Wesleyan Edges Crimson Booters, 2-1

The Wesleyan Cardinals left the Crimson booters longing for home yesterday, handing Harvard its second consecutive away-game defeat, 2-1. The visitors dug themselves into an early hole with a pair of defensive lapses and then had to struggle for the remainder of the contest in a vain attempt to catch up.

Harvard coach George Ford felt that his charges were intimidated by the burly Wesleyan squad, especially in the disastrous early going. For the day, the Cardinals out-fouled the visitors, 16-5.

The Cardinals got their initial goal in the first 10 minutes of play. While Harvard's defenders tried sleepwalking instead of soccer, a free kick sailed downfield to a wide-open forward who punched the ball home for a 1-0 Wesleyan lead.

Folly Floater

Later in the first half, the speedy Cardinal right wing streaked past Crimson left wing Bob Carey and cut to the inside. He barely managed to get a foot on a long crossfield feed, launching a folly floater toward the Harvard goal.

"The kick looked endless," Harvard coach George Ford said last night. "It seemed the ball would never get to the net." Unfortunately, it did, just ahead of the diving Crimson goalie, Fred Herold. Ahead 2-0, Wesleyan had all the goals it would need.

For the Harvard defense, those were the only two miscues of the day. Ford was left very satisfied with their effort, maintaining that after three games the inner guard has been the strength of the squad. "The defense played very well," he commented last night. "Unfortunately, they just got caught those two times."

In the second half, Harvard was a different team. "They showed me something today that I haven't seen in my three years here at Harvard--tremendous desire," Ford explained afterwards. "We used the whole bench and every single player just wanted it so bad."

Gentle Bens

Men known for their gentle dispositions were apparently driven to a frenzy. Matt Bowyer, one of the quietest players on the team, reacted to what he considered to be an undetected foul by pushing back. The officials saw that push, and the Crimson midfielder was ejected from the game.

Shortly thereafter, Lee Nelson got tangled up with an opponent, broke free with the ball, and fed it downfield to Harvard's big gun, co-captain Lyman Bullard. An official broke up the play, calling the ball back for a Crimson free kick. The official thought even less of Nelson's comments than he thought of the play, and sent the Crimson booter off the field to join Bowyer in exile.

This new-found combativeness made itself felt in the flow of play too, and Harvard took command of the game. But the time kept clicking away, and the frustration continued to mount, as the Crimson failed to cash in on its opportunities.

Net Solution

Finally, with only five minutes left to play, Bob Grant solved the Cardinal netminder and pulled the visitors within one. "That goal just had to come," Ford said later. "There was simply no end to the offensive pressure."

Still leading by one, Wesleyan was content to kick the ball upfield and waste time. Struggling to keep the ball in the offensive end, Harvard nevertheless had its chances to knot the score. At one point, Bullard was robbed by a brilliant save by the Cardinal goalie.

In the final seconds, the ball was loose in the goal mouth and the Crimson bench exploded repeatedly thinking Harvard had scored, but it was not to be. Wesleyan survived the scare, and was a 2-1 victor when the final gun sounded.