Crimson Varsity Drops 3-2 Game To Eph Booters

A fast, aggressive Williams soccer team staved off a last-period Harvard threat and became the first team to beat the Crimson this year. The score was 3 to 2, and for Harvard fans it was a grim afternoon.

Williams was unquestionably good. Holding a psychological advantage throughout the game, they out-ran, out-charged, out-hustled Harvard at every position. But it is probably truer to say that Harvard lost this game, rather than that Williams won it.

The simple fact is that untill a substitute line came in half-way through the fourth period, Harvard stank. The passing was terrible, the defense was frighteningly weak, and worst of all, nobody seemed to care enough about the beating Harvard was absorbing to do anything about it. Harvard is not a one-man team. It is a good team. But yesterday it was pathetic.

Williams dominated the game for three periods, scoring in each. Right outside and co-captain Skip Rutherford was clearly the best man on the field, setting up the first goal on a beautiful pass pattern and failing to score himself only because of Crimson goalie John Adams' brilliant saves. Ben Kofi, a solid center-forward but clearly over-rated, contributed what developed into the winning goal in the third period.

Harvard picked up considerably when Chris Ohiri, straining against a groin pull, entered the game just before Kofi's score. But every step Ohiri took was clearly painful to him, and double-teamed besides, he could help the Crimson only psychologically.

For a while in the fourth quarter it looked as though coach Bruce Munro was performing a miracle when his substitutes caught fire. They had not been in a full minute when on a direct penalty kick center-halfback Billy Ward slapped one in.

With a minute and a half to go, right inside Doug Gifford climaxed a sustained Harvard drive with the game's final score. The first line returned, and for the first time in the game, looked as though they wanted to win. In two more minutes they would have at least tied the game, but at this point, it was just too late.