M. Booters Fall In OT Again

Walking away from Ohiri Field after watching the Princeton men's soccer team defeat the Harvard squad in overtime on Saturday, 3-1, it was easy to get the feeling that one had seen it all before.

Another overtime.

Another well played game by both sides.

Another Harvard loss.

The game that ended any hope of a share of the Ivy title for Harvard was remarkable because it was so unremarkable.

For seemingly the umpteenth time, Harvard had its opponent down, but could not keep it out.

The team played well, but did not get the breaks.

Once again, the Crimson's opponent rose to the occasion and got lucky.

This weekend, Princeton filled the role that has also been played by teams such as Connecticut, Yale and Hartwick.

The Tigers (5-5-1, 2-3-0 Ivy) abruptly ended the Crimson's three game winning streak and mathematically eliminated Harvard (6-6-0, 2-3-0 Ivy) from the Ivy race.

"We played real good soccer again today," Harvard Coach Mike Getman said. "We just didn't put them away early, when we had the chance."

The game-winner came from Princeton freshman superstar Michael Busch, who scored on a questionable goal five minutes into the second overtime.

Getman was at a loss to explain his team's performance--or lack of it--in overtime this year. With Saturday's loss, the Crimson has an 0-4 record in overtime games this year.

"The first thing you look to is fatigue, but I don't think that's a problem," said Getman. "I thought we played better in the overtime period today. We just couldn't get one in."

Busch's tally came when he trapped an air pass deep in Harvard territory and went one-on-one with Harvard goalie Jamie Reilly, eventually drilling the ball into the right corner for the win.

It appeared from the stands that Busch was off sides when he received the pass, but no official made a call.

"From where I stood, I thought he was off sides," Getman said. "But it shouldn't have come down to that one play."

The Crimson squandered a 1-0 lead that it kept well into the second half. The lone Harvard goal came with just under six minutes left in the first half.

And, once again, it was junior Jason Luzak and senior Don Daigle who were responsible for the Crimson offense. Luzak fed Daigle with a pass from the right side in front of the Princeton goal, and Daigle punched the ball into the right corner of the net.

While Harvard controlled the first half, Princeton tied up the game at 1-1 when sophomore forward John Talbot smashed a ball from just outside the goalie's box into the upper right corner past Reilly.

The two teams remained scoreless through the rest of regulation until Busch's goal in the second overtime period gave Princeton the 2-1 lead.

With just over two minutes left in overtime, the Tigers tacked on an insurance goal when sophomore Joe Thieman lifted a shot above Reilly after catching a pass from forward Shawn O'Neal.