Yardling Booters Triumph, 6-4, Capture Sixth Straight Victory

The freshman soccer team ran its perfect record to 6-0 yesterday, outscoring Andover, 6-4, in wild contest.

David Updike led the Crimson attack with a pair of tallies, and Tom Hsaio, Stewart Cutler, Mark Williams, and Antonio Ardila each contributed a goal.

The Crimson booters pressed their attack from the start, setting up two early scoring opportunities. But both these times the shot bounced off the crossbar, and Harvard came away without a score.

Andover then launched a quick counterattack, caught the Crimson defense playing in midfield, and struck with the first goal of the game.

Yardling Rush

The Crimson offensive continued to apply fierce pressure and its shots began to find their mark. Several minutes later, the Yardling booters had rushed to a 3-1 lead.

Assuming the game was well in hand, Crimson coach Bob Scalise began substituting for his first-string. Andover, however, was not ready to surrender. Charging in against the Harvard subs, the Blue knotted the game at 3-3 by halftime.

Scalie's starters returned in the second half, and the Crimson attack came to life. Another three goal explosion gave Harvard a 6-3 lead with only ten minutes left to play.

Andover could not muster another come-from-behind rally as the game rushed toward its finish. The visitors had to settle for only one more goal, a last minute tally that tightened the final score, 6-4.

After the game, Scalise said that he was disappointed with the victory. "We didn't play as well as we have in the past. We have shown in our other games that we can play much better soccer."

The defense, Scalise said, failed to meet its usual standard of excellence. The four goals are the most given by the team this year. "It's not that our defensive play was bad," explained Scalise, "it's just that we were pressuring so much on offense that we left ourselves vulnerable to quick counterattacks."

Fullbacks are the key to the Crimson's defense and Harvard has been struck by a number of injuries at that position recently.

The Yardlings face their next foe, tough Navy Prep, on Tuesday, November 4.