M. Soccer Boots Princeton, 4-1

And the good times just keep on rolling.

And rolling.

And rolling.

And rolling...into the back of the net, yet again.

The men of Harvard soccer have suddenly put their scoring boots on, and Dartmouth and Brown had better take notice.

Sunday's 4-1 win at Princeton was the Crimson's second consecutive Ivy League blowout by that same scoreline--Yale being the first victim--and with the conference race its for the winning, Harvard is looking mighty dangerous.

"Our spirits are so high right now," sophomore Kevin Silva said after notching two goals and an assist on the day. "We're very confident--we know we can beat anybody the way we're playing right now."

What a triumphant contrast to the sour mood of the early season, when huff and puff as it might, the Crimson attack just couldn't blow anything past the big, bad opposing goalie.

Even when it was scoring during a 1-6-0 beginning to the season, the Harvard (4-7-1, 4-1-0 Ivy) goals were coming from dead-ball situations: corner kicks and free kicks, mostly. But all four goals against Princeton (5-5-1, 2-2-0 Ivy) came in the flow of play, patient build-ups sparking good attacks and, more often than not, provoking solid finishing.

"Before the Yale game, Coach [Stephen] Locker gave us the approach that we were going to start our season from scratch, and everything has been entirely different since then," Silva said.

Silva, last week's Ivy League men's soccer Player of the Week and Harvard Athlete of the Week, for his own part has brought a relaxed attitude to the table that has paid off in spades--he now is second on the Crimson with 11 points (five goals and the one assist).

"I don't think anymore, 'I gotta score, I gotta score,'" Silva said. "Now it's stuff like thinking about playing good defense, and I guess the goals have come when instinct takes over."

It was Silva who opened the scoring in the 29th minute, but credit senior Steve Gaffney with a great through-ball to the flanking sophomore.

Tiger keeper Stuart Reynolds had no chance at the left-side shot, and just like that Harvard had scored the all-important first goal.

That opened the floodgates, the Harvard passing game clicking to control the midfield as it truly has all season.

"I think the defense had its best game as a unit all year," sophomore keeper Peter Albert said. "Communication between them and me was great, and we were able throughout to sort out most of the potential damage before it happened."

Princeton had only three shots on Albers all game, and it wasn't until the final minute that Jamie Adams snatched his first collegiate goal off a corner and ruined Albers' shutout.

"I don't think I've ever played on a worse day for keepers in my life," the California native said after the rainy day's proceedings.

"I can't really fault myself for letting the goal in--though I'm upset I lost my shutout [the goal was his first conceded in Ivy action all year], it's the kind of mistake I'll learn from," he said. "But I guess both goalkeepers had it the same out there."

One might wonder if Reynolds could be so philosophical. By halftime, it was 2-0: freshman Toure McCluskey sprung sophomore dynamo Will Kohler for a one-on-one with Reynolds that Kohler easily slotted home, his 6th goal of the year coming in the 40th minute.

And less than eight minutes into the second half, Silva effectively decided the issue, parlaying a steal of a 50-50 ball into another one-on-one against Reynolds that was easily tucked inside the near post for the decisive 3-0 lead.

High marks go too, though, to McCluskey for his day's performance. Coming in from off the substitutes bench in both halves for most of the season, McCluskey has done consistently well on the Crimson wing, and Sunday he was rewarded with his first collegiate goal, Silva the creator.

"He's been playing well all year," Silva said. "Naturally, he was really excited to get his first goal."

"It's O.K., coming in as a sub," McCluskey said. "I get into the flow of the game watching on the sideline, and it means I've got that much more energy when I do come into the game."

It must be an exciting time of year when everyone on the bench is dying to get into the run of play. Stay tuned--things could get pretty interesting in the next two weeks. Harvard  4 Princeton  1