M. Soccer Opener Spoiled by Cornell

Call it the "Red Storm Rising."

After last season's heartbreaking 1-0 overtime loss to Cornell, in which senior fullback Jon Vrionis and sophomore midfielder Lee Williams were lost for the season with injuries, the Harvard men's soccer team was looking for revenge in yesterday's season opener.

But 19th-ranked Cornell (2-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy) quickly dashed those hopes with a three-goal barrage in the first 20 minutes of regulation en route to a 3-1 victory over Harvard (0-1, 0-1).

"We made two bad decisions that cost us goals," Harvard coach Steve Locker said. "They buried their opportunities. Give them credit for that."

Harvard played Cornell evenly through the first five minutes of play, but the first Cornell score seemed to take the wind from Harvard's sails.

Cornell's Eric Kusseluk lofted a free kick from the left side of the field toward the penalty box and across the front of the goal. Senior gaoalie Peter Albers came out to grab the cross, but the ball went over his head to Cornell's John Bernard, who knocked the ball through the posts with his noggin.

"When they gave up the goal, our guys were dumbfounded," Locker said. "They were in a daze."

The Cornell duo of Bernard and Kusseluk took advantage of Harvard's shock with its second goal, at the 13:00 minute mark.

This time, Bernard chest-trapped a pass from midfield at the top of the penalty box. He appeared to be setting up for a shot, but instead sent a short pass over to Kusseluk, about 10 feet to his left in the penalty box.

Kusseluk appeared to be bottled up by the Harvard defender, but he fired a tremendous rocket that found the upper right corner of the goal.

"The second shot was just a great shot by their player," Harvard captain Will Kohler said. "That goal was the only one you could say they really worked for."

Cornell completed its opening-minutes trifecta with 20 minutes gone in the game. Midfielder Josh Warmund lofted a floater into the Harvard penalty box area. Kusseluk managed to evade the Harvard defense and was alone in the center of the box. He gently tapped the ball off his head, and the ball just floated over the outstretched fingertips of Albers.

"The third goal was another breakdown in our defense," Kohler said. "The first and third goals were just tough goals. There's nothing you can coach against or prepare against."

At that point in the game, Locker decided to shake up his defense, replacing Albers with sophomore net-minder Jordan Dupuis.

Harvard's Kohler, sophomore midfielder Armando Petruccelli and senior forward Rich Wilmot combined early in the game for an exciting give-and-go that took the ball to the Cornell goal before Kohler's centering pass was deflected away.

But this tandem was soon split up, as Petruccelli was taken out of action by a hard slide tackle that knocked him out of the first half action.

"We missed Armando in the first half," Kohler said. "We really gave up the midfield."

The offense, meanwhile, started to grind down after the first Cornell goal.

"We had a tough time building up our offense," Kohler said. "The forwards weren't working together. We weren't cohesive as a team."

Harvard's best chances came in the second half.

With 20 minutes remaining in the second half, Kohler took a beautifully-led feed from Wilmot straight to the goal, but his shot went high and wide.

About 10 minutes later, Kohler took a feed from Petruccelli, who returned to start the second half, down the left sideline, where he let fly a shot around his defender. The shot, which beat the goalie, slammed against the right post and bounded back out into the field.

Meanwhile, Harvard's defense began to jell, sparked by the ferocious play of Vrionis.

Vrionis, perhaps reminded of last year's game, began to play the role of enforcer, tossing Big Red players around like firewood and finally earned a yellow card. But it paid off, as Cornell's opportunities were fairly limited in the second half.

Harvard's lone goal came in the final minute of play, when the Harvard offense pushed the ball into the Cornell penalty box.

A series of Harvard shots had the goalie out of position, so a Cornell player fell on top of the ball, obstructing senior midfielder Jim Quagliaroli from the ball.

Harvard was awarded a penalty kick, and Quagliaroli easily converted. Cornell  3 Harvard  1

CORNELL, 3-1 at Ohiri Field Cornell  3  0  --  3 Harvard  0  1  --  1

Scoring

Cor--Bernard 1 (Megliola) 7:37.

Cor--Kusseluk 13:02.

Cor--Kusseluk (Megliola) 20:16

Har--Quagliaroli (penalty kick) 44:30.

Saves: Har--Albers 1, Dupuis 4; Cor--Sharma 3.

CORNELL, 3-1 at Ohiri Field Cornell  3  0  --  3 Harvard  0  1  --  1

Scoring

Cor--Bernard 1 (Megliola) 7:37.

Cor--Kusseluk 13:02.

Cor--Kusseluk (Megliola) 20:16

Har--Quagliaroli (penalty kick) 44:30.

Saves: Har--Albers 1, Dupuis 4; Cor--Sharma 3.

Scoring

Cor--Bernard 1 (Megliola) 7:37.

Cor--Kusseluk 13:02.

Cor--Kusseluk (Megliola) 20:16

Har--Quagliaroli (penalty kick) 44:30.

Saves: Har--Albers 1, Dupuis 4; Cor--Sharma 3.