Lions Sting Booters

NEW YORK-The Columbia men's soccer team today stretched its winning streak over Harvard to eight years.

The Lions' 3-0 upset victory before 1150 fans at the Columbia Soccer Stadium makes them heavy favorites to claim their eighth consecutive Ivy League title.

Playing without All-Ivy forward Nikhil Singh--who was sidelined with a bruised kidney suffered in the booters' opener against MIT Wednesday--the Crimson squandered numerous scoring opportunities.

The hosts' first goal came at 4:01 of the first half when a tripping penalty on Ian Hardington and Mark Pepper gave Columbia a penalty kick.

Harvard goalie Matt Ginsburg dove left but the Lions' Neil Banks shot right into an open net.

Columbia 1, Harvard 0.

But the clincher for the hosts came at 52:23 in the second half when Jim Wurster snuck the ball under the diving Ginsburg.

With many of the players distracted by an injured Lion writhing on the ground, play continued in front of the Harvard goal.

After the Crimson (1-1 overall, 0-1 Ivy) failed to clear the ball, Wurster hit his roller, which Ginsburg appeared to have stopped. But the ball wiggled under him to give Columbia a commanding 2-0 lead.

The Lions added a third goal at 69:22, when Kurt Dasbach beat Ginsburg on a beautiful play off a direct kick.

Ginsburg's early troubles overshadowed a fine performance late in the second half, when the senior goalie made a series of tough saves.

The Crimson clearly missed Singh, both for his height and his direction on offense.

Several high balls sailed in front of the Columbia net untouched, and the booters were unable to click on offense.

Aside from the penalty kick, Harvard's offense controlled the first period. On at least five occasions, Cantabs broke in alone on Columbia goalie Jeff Micheli, only to misfire or be thwarted by the Lion netminder, who notched six saves for the afternoon.

The Crimson's best chance came from the foot of forward Nick Hotchkin, whose shot from about seven yards out was abruptly halted by Micheli, a second-team All-Ivy selection a year ago.

Freshman Ramy Rajballie twice had open shots, but on each occasion was unable to put the ball on goal.

Overall in the half, the visitors took nine shots to only four for their opponents.

In the first 45 minutes, Ginsburg had only one save opportunity--other than the penalty kick.

"I think we played really well in the first half," Harvard Captain Lane Kenworthy said. "We missed a couple chances we could have put away."

Columbia's coach Dieter Ficken agreed.

"In the first half, if they had put away their opportunities, it could have been 3-1 (Harvard)," the Lion mentor said.

The tide shifted in the second half, during which Columbia was more dominant, controlling the field and giving itself numerous scoring opportunities.

Harvard's best chance of the final stanza came at the 70 minute mark, when Ken Ruoff had a solid shot deflected by Micheli.

THE NOTEBOOK: The start of the game was delayed by the dedication of the stadium. The new facility was financed by Lawrence A. Wein, who last year endowed Columbia's new football stadium...Harvard leads the all-time series between the teams, 15-9, but Columbia has won the last nine in a row...The Lions came into the contest ranked 15th in the nation, one spot ahead of the Crimson. No other Ivy teams are in the top 20...Columbia outshot the Crimson, 17-13; Micheli had six saves, Ginsburg had seven; Columbia had 10 corner kicks, Harvard seven.