League Soccer Race Close

In Ivy League men's soccer there is a clearer delineation between upper and lower-division teams than in almost any other sport this season.

Four teams--Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown and Princeton--have established themsevles as the best in the league with impressive records, while Harvard, Yale, Penn and Cornell have been left coughing in the dust with losing records.

Dartmouth leads the league with an undefeated record. It is 2-0 overall and 1-0 in league play, with impressive wins over a tough Vermont squad (1-0) and Penn (5-1).

Columbia is close behind, with a 4-0-1 record overall and a 1-0 record in the league. The Lions' non-league schedule has featured wins over such Manhattan (5-1), Adelphi (3-1) and St. Francis (2-0), and a tie against upstart Long Island (2-2). In its first league game of the year on Saturday, the team soundly trounced Harvard, 4-2.

Brown and Princeton are close behind the big two. Brown is 4-1 and 1-0 on the year, losing only to South Carolina in overtime (1-2) and beating Yale this past weekend (2-0). And Princeton is 3-1 and 1-0 on the year, with a 3-2 loss to Lafayette the second week of the season and, most recently, a 2-0 victory over Cornell on Saturday.

Harvard (4-4 overall, 1-1 league), which lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to New Hampshire yesterday (see tomorrow's paper), is fifth in the league, Yale (2-3 overall, 0-1 league) is sixth, Penn is seventh (1-2 overall, 0-1 league) and Cornell (1-3-1 overall, 0-2 league) is eighth.

Individual Awards

The individual league leaders in both scoring and goaltending reflect the team standings, with Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown and Princeton garnering their share of the awards.

In overall scoring, Brown's Darren Eales and Columbia's Mike Payne are tied for first with 12 points apiece. Both have scored five goals and garnered two assists on the season. Princeton's Jesse Marsch is third with 11 points (four goals, three assists).

In league scoring, Harvard's T.J. Carella has five points (two goals, one assist) and Princeton's Mike Busch and Columbia's Rikki Dadason each have four points (two goals).

In overall goaltending, Dartmouth's Brian Wiese is tops in the league with eight saves and an 88.9 percent. Brown's Tim Webb is second (19 saves, 82.6 percent save average).

In league-play goaltending, Webb and Princeton's Stuart Reynolds both have 100 percent save averages. Webb has five saves, while Reynolds has two.

Individual Honors

Eales and Dartmouth's Zach Samol were recipients of league honors this week.

Eales, a native of Cambridge, England, was named the league's player-of-the-week. He scored the game-winning goals against Yale and Lehigh to put himself at the top of the league overall scoring column. Has has scored four game-winners this year and is now eighth on Brown's all-time scoring list with 56 points.

Samol, a freshman from Long-meadow, MA, was named the the league's rookie-of-the-week. He tallied one goal and one assist in his first varsity against Penn. The assist came on the game-winning goal from the Big Green.