Hernani's Hat Trick Bowls Over Booters

Once... Twice... Three times a Hernani.

No, it wasn't deja vu--just a hat trick by Hartford's Victor Hernani that crushed the Harvard men's soccer team's hopes of an NCAA bid. The Hawks' forward single-handedly led Hartford (6-8) past the Crimson (3-4) yesterday in Hartford, accounting for all the scoring in the Hawks' 3-0 victory.

The game, originally scheduled for Saturday, was postponed to yesterday because of flooding on the field.

Trouble

"Hernani is a fantastic forward," Harvard fullback Josh Morris said. "He lulls you to sleep, but he is always in the right place at the right time."

Hernani's first tally came just six minutes into the contest. Off a long throw into the goalie box, Hernani beat Harvard goalie Jamie Reilly to the ball and headed it past the Crimson netminder into the open goal. From then on, Harvard was forced to play catchup ball.

"We came out strong, but they scored early on us," Harvard Captain John Shue said. "We were fighting back the whole game."

With six minutes left in the first half, Hernani struck again. Hartford's corner kick from the right side of the field was cleared, but Hernani was left wide open in front of the net and was able to chip the loose ball into the upper right corner of the goal for an insurmountable 2-0 halftime advantage.

"It was not one of our better games defensively," Morris said, "but all the goals were off restarts. We just didn't mark properly. I don't think the game was a bad as 3-0 would indicate."

Giorgio Hernani

Perhaps not, but the Chinagliaesque Hernani was still creating havoc on the field for the Crimson. The Hawks' forward came back for more midway through the second half. After Shue was called for a controversial trip of Hernani in the box, the Crimson's nemesis blasted a penalty kick that hit the inside of the upper post and landed in the net.

While Hernani seemed to be everywhere, Harvard could not find a player in the right spot when it needed it. Although the squad was able to keep the ball in Hartford's defensive zone for the majority of the game, it could not convert.

Midfielder Don Daigle had one breakaway opportunity but was stuffed from point-blank range by the Hartford goaltender. Otherwise, Harvard could not generate strong chances.

"It was just mental laziness," Shue said. "Our hearts were in it, but we lacked a lot of soccer sense."

Harvard will look to regain some of that soccer sense plus a bit of the scoring punch it discovered last weekend in its 3-0 victory over Cornell. The Ivy League title is still up for grabs, and the Crimson faces its most critical weekend series of the year when it heads down to Princeton Friday and Penn Sunday.

"Everyone should be in shape and healthy," said sophomore fullback Jason Luzak, who was sidelined yesterday with a foot injury but expects to play against the Tigers."We want to come back and show everyone who we really are. I think it will be a good showing."