Men's Booters Look to Rebound Against B.C.

The Harvard's men's soccer team's loss to Penn Saturday can only be described as disappointing. The Crimson dominated play--outshooting the Quakers almost two to one--yet came away with a conference loss in its first game of the season.

There are several ways to react to a frustrating outcome such as this. One is to look at the positives.

"We won a good part of that game against Penn," said sophomore stopper Paul Cantagallo. "Everyone who was there thought that we dominated play and were shocked that we didn't get a win or at least a tie. We're looking to prove ourselves with that first win."

A slightly different reaction is simply to get angry.

"I think we're going to come out really strong," said sophomore Will Hench. "It was a disappointing loss. We didn't play as well as we could have. Everyone is pissed off; we're ready to kill."

In either case, the Boston College Eagles, who host the Crimson today at 3:30 p.m., had better be ready for a team prepared to do whatever it takes to win.

"The most important thing is for us to get a win under our belt," Cantagallo said. "There is a tendency to doubt ourselves after a game like that, but once you get that win the confidence shoots up. You can really draw the parallel to last year."

Cantagallo refers to last year's hugely successful season in which Harvard dropped its opener to Cornell and then proceeded to reel off 16 straight wins on its way to an Ivy League title and an NCAA Tournament berth.

If history is to repeat itself, Harvard's offense needs to continue to manufacture scoring chances, and most importantly capitalize on those chances.

"We had lots of opportunities against Penn," Cantagallo said. "It wasn't the offense's fault. [Captain] Tommy McLaughlin played a great game and the offense played well. We just didn't get lucky."

The Crimson may have dominated the offensive play and had numerous scoring chances, but a zero on the scoreboard tells the final story. Lucky or unlucky, a goose egg will never win a game, so Harvard's focus in practice has been on putting the ball into the goal.

"We've been working on our set plays and free kicks because we didn't take advantage of those chances against Penn," Hench said. "We've also been doing a lot of shooting and finishing drills."

The Eagles (1-3-0, 1-2-0 Big East) are just as desperate as the Crimson for a win. B.C.'s sole victory came against Providence--a Harvard opponent next Tuesday--in its second game of the season. Two straight league losses have followed and a win would have similar positive effects on the B.C. psyche.

In style of play, the Crimson will face an interesting foil in the Eagles. Tall and physical, B.C. leans towards a less disciplined style of attack.

"They play a lot of balls in the air into the box," Hench said. "They are not as skilled as we are, but it should be a tough game. We need to keep the ball on the ground and at our feet and take advantage of our chances."

If the Crimson's ball control offense continues to manufacture scoring chances, it is doubtful that McLaughlin--last season's leading scorer--and the rest of the offense will stay off the board.

A similar result to last year's dominating 4-1 victory over B.C. may set history in motion to repeat itself for the Crimson in the 1997 season.