Frosh Booters Defeat Brown In Squeaker

Despite the subpar performance of the varsity soccer team this year, soccer fans still have cause for cheer. The virtually unknown freshman soccer team extended its season's record to 8-1 yesterday afternoon, dumping Brown's heavily favored J.V. team, 2-1.

Rated as tops in the Ivies before meeting the Crimson, the Bruins could not match their superior individual talent with Harvard's remarkably consistent overall team play. "Their talent, player for player, was better than ours," commented Crimson coach Bob Scalise afterwards. "But we have super team strength, spirit and morale. Today, it carried us through," he said.

That the game pitted Harvard freshmen against many varsity caliber Bruins made the victory all the more rewarding for coach Scalise, "Theirs was a junior varsity squad," he explained later. "As a result, they were a lot older and bigger; they were more mature, experienced soccer players," he added. "One guy starting for them today was playing varsity soccer for Brown for almost the whole season."

The first period opened with exciting two-way soccer as no team could mount any serious pressure. Midway through the period, however, Brown forwards and halfbacks began to penetrate the Crimson zone, knocking down Crimson clearing shots and intercepting weak passes. The Bruins peppered Harvard goalie Brad Damiani, who was called upon to make numerous lunging saves to keep the Crimson in the game.

Despite Brown's domination, Crimson forces were not to be denied. At 18:11 of the period, sweeper Antonio Ardila fed left winger Peter Stone on a breakaway past a napping Brown defense. His low line drive beat a surprised Bruin goalie, and the score was quickly 1-0, Harvard.

Brown came right back and continued to apply pressure to the Crimson defensemen but again were unable to sneak one by Damiani. Fullbacks Ralph Earle, Billy Forbush and Sandy Cardin forced most Brown offenders to shoot from beyond the penalty area.

Frustrated, the Bruins began to play a more physical game as they outshot Harvard, 12-2. That frustration reached its peak when, at 21:31 of the period, Harvard's Steve Smith broke away from Brown fullbacks and beat a helpless Bruin goalie on the short side.

"They dominated play, but that's how our offense runs," explained inside forward Steve Smith afterwards. "We score our goals on fast breaks. We just try to capitalize on every opportunity," he added.

The second period began as spirited as the first. Both teams demonstrated nifty passing and dribbling skills in concert with an assortment of timely chest and thigh traps. As before, Brown controlled the offensive tempo of the game, but a determined Crimson defensive unit seemed impeccable. Finally, at 28:48 of the period, Brown inside winger Bib Hennenlotter beat Brad Damiani with a short blast from the side to close the gap to 2-1.

Harvard coach Scalise summed it all up in the end. "This was our best game--offensively, but particularly defensively," he said. "They took a lot of shots, but they weren't as dangerous as the opportunities we had," he added. "As a team, we just played super."