M. Soccer Bombs Friars, 3-0

Yesterday at Ohiri Field, the Harvard men's soccer team didn't win quickly. It won immediately.

The score of the victory over Providence read 3-0, but in fact the game was nowhere near that close. The Crimson scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the game and coasted its way to the win.

It was a difficult game for Providence (6-7-4). The Friars had just come off of a heartbreaking 1-0 overtime loss to No. 12 Connecticut that kept Providence out of the Big East Tournament, so this was the team's last game of the season. To make matters worse, it came against No. 7 Harvard (13-1, 5-1 Ivy).

For its part, the Crimson was looking forward to Saturday's game against Brown, in which Harvard can win the Ivy title outright with a win or a tie. So the Crimson wanted to make sure that the team was still playing well, which meant that it wanted a quick start.

That's what happened. After mortaring the Friar goal with attack after attack, the Crimson netted its first goal 10:50 into the game. Sophomore back Andrew Lundquist sent a long, sailing ball from the right side around midfield towards senior Rich Wilmot, who streaked into the box from the left side. The perfect pass gave Wilmot a point-blank shot, and he converted.

Two minutes later, captain Will Kohler was escaped from his defender in the box, took a pass from junior Tom McLaughlin and left-footed another close-range shot into the net.

"We dictated the play today," Harvard coach Stephen Locker said. "I didn't expect them to be so easy to get around, but we did a nice job. The only disappointment is that we didn't score as much as we should have given the chances that we had."

And did Harvard have chances. In between its first and second goals, McLaughlin hauled in a pass from Kohler and went on a long run up the field but shot high. Before the Crimson's first goal, freshman Will Hench, Kohler and Wilmot all had excellent opportunities for goals.

But the only other time that Harvard scored came with 26:52 left in the first half, when McLaughlin went on another break. This time, he tried to dribble past the goaltender, but he lost control and had to chase the ball down well outside of the post. However, he saw Hench running in from the opposite side unmarked, and McLaughlin picked up his second assist on the day.

After that goal, the Crimson attack was never as dominant again as it was in the game's first 20 minutes. Silva, McLaughlin and company had some more chances, but few were as good and none went in the net.

The one exception came 15 minutes into the second half, when McLaughlin broke free of everyone on a run and got taken down by the goalie in the box. Harvard was awarded a penalty kick, which the team gave to senior John Vrionis, who had his birthday yesterday. However, his shot to the left was saved by Friar goaltender Chris Ivany.

Late in the game, Providence mounted several attacks, but the Harvard defense held for its fourth shutout in a row and its eighth this season.

Notes

This win had implications for the NCAA Tournament for Harvard. Since Providence almost beat UConn and defeated Rhode Island, Harvard further distanced itself from those teams with yesterday's resounding win.

The Crimson next take on Brown on Saturday, and though the seventh ranked team is assured of making the 32-team tournament, it wants to also take the Ivy League title.

"After clinching against Dartmouth [last weekend], a lot of the guys thought that we were going to come out slacking today, but we came out on fire," Wilmot said. "Everybody's happy we're at 5-1, but no one's satisfied at tying for the championship." Providence  0 Harvard  3