Garbage Collectors
DARTMOUTH'S soccer team had just beaten Springfield, 4-0, on Chase Field and the gent chatting with Tom Griffith, the coach of the winners, opined that Griffs team could win six straight before losing again. Well, old Griff about dropped his teeth at that one. This is a team that was supposed to be lucky if it won six games all season.
It didn't quite work out to six in a row but 5-0-1 is pretty close, and the tie, a 1-1 affair at Yale, was dominated by Dartmouth which had an assortment of shots at victory slip away. The absence of established scoring punch has been overcome by a strong defense and more than a bit of that "believe in yourself' philosophy that flows from effervescent Mr. Griffith.
At mid-season, Dartmouth had erased an assortment of bad memories: Springfield (five losses, one tie since 1969), Amherst (three straight losses), Williams (four ties, three losses), and Harvard (10 losses, one tie since 1964) were victims of Griffs team that admittedly "scores mostly on garbage" but takes them in whatever fashion is most convenient.
The offense has come from people like Charlie Krupansky, one of the six seniors on the squad, sophomores Tim Ehrsam and Steve Jonas, and freshman Steve Brooks. Krupanszky, Brooks, and Jonas netted the goals that ended the bugaboo by Harvard, and Krupanszky and Brooks had the deciding .shots in 2-1 victories over Amherst and Williams.
Griffith had to undertake a major rebuilding job this fall and it seems to be working out well. Without established players like Bruce Bokor, Steve Papai, and Frank Gallo to carry the load, most of the seniors are as green as the frosh and sophomores. The scoring has come along, and the defense in front of goalies Scott Blackmun and Lyman Missimer has kept the ball more into the midfield than in extremis, due in large part to the efforts of senior Ted Hunt, junior Kent Pierce, and sophomore Tom Ryan.
The 3-2 win over Harvard measures the ability of Dartmouth's booters to respond. It was a 2-1 game when the Green earned a penalty shot. "Would you believe we have four players who practice penalty kicks and none of them was in the game when the foul was called?" asks Griffith. Ehrsam reminded Griff that. Jonas had taken penalty shots in high school. He was on the field and he proceeded to make it 3-1, solving the dilemma and lifting the Green's heaviest burden.
In the waning moments against Harvard, with Dartmouth trying for a touchdown fromthe one-yard line (above), the ball skittered past the hip of fullback Curt Oberg. Obergwas buried anyway, and quarterback Kevin Case chased the fumble and the game.
