M. Booters Top Central Conn.

The Harvard men's soccer team defeated Central Connecticut State University handily yesterday at Ohiri Field, 3-0. With the win, the team improves to 4-1 overall and looks good heading into this weekend's contests against Lafayette and Penn.

Harvard's domination started from the opening whistle and never seemed to cease. Right off the bat, sophomore midfielder Armando Petruccelli controlled the ball just outside of the Central Connecticut penalty box and froze the defenders for a second, before firing a shot that would have surely beaten goalkeeper Adam Clementson had it not sailed just over the crossbar.

Although Harvard did not convert, its early chance set the tone for the game and left the Central Connecticut goalkeepers uneasy.

Soon thereafter, however, senior midfielder Kevin Silva deftly pushed a pass up the left side, hitting streaking freshman striker Alan Bengtzen in stride. Bengtzen took the ball straight to the net and tried to pound it home. In hockey-esque fashion, the shot hit the Central Connecticut keeper, but the rebound came out to unmarked junior forward Tom McLaughlin who casually took care of business. Score it McLaughlin at 5:32 from Bengtzen and Silva.

Harvard dominated play in the first half, except for a series of three consecutive corner kicks surrendered to Central Connecticut care of an unorganized off-sides trap. However, the defense played very well in the backfield and in moving up the field.

Sophomore Lee Williams made a lovely run straight through the middle of the Central Connecticut defense, that culminated in a lead pass to an open McLaughlin. However, the shot sailed wide right, relieving Clementson momentarily.

The Crimson was far from being finished with one mere goal. In a beautiful act of returning a favor, Harvard augmented its lead to two goals.

Senior midfielder T.J. Carella brought the ball up the right side and did well to serve a nice cross to McLaughlin at the top of the penalty area. Having tallied a goal with the assist from Bengtzen, McLaughlin took the opportunity to assist Bengtzen on a goal of his own.

McLaughlin stepped over Carella's cross, drawing the defense and backheeled it to the freshman striker who finished well.

The second half brought a lot of substitutions for the Crimson and two goalie changes for Central Connecticut, who was desperate to stop the profuse bleeding. To the Blue Devils' dismay, Harvard would go on to tally another goal, despite the change.

Bouncing back from a Blue Devil scoring chance muted by sophomore goalie Jordan Dupuis, Harvard senior T.J. Carella took action. He struck what might have been intended to be a cross, but what ended up as a shot--and indeed a goal-at an unexpectant Central Connecticut goaltender, who backpedaled and tumbled to the ground in vain, as dejected, he started at the soccer ball lying in the back of his net.

After a surprising mid-game conference with the Central Connecticut head coach, Harvard head coach Steve Locker took the opportunity to give his bench valuable playing time.

Harvard might well have scored again, but the referee did not call late penalties against the downtrodden Central Connecticut side.

"I thought we played well today," Petruccelli said. "We have all put Cornell behind us, and we know that we can be a really good team...we just have to remember it."

Now at 4-1, the Crimson look sharp. Furthermore, the team has demonstrated that they have a deep squad, complete with a bevy goal scorers, who are an ultimately precious commodity. After a shaky opener, things are looking up for the 10,000 men. Centrl. Conn  0 Harvard  3

HARVARD, 4-0 at Fairfield, Conn. Central Conn.  0  0  --  0 Harvard  2  1  --  3

Scoring

Har--McLaughlin (Bentzen) 5:32.

Har--Bentzen (McLaughlin, Carella) 26:26.

Har--Carella (unassisted) 55:23.

Saves: Har--Dupuis 2, Albers--2; Conn--Clementson--2, Gagnon--2, Kleykamp--2.

HARVARD, 4-0 at Fairfield, Conn. Central Conn.  0  0  --  0 Harvard  2  1  --  3

Scoring

Har--McLaughlin (Bentzen) 5:32.

Har--Bentzen (McLaughlin, Carella) 26:26.

Har--Carella (unassisted) 55:23.

Saves: Har--Dupuis 2, Albers--2; Conn--Clementson--2, Gagnon--2, Kleykamp--2.

Scoring

Har--McLaughlin (Bentzen) 5:32.

Har--Bentzen (McLaughlin, Carella) 26:26.

Har--Carella (unassisted) 55:23.

Saves: Har--Dupuis 2, Albers--2; Conn--Clementson--2, Gagnon--2, Kleykamp--2.