Soccer Team Wins, 3-2, On Last-Second Score

An arching 25-yard shot by junior inside Dave Taft sailed into the upper right corner of the Yale net with just five seconds left in the final period to eke out a 3-2 win for the Crimson.

Taft's goal climaxed a last-minute Crimson shooting barrage during which the Harvard forwards booted away several near-perfect scoring opportunities. Yale blew its share of set-ups earlier in the game as they out-hustled the Crimson through the first three periods and consistently beat them to the ball at midfield.

The Elis' first goal came at 1:21 of the first period, making this game the sixth this year in which Harvard has fallen behind within the first five minutes. Yale right wing Rick Sewall flicked a pass into the center out of a scramble on the right side of the Harvard penalty area, and Eli inside Derek Bush quickly slipped it by Crimson goalie Rich Hammond and into the left corner of the net.

In the middle of the third period right wing Akin Adewole broke past a Yale defender and centered a high soft pass to center forward Jim Saltonstall at the edge of the penalty zone. Salty eluded Eli center half Grif Okie, who had shadowed him all afternoon, and headed the ball out of the hands of charging Yale goalie Denny Gaulladet and it bounded slowly into the net.

Seven minutes later, Yale went ahead again as center forward John Griswold scored on a hard shot from ten yards in front of the net.

But Keith Chiappa scored the tying goal early in the fourth period on a controversial referee's decision. He had dribbled a five-yard shot at the open side of the net but Yale goalie Gaulladet fell on it in an apparent save. Chiappa, however, followed up his shot and managed to dislodge the ball from under Gaulladet (who evidently had not had full possession) and pop it into the open net.

Yale protested the score and fought back aggressively, but there was no arguing with Taft's game winning shot.

The freshman soccer team outplayed the Bullpups and scored a 1-0 victory on center forward Haven Pell's third-period goal off a centering pass from right wing Ken Appel.