Booters Brave the Big Apple

New York, New York--The Big Apple was sweet last Saturday for the Harvard women's soccer team, but the men's squad found it rotten to the core.

The women, led by sophomore center forward Robin Johnston's four tallies, crushed Columbia, 6-0. The Lions are not exactly the cream of the crop, top of the heap, or A Number One, but the win was still impressive.

Johnston's goal-scoring explosion tied the Harvard one-game record, set by Sue St. Louis in 1978 and 1979 against the dreaded Stonehill Hillies, and later equalled by Kelly Landry in 1982 against Cornell and 1983 against Penn. She also tied Landry and two others for the Ivy League one-game goal-scoring record.

Johnston scored only two goals in her injury-plagued 1988 season, but she has completely recovered from knee surgery to terrorize unfortunate keepers. She's no stranger to the scoreboard--she once scored eight goals in one half against Golden (Col.) High School, a squad nearly as fearsome as Stonehill.

Johnston said she thought the lousy weather was more of a test for the Crimson than the Lions. But with improved depth this year, the Crimson could challenge for the Ivy League title.

"No matter who goes out there, we'll be strong, especially up the middle," Johnston said. Center midfielder Tracy Hackeling, sweeper Andrea Montalbano, stopper Tory Fair and Johnston are all strong All-Ivy candidates.

Today, the Crimson will put their undefeated record on the line against New Hampshire in Durham, N.H. Harvard resumes its Ivy schedule September 29 against arch-rival Brown.

The road to the Ivy championship may be as tough as driving uptown on New York City's Fifth Avenue. But hey, if they can make it there...

Manhattan Transfer: The men's frustrating 1-0 overtime loss to Columbia left them with more memories of New York's stuffy subways, stale pretzels and sidewalk garbage than of Broadway, the Carnegie Deli or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And these were no little-town Blues--after 120 minutes of brutal fouls from Lion defenders, the forward line could relate better to New York's muggings than its knishes.

At one point, Crimson striker Dave Kramer was decked from behind. Surely the whistel-happy referee couldn't let this one go. Of course not. He called a foul on Kramer, and later tacked on a yellow card to boot.

That's Columbian justice for you. Maybe the ref was afraid of the drug lords.

The men will try to make a brand new start of it tomorrow against Hartford. Unfortunately, the Crimson will be without the services of Captain Paul Baverstock for the remainder of the season. The sturdy center midfielder--who led Harvard in scoring last year--tore ligaments in his left knee in a preseason scrimmage against an English all-star team.

Baverstock will begin a rehabilitation program in three months, and plans to spend next summer in California working out with sophomores Brian Enge and Jeremy Amen. Since Baverstock spent last spring in New Zealand, he will be eligible to return to the 1990 squad as a secondsemester senior.

First Time for You, Too?: Ivy League regulations prohibit freshman athletes from practicing with varsity teams until their classes arrive at school, so Saturday marked the first test for the Class of '93. Women's Coach Tim Wheaton started rookie Erin Matias at fullback. Midfielder Sharon Olken and forward Laurie "W" Uustal also saw extended action.

Men's Coach Mike Getman unleashed his two freshman midfielders, Peter Cochran and Jason Luzak. Both should contribute mightily to a halfback line decimated by graduation and Baverstock's injury.

Pair of Shues: The Columbia marching band rated Harvard the number-one cultural icon that Senator Jesse Helms will censor in the name of decency, but one of our most popular icons showed up at the Lions' den last Saturday. Elisabeth Shue '88-'90--the actress best known for her starring roles in Cocktail, Adventures in Babysitting and The Karate Kid--braved the rain to watch her brother John and the men's soccer team take on Columbia. She said she was disappointed with John's limited playing time, but still plans to catch several games this season.

Elisabeth has taken the last three semesters off to pursue her professional career, but she plans to return to Harvard this spring.

"Right now, I just want to try to graduate before John," the government concentrator said.

I don't know, Jesse. She looked pretty decent to me...