UMass Deadlocks Booters, 1-1

Harvard men's soccer Coach Mike Getman looked down the bench for a front-field sub late in yesterday's Crimson-University of Massachusetts game at Ohiri Field, but he ran into a problem.

He had run out of players. Injuries had left him without a single available forward...or midfielder...or back.

"I almost put [usual starting goaltender] Stephen Hall at forward," Getman said. "There wasn't anybody else."

Getman has tried a lot of combinations this season, attempting to put an end to the Crimson's scoring problems.

Yesterday was no exception.

Once again, Harvard had a mixed-up lineup and once again the Crimson couldn't score goals.

Harvard and the Minutemen struggled to a 1-1 overtime tie, the Crimson's second consecutive deadlock.

"It's the story of the year for us," Getman said. "We earned an OK goal, then we gave one back on a fluke. We just don't have the ability to score goals."

Shue Box

In a game marred by injuries, it was fitting that a JV-turned-varsity sub netted the Crimson's lone goal. Sophomore Jon Shue took advantage of a packed penalty box to squeeze a shot past UMass netminder Sam Ginzburg and put Harvard (6-3-4 overall, 3-1-1 Ivy League) up, 1-0, at 40:13. Freshman Brian Enge passed deep to junior Paul Baverstock who slid the ball into junior Derek Mills. Mills took the first shot, and Shue picked up on the rebound. Baverstock was credited with the assist.

The Minutemen (8-8-2) knotted the score at 71:11 when junior Steven Cesnek took a shot-turned-into-perfect pass for sophomore Carl Hanks. With Crimson senior goalkeeper Chad Reilly caught out of position anticipating the original shot, Hanks picked up the errant shot and fired the ball into the opposite side of the net for a 1-1 deadlock which survived the two ten-minute overtimes.

"Injuries certainly had an impact on the game," Getman said. "We had nobody that was healthy."

Injured Reserve

Shue came in for star midfielder Ramy Rajballie, who left the field midway through the first half with a sprained ankle.

Senior Louis Lyons (leg injury) was playing ball boy rather than backfield.

Freshman Alex Estevez was home with the flu.

Classmates Lenny Ilkhanoff and Josh Morris did not dress for the game--both are scheduled for knee surgery.

Mills, who had knee surgery just 15 days ago, was back on the field and looking like he hadn't missed a day. Although both teams were lagging on the attack, Mills played a fast, offensive game, running through the UMass defense to challenge Ginzburg (five saves) and backup goaltender Brett Shumsky (two saves) several times.

Reilly had five saves in his first start of the season. He also saw action in the Crimson's opener with MIT in September.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard outshot UMass, 15-13, and had 12 corner kicks to the Minutemen's 11...Freshman Brian Enge played at both ends of the field, starting at left wing and switching to the backfield later in the game...Harvard travels Friday night to Philadelphia to play on the artificial turf of Franklin Field at 7:30 p.m...The Crimson will close out its schedule against Yale at Ohiri Field on November 19 at 10:30 a.m.