Booters Suffer First Loss of Season; Wesleyan Tops Punchless Crimson, 3-0

The Harvard soccer team, with three key regulars sidelined by injuries, dropped its first game of the season yesterday as a quick, aggressive Wesleyan squad picked up a goal in the opening seconds and added two insurance tallies for a 3-0 win.

For all intents and purposes the contest was over almost before it began. The Cardinals took the opening kick-off deep into the Harvard end, chipped the ball in close and jumped out to a 1-0 lead when substitute goalie Ben Bryant could not come up with the ball in heavy traffic in front of the Harvard net.

The Crimson, without the services of starting goalie and captain Steve Kidder (bad back), defensive standout Brian Fearnett (pulled groin), and offensive star Felix Adedeji (sore knee), had to play catch-up soccer all afternoon.

For a team that has had great difficulty putting the ball in the net thus far this season (only three goals in three games), an early one-goal deficit, while not necessarily fatal, was a severe handicap.

The Harvard offense has yet to get untracked, as it managed to take only four shots on goal in the first half and a meager two in the second. Wesleyan, meanwhile, peppered Bryant with a total of 21. Not surprisingly, the Cardinals kept the ball in the Crimson end for the first five minutes.

When Harvard finally got an offensive rush it failed to finish. On the Crimson's first scoring opportunity Leroy Thompson's shot was deflected just wide by the Wesleyan goalie.

A good cross by J.P. Gilbert, playing his first varsity game after gaining ECAC and NCAA eligibility, failed to click, but the Harvard defense (particularly fullback Lawson Wulsin) was playing well and the period was barely half over, plenty of time to get back in the game.

Whatever flicker of hope the Crimson had for a comeback were unceremoniously snuffed out at 37:03, however, when two-time small college All-American Marion Stoj converted an indirect free kick resulting from an obstruction call through a screen of Harvard players for a 2-0 lead.

Missed Infraction

Seconds before, the referee had missed a similar infraction at the other end as a Wesleyan defender held Harvard's Gilbert as he was about to cruise in alone on the Cardinal net.

The second half was more of the same. Harvard was unable to apply consistent pressure on the Wesleyan defense, and when it got the ball deep it didn't seem to know what to do with it. The Cardinals were content to take any offensive opportunities they could get, but they hustled back and massed on defense when Harvard got the ball.

Wesleyan added insult to injury near the end of the contest as Stoj picked up his second goal of the afternoon on a perfectly headed shot after a corner kick. Harvard, which had shutout its first two opponents, wilted somewhat against a creditable offense, but the absence of Kidder and Fearnett was noticeable.

Bryant, to his credit, shook off nervousness and the early goal to play a fine game in the Harvard nets, and Jeff Hargedon, filling in at fullback for the injured Fearnett, showed promise.

"We were apprehensive when they scored so quickly," head coach Bruce Munro said yesterday. "It set us back," he added. "We played a good team and they didn't wonk us by any means."

"I hate to lose, I'm not used to it," Munro lamented. Unless his team can make a prompt about-face, there are probably a lot of people who are going to have to get used to losing.