Crimson Soccer Team Tops Penn 3-2, Stays on Top in Ivies for Another Week

Crimson forward Lyman Bullard rocked Penn three times Saturday to give the Crimson a 3-2 soccer victory over the Quakers. The win secured Harvard's contending position in the Ivies, boosting its league record to 4-0. Harvard s 6-1-1 overall.

Harvard thus finished unscathed a stretch of competition sown with the likes of tenth nationally ranked UConn, which it tied, 1-1, previously nationally ranked Cornell, which it beat, 1-0, and Williams, previously sixth ranked in New England, which it beat, 2-1.

This weekend, as throughout the season, the winning difference was Crimson mentor George Ford.

Ford's winning progress has proved beyond any doubt his tactical skills and his strategic mastery of soccer.

This weekend's game against Penn is a case in point. Penn clearly had more talent man for man than Harvard. They had explosive offensive potential with caliber players like Santiago Formosa and John Borozzi. They possessed a talented midfield anchored by Tom Bartolino, again outclassing the Crimson in terms of settling, dribbling and passing the ball.

However, relying on his players' conditioning, enthusiasm and competitiveness, Ford succeeded in defusing most of the Quaker threats. Penn coach Bob Seddon said after the game that his players were inexperienced and thus lacked the final thrust in their combinations.

Penn outshot Harvard for the game, 25 to 11. Yet six of the Harvard shots were real scoring opportunities. On the other hand, Penn brought the ball downfield in a triangle formation, off their 4-3-3 system. That triangle met a parallelogram of Harvard players every time.

In other words, Ford succeeded in having more men in the vicinity of the ball at any moment than did Penn.

This was a calculated risk. It meant that the ball would be played mostly between the center and the penalty area of the Harvard side of the field.

The breakaway play that Harvard is perfecting with Bullard this season is a natural offense off this situation. When a halfback has control he tries quickly to move the ball to the wing, then to Eric Zager and Bullard who will hopefully breeze by the opposing defense.

The first goal was of a more traditional genre. Crimson wing Art Faden--after continuous Harvard pressure on the Penn goal--made a pass to Bullard. He shot it past the Penn goalie, who stood motionless, into the top right corner of the goal.

Penn pressured the Crimson goal, creating chance after chance. At 15:35 the referee awarded a disputed penalty shot to Penn. Borozzi coverted to tie the score.

The see-saw battle continued and Penn shot eight times. Crimson go alie Ben Bryan saved it all eight times. With four minutes remaining, however, Faden fed another through passto Bullard, who sped down the left side of the penalty area. Bullard took a hard shot to the right corner and left the Penn goalie motionless one more time, giving the Crimson a 2-1 lead.

At seven minutes into the second half, Bullard dribbled from the middle of the Penn side of the field past three defenders. During the split second that he was free he chipped the ball. It followed a perfect trajectory high into the upper corner. The Penn goalie, motionless once more, did not seem to believe that a goal had been scored.

During the half Crimson fullback Ralph Booth had miraculously headed a shot out of the net, Bryan saved eight more shots, and the defense resisted 16 shots on goal.

Penn dominated with its talent but the Crimson won because as Seddon said, "Harvard is well coached, and they play like a unit, like a real team."