Brown Soccer Squad Romps Over Harvard, 6-1

Providence, R.I.-- The focus here Saturday was on Brown Stadium. The cameras, cheerleaders, Bud Wilkinson, the entire city were all waiting for the Ivy football title, for the devastating victory over Harvard that never happened.

The Bruin rout actually took place almost two hours before the opening kickoff, on a muddy field a mile and a half away from the stadium. Cliff Stevenson's forgotten soccer squad dominated Harvard for 90 minutes to post a 6-1 Ivy League romp.

And if it wasn't for Crimson goaltender Fred Herold, the Brown offense might well have scored in the double figures.

Led by forwards Tom Pelletier (3 goals and an assist) and All-American Fred Pereira (1 goal, two assists), Brown took 37 shots on Herold, forcing him to come up with 17 saves. Harvard, meanwhile, took just 11 shots in the entire contest, 5 on goal.

Starting Pressure

Brown applied the pressure from the start, with Pereira displaying some of his talents in front of the Crimson net. But it was Harvard that got on the scoreboard first on a Mark Zimering goal.

Zimering took advantage of an unusual lapse by fullback Steve Ralbovsky (Brown fans claim he was tripped) and fired past Bruin goalkeeper Dave Flaschen at 5:62 of the first half. George Grassby assisted on the short-lived Harvard lead.

But despite the lead, the Crimson squad was never quite in contention. Brown's Tom Walsh scored at 13:31 of the first half on a shot into the lower left corner after a great rush from midfield, and Pelletier put Brown ahead on his first goal, at 28:19. The Bruins outshot Harvard 21-5 before intermission, but had only a 2-1 lead to show for it.

Herold made 10 of his 17 saves in the first half, with Pereira knocking on the door several times. Herold robbed the All-American on a near breakaway with eight minutes remaining in the half, as he came out to challenge the sure-footed forward and keep him from getting off a shot.

But Herold's heroics could not last for long. After two Rhode Island Peewee and the Brown band entertained during intermission, the Brown varsity entertained the cold crowd in the second half with four more goals.

Pelletier scored two of the goals, the first coming at 7:45 to start the rout rolling. Pelletier then obliged Peter Van Beek less than a minute later, setting up Van Beek for a 25-yard shot into the lower right corner.

Van Beek (who had an assist on Brown's first goal) was so appreciative, he fell to his knees on the slippery pitch with hands raised in jubilation. A much more display than Pelletier's hat trick produced at 13:13. Pelletier fired from point blank range, after receiving the ball from Pereira, to make it 5-1.

Herold continued to hold his spell on Pereira until there were only five and a half minutes remaining in the game. The Crimson goalkeeper again came off the base line to beat Pereira to the shot midway through the half and later made a save on a classy play where Pereira headed the ball to Van Beek, who slipped it back to him for a shot.

But at 39:35, Pereira broke the jinx to make the final score read 6-1 for Stevenson's squad.

This year, with Ivy losses to Princeton and Cornell (5-1), the only hope for Brown (4-2) is for a share of the title with a win Saturday while Cornell loses. Dartmouth (4-2), which opened up the race by upsetting Cornell Saturday 1-0 in Hanover, has the same shot at the title as the Bruins.

The loss eliminated Harvard (3-3) from the race, and next Saturday's contest at Yale will mean only the difference between a winning and losing Ivy season.

The focus next Saturday will be on the Yale Bowl, where Harvard and Yale will decide the Ivy football championship.