M. Soccer Blanks Penn

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.--If Ben Franklin were alive, he would not have been happy.

The University of Pennsylvania's founder would have seen lightning on Saturday, but only in the form of the lightning-quick Harvard men's soccer team. The Crimson won its first Ivy game, outplaying Franklin's Penn Quakers on the strength of goals by freshman Nick Lenicheck and sophomore Matt Edwards to win 2-0 at Rhodes Field in Philadelphia. HARVARD  2 PENN  0

Harvard (2-4-1, 1-2 Ivy) entered Saturday's game without a league win, but fresh off of an upset of a Boston University (B.U.) team ranked 17th in the nation. The victory against the Terriers was big for the Crimson, which received an enormous confidence boost.

"[The B.U. win] was a turning point in our season," said senior goalkeeper Jordan Dupuis.

Penn (1-6, 0-3) had just won its first game of the season against Temple last Tuesday. The Quakers came in with high hopes for their first Ivy victory of the season. They also came in riding last season's opening day triumph over Harvard in Cambridge, a victory that remains a bitter taste in the mouths of the Crimson players.

Fashioning a young squad that seems to improve with each game, Harvard showed flashes of maturity in Saturday's victory. Despite being out-shot 11-7 and committing 20 fouls to Penn's 14, the Crimson proved that it had the potential to be a force in the Ivy League.

But the Crimson, despite the impressive final score, did not dominate throughout the game. After grabbing a first-half lead, the Crimson was outshot by Penn 8-4 in the second half.

"We played well at times, but we became tentative," Harvard Coach Steve Locker said. "We need to learn how to play with a lead; we gave Penn too much."

Harvard, despite its mundane record, is not unaccustomed to enjoying the lead in its contests. On Sept. 24, Harvard led Providence 1-0 only to squander the lead andlose 2-1. The next game, two weekends ago againstYale, Harvard fought an early deficit to take alate 4-3 lead before surrendering a goal with onlytwo minutes left and then another in overtime.

In Saturday's game, Harvard jumped out to alead in the 30th minute as it turned the tables ona barrage of early attacks by Penn. Off of amidfield steal, Lenicheck broke free down thefield and beat Penn keeper Michael O'Connor, lastyear's Rookie of the year, to the right side. Itwas Lenicheck's first career goal.

"I got the ball from [junior] Paul [Cantagallo]and looked ahead and there was all of this openspace," Lenicheck said. "I got by one defender andI was ahead of everyone. I looked for a cross, butthere was no one there so I took the shot. Whenyou hit it hard and low, usually good things willhappen. I got lucky...I think it went through thekeeper's legs."

The goal was the second game-winner of theseason to come off of the foot of a freshman, theother being Mike Peller's goal against B.U.

"It's a huge step from high school to collegesoccer," Locker said. "But a bunch of guys areplaying well, and I'm real pleased with thedirection we're going."

The end of the first half saw Harvardbrandishing a 1-0 lead, thanks in large part toits intense defensive effort. Sophomore Ryan Kellydid an excellent job containing Penn forwardReginald Brown, a 5'6 bundle of speed who seemedcapable of scoring at any moment. Freshman JamesHutcherson, quick and athletic himself, alsocontributed his consistent play in a teamdefensive effort that neutralized numerous Pennattacks.

The second half brought along with it a newlevel of intensity. The half saw a plethora ofpenalties as frustrated Quakers and overlyaggressive Crimson players did what they could togain an advantage.

Midway into the half, a hard foul by Pennmidfielder Jared Boggs sent Crimson captain AndrewLundquist sprawling. The referee gave only ayellow card, much to the chagrin of Locker, whothought the infraction merited a red. Tempersflared throughout the second half as all of thegame's six yellow cards were distributed within a15-minute period from 52:20 to 67:10.

Finally, in the 80th minute, Harvard brokethrough the Penn defense a second time. A prettyseries of passes between junior ArmandoPetruccelli and freshman Marko Soldo yielded ahard shot by Soldo that was barely tipped byO'Connor. But sophomore Matt Edwards was rightthere to put in the rebound as the Crimsoncelebrated a 2-0 lead.

Concerned with his team's play when nursing alead, Locker did all he could to keep up theintensity as he constantly rotated in fresh legsdown the stretch. Ultimately the strategy paid off, and Harvard outlasted the frustrated Quakers.

One of the high points of the day was theclutch goalkeeping of Dupuis. He made eight saveson the day compared to O'Connor's three.

"Jordan played a great game," Locker said. "Hemade two incredible saves that surely would'vebeen goals otherwise."

Harvard resumes its quest for an Ivy title onSaturday when it battles Cornell at Ohiri Field.

HARVARD, 2-0 at Rhodes Field, Philadelphia,Pa.

Harvard  1  1  --  2Penn  0  0  --  0

Scoring

Har--Lenichek (Cantagallo) 29:12.

Har--Edwards (Soldo) 79:54.

Saves: Har--Dupuis 8; Pen--O'Connor 3.Seth H. PerlmanCrimsonDOWN AND DIRTY: A Harvard playerperforms a slide tackle as sophomore MATT EDWARDS(15) looks on.

In Saturday's game, Harvard jumped out to alead in the 30th minute as it turned the tables ona barrage of early attacks by Penn. Off of amidfield steal, Lenicheck broke free down thefield and beat Penn keeper Michael O'Connor, lastyear's Rookie of the year, to the right side. Itwas Lenicheck's first career goal.

"I got the ball from [junior] Paul [Cantagallo]and looked ahead and there was all of this openspace," Lenicheck said. "I got by one defender andI was ahead of everyone. I looked for a cross, butthere was no one there so I took the shot. Whenyou hit it hard and low, usually good things willhappen. I got lucky...I think it went through thekeeper's legs."

The goal was the second game-winner of theseason to come off of the foot of a freshman, theother being Mike Peller's goal against B.U.

"It's a huge step from high school to collegesoccer," Locker said. "But a bunch of guys areplaying well, and I'm real pleased with thedirection we're going."

The end of the first half saw Harvardbrandishing a 1-0 lead, thanks in large part toits intense defensive effort. Sophomore Ryan Kellydid an excellent job containing Penn forwardReginald Brown, a 5'6 bundle of speed who seemedcapable of scoring at any moment. Freshman JamesHutcherson, quick and athletic himself, alsocontributed his consistent play in a teamdefensive effort that neutralized numerous Pennattacks.

The second half brought along with it a newlevel of intensity. The half saw a plethora ofpenalties as frustrated Quakers and overlyaggressive Crimson players did what they could togain an advantage.

Midway into the half, a hard foul by Pennmidfielder Jared Boggs sent Crimson captain AndrewLundquist sprawling. The referee gave only ayellow card, much to the chagrin of Locker, whothought the infraction merited a red. Tempersflared throughout the second half as all of thegame's six yellow cards were distributed within a15-minute period from 52:20 to 67:10.

Finally, in the 80th minute, Harvard brokethrough the Penn defense a second time. A prettyseries of passes between junior ArmandoPetruccelli and freshman Marko Soldo yielded ahard shot by Soldo that was barely tipped byO'Connor. But sophomore Matt Edwards was rightthere to put in the rebound as the Crimsoncelebrated a 2-0 lead.

Concerned with his team's play when nursing alead, Locker did all he could to keep up theintensity as he constantly rotated in fresh legsdown the stretch. Ultimately the strategy paid off, and Harvard outlasted the frustrated Quakers.

One of the high points of the day was theclutch goalkeeping of Dupuis. He made eight saveson the day compared to O'Connor's three.

"Jordan played a great game," Locker said. "Hemade two incredible saves that surely would'vebeen goals otherwise."

Harvard resumes its quest for an Ivy title onSaturday when it battles Cornell at Ohiri Field.

HARVARD, 2-0 at Rhodes Field, Philadelphia,Pa.

Harvard  1  1  --  2Penn  0  0  --  0

Scoring

Har--Lenichek (Cantagallo) 29:12.

Har--Edwards (Soldo) 79:54.

Saves: Har--Dupuis 8; Pen--O'Connor 3.Seth H. PerlmanCrimsonDOWN AND DIRTY: A Harvard playerperforms a slide tackle as sophomore MATT EDWARDS(15) looks on.