career high five saves and face 17 shots in the game.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's improves to 1-2-2 overall and finished their east coast road trip undefeated with a pair of draws against Boston and Dartmouth. They will return home next week for a pair of home matches on Thursday and Sunday against UC Davis and Sacramento State. Live stat and ticket links can be found at smcgaels.com and you can watch the games live on ESPN+. Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
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