UConn Blows by Crimson

STORRS, Conn.--Hurricane Gloria missed the boat.

If the 150 mile-per-hour hurricane now making its way up the East Coast had arrived at 8:24 of the first half of yesterday's Harvard-Connecticut men's soccer match, the Crimson would have been eternally grateful.

At 8:23 of the first half, the Crimson booters (now 1-2) owned something few of the 2,195 enthusiastic--if not knowledgeable--fans on hand expected: the lead.

But hurricane Gloria never made her arrival at the Connecticut soccer stadim.

Hurricane Husky showed up instead.

And when the final gun sounded 82 minutes after Lane Kenworthy's direct kick had eluded UConn goalie Andy Pantason, the 10th-ranked Huskies (now 6-0-3) had turned a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 victory.

Which just goes to show you, you can never find a friendly hurricane when you need one.

Kenworthy's goal, coming off a nice set play, shocked the hosts--especially Pantason, who had allowed but four goals in his team's first eight games.

The UConn netminder was named national player of the week by Soccer America magazine for his stellar performance this year--which has included shutouts of two of the nation's top five squads.

"We were kind of stunned," Huskie back Tony Rizza said of the Crimson tally. "But then we reacted and we jumped on it and we scored right back."

Retaliation occurred at 17:42, when Thouki Stavrianidis took a pass from E.J. Raftery and launched a shot which eluded Harvard goalie Matt Ginsburg and bounced off the right post into the Crimson net.

Stavrianidis netted the eventual game-winner eight minutes later, bouncing the ball off the left post to put UConn on top, 2-1.

Raftery added the Huskies' final goal of the first half when he broke free and dribbled the ball down the right sideline to line it over a diving Ginsburg.

UConn dominated the first half in several offensive categories. The Huskies took 16 shots to Harvard's four and had the period's sole corner kick.

However, all three of UConn's first-half goals came on quick bursts down the field; bursts on which Harvard's backfield couldn't respond quickly enough.

"They were playing a soft zone," Stavrianidis reported, "and they weren't coming up to defend our passes."

Crimson Coach Jape Shattuck denied that defensive lapses had led to the Husky goals, saying instead that "UConn put some great plays together."

The Huskies, cheered on by the partisan throng and Coach Joe Morrone--who was so excited by his team's first goal that he broke his clipboard--put together some more great plays in the second half.

Santi Vigil and Dan Donigan each tallied in the second frame to give the hosts their final four-goal margin.

One bright spot for Harvard was the return of midfielder Nikhal Singh, who had missed the Columbia game with a bruised kidney.

The 5-ft., 11-in. senior played very well and was instrumental early in the game in clearing the ball out of Harvard's end.

The Crimson plays its home opener tomorrow against Brandeis--an important contest for the booters, who earlier today dropped out of the national rankings for the first time all year.

"In terms of performance, effort, and application, they're playing very well," Shattuck said of his team. "The credit today should go to UConn.

"This loss diminishes our chances in New England soccer very much," Shattack continued.

Only two teams from the region will get bids to the NCAA tournament at the end of the season, and the Crimson has dropped to third in the New England polls behind UConn and Yale.

THE NOTEBOOK: Freshman Stephen Hall, the world class goalie from England whom the NCAA has ruled ineligible for the season, made his first appearance at a Harvard game yesterday. He was listed on the program as a Crimson manager.