Soccer Team Beats Tufts In Sloppy Season Opener

After three periods yesterday the varsity soccer team was on its way to dropping its season opener to a scrappy. Tufts team, but Solomon Gomez and Charlie Thomas broke through the Jumbo defense to score three goals in the last twelve minutes and give the Crimson a 5-3 victory.

The soccer team played sloppily and won on what Coach Bruce Munro called "individual skill." "Nothing was very encouraging, and we still need a lot of work," he said.

Tufts' small, hard field was not suited to the Crimson's soccer. The ball was in the air frequently and plays could not be set up before a swarm of blue-jersied. Jumbos surrounded the harried Crimson passer, blocking off all available passing lanes.

The Tufts team played their field well, however. They kept the ball in the air with long shots to their forwards, frequently by-passing Harvard defenders.

Hard Dribbler

Tufts dominated the first period, outscoring Harvard 2-0. With the game barely three and a half minutes old, the Jumbos scored on a hard dribbler that fooled Crimson goalie Bill Meyers. The second tally came at 16:20 when a Jumbo forward drove through an open lane, found Meyers alone and put the shot past him.

In the second quarter, Solomon Gomez scored the first of his two goals to cut the Tufts lead in half. Four minutes later, after a Jumbo halfback fouled Charlie Thomas. junior Pete Bogovich drilled the penalty kick past the outstretched fingertips of the Tufts goalie to tie the score.

With less than three minutes to go in the second quarter. Tufts went ahead 3-2 on a hard shot that went underneath Meyers.

Double Frustration

The third period proved frustrating for both Harvard and Tufts. The Jumbos kept the ball in Harvard territory for all but two minutes of the quarter and failed to score. On the drives that Harvard managed to get rolling, only one resulted in a direct shot on goal and it was kicked straight at the goalie.

The first ten minutes of the final quarter were much of the same until Gomez. taking a pass from Senior Dick Hardy. put it past the goalie for his second tally, tieing the score, 3-3. Four and a half minutes later. Thomas took a beautiful short pass from Phil Kydes and knocked it into the net. Thomas scored once again with 13 seconds left in the game. making the final score 5-3.