M. Soccer Heads to California

The Stanford Nike Invitational

should be anything but fun and sun for the Harvard men's soccer team.

On its first extended road trip of the season, the Crimson (2-3-1) will face Stanford (3-2-1), last season's NCAA Tournament runner-up, and No. 20 California Berkeley (6-1-1), in Palo Alto this weekend.

For the Crimson, top-ranked opponents are nothing new. In the last two weeks, Harvard has played then-No. 1 Creighton and then-No. 8 Yale. Both teams have since dropped in the standings.

"After the last couple of weeks, we have a feeling we can play with anyone," senior forward Will Hench said. "We played with Yale for the first sixty minutes, and one of their goals came off a deflection. The point is we never felt outclassed. I think results against these two teams are definitely possible."

Although both matches ended in losses for the Crimson, the games seem to be providing experience for a young Harvard team that has lost a number of veterans early in the season, including junior captain Ryan Kelly.

The learning curve is easy to see.

After a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Creighton, the Crimson returned to its home field less than 24 hours later to defeat Columbia, a team that has constantly received votes in national polls, though it has yet to puncture the top 25 this year.

At Yale last Saturday, the Crimson fell 3-0 after holding the Bulldogs scoreless for the first 60 minutes. Returning to Ohiri Field on Tuesday, Harvard defeated a streaking Northeastern, 3-2, on a last second header from sophomore midfielder Matt Peller.

Peller's poise in the closing minutes of the Northeastern game is representative of a sophomore class that is beginning to settle down and contribute on both sides of the ball.

Sophomore forward John Oslowski also netted a goal of a neat strike from the top of the box, and classmate Nick Lenicheck has been providing constant movement on the left flank for the entirety of the season.

"All the sophomores have been coming along these last couple of games, and things are beginning to click into place," Hench said. "They've played good soccer and they've been really contributing, both in the numbers and in the back."

The Crimson also travels to Palo Alto with a strengthened back line. Junior defender Matt Edwards, a regular starter at the beginning of the season, will return from injury for Friday's game against Stanford.

Sophomore Matt Popa, who started against Northeastern and played a solid game at central defender, should also be ready to come off the bench and contribute in the back.

"It's great to have as many defenders healthy and ready to play as we can," Meagher said. "With the extra quality defenders, we can substitute towards the end of the half and wear down an opposing offense. And with two games in three games, we're going to need 'em all."

Meagher is right: this could be the Crimson's toughest weekend of the season.

Stanford's 1998 season ended with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Indiana, and for its effort it received the a No. 2 preseason ranking in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll.

Since then, the Cardinals' fortunes have been mixed.

After an early season loss to Gonzaga, 3-1, the Cardinals slipped out of the top-20. They notched another win and a tie before falling to the University of Southern Florida last week.

Despite its lackluster record, however, the Stanford team is stocked with talent. Sophomore defender Lee Morrison was a pre-season All-American and also played on the United States Under-20 National Team that made an impressive showing at the World Youth Championships this summer in Nigeria.

The Cardinal's defense also features keeper Adam Zapala, a pre-season second-team All American. Zapala presents a tough challenge to the Crimson offense, as he holds the Stanford record for career shutouts (27), season shutouts (15) and goals-against average (.57).

No. 20 Cal presents an even larger problem for the Crimson.

The 6-1-1 start is Cal's best in five seasons. Of the Golden Bear's six wins this season, four of them have come on shutouts.

Goalie Doug Brooks is in line to set the school's record for goals-against average. Coming in to the weekend he has an astounding .460 GAA.

Although the Bears were unranked at the beginning of the season, early success has landed them high in the rankings.

Since the beginning of the month, Cal has won both of the tournaments it has entered, the first at Old Dominion University and the second last weekend at St. Mary's in California.

In the St. Mary's tournament, the Bears posted its most impressive win of the season, upsetting then-No. 14 San Diego, 2-1.

In addition to a record-breaking goalkeeper, the Bears have a strong scorer in Ramiro Arredondo.

Arredondo should give the young Crimson backfield problems, as he has scored six goals this year, including the game-winner against San Diego and a hat trick against Michigan State on the road.

In addition to getting Arredondo under control, the Crimson will want to score early against the Bears--they are 5-0 when they score first, and 4-0 when leading at the half.

In the face of two tough opponents in three days, the Crimson will need all of its experience to pay off.

"We're not going to do anything against these two offenses," Meagher said. "We're learning what people can do and what they can't, and we've been putting people in positions that they seem to be comfortable in. It looks like things are beginning to come together."

Dartmouth rounds out the tournament field, but the Crimson will not play its Ivy League counterpart.