M. Soccer Drops Ivy Opener to Brown, 2-1

Unlike its counterpart in football, the Harvard men's soccer team could not win its Ivy opener against Brown this past weekend.

While the gridiron gladiators pounded home 35 second-half points to upset the Bears in stunning fashion, the soccer Crimson lacked a similar offensive explosion and fell to the soccer Bears, 2-1.

"Brown is a good team with a lot of talented upperclassmen, but they're still beatable," said freshman forward Spencer George. "We gave it a good effort but it wasn't enough to win."

Brown (4-1-1, 1-0 Ivy) indeed has a great deal of veterans compared to Harvard (2-2-1, 0-1 Ivy). Out of the Bears' 25 players, 12 of them are upperclassmen. In contrast, the Crimson's youthful 28-man roster only boasts seven upperclassmen.

Despite the discrepancy in experience, the Crimson was able to tame the Bears in the early going.

"Overall, I would say we had the better of the play in the first half," said captain Ryan Kelly. "We really played well and hung in with them."

After a 30-minute deadlock in the first half, which saw possession swing back and forth regularly, the game suddenly became volatile.

In the 33rd minute, Harvard was playing deep in the Bears' end after a Crimson corner attempt. As the ball made its way out of the box, sophomore back Michael Cornish stepped in front of his man to play it only to be taken down forcibly by the Brown player.

The referee allowed play to continue, and the result was a 3-on-2 breakaway for the Bears. Sophomore sweeper Mike Lobach made a valiant effort to stop the Brown surge but was yellow carded as he took down a Bear player from behind.

The penalty gave Brown a free kick right outside of Harvard's box. The Bears, who apparently have a set play for just the occasion, executed the kick successfully. Brown co-captain Scott Powers lobbed a cross beautifully onto the head of senior Cory Gibbs who found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead at 32:36 in the first half.

With the momentum in its corner, Brown continued to pressure Harvard's defense. Five minutes after the Gibbs strike, another odd turn of events coupled with the Bears' offensive pressure victimized the Crimson.

In the 37th minute, Brown forward Eduardo Romaneiro drove a shot on goal from 25 yards out. Normally at such a distance, making a save is fairly routine. Unfortunately for Harvard goalkeeper Dan Mejias, one of his defenders deflected the ball as it entered the box and sent the shot just under the crossbar.

At this point in the game, the Crimson players could have hung their heads after two goals that maybe should not have materialized. Instead, Harvard showed impressive resilience led, seemingly as always, by Kelly.

In the 41st minute, Kelly accepted a feed from sophomore midfielder Marc Buan and streaked directly into the area. Kelly's bold move drew out the Brown goalie as well as sucked in the defense, leaving junior forward Nick Lenicheck alone on the wing.

"As the goalie came out, I lost my footing and decided to lay it out across to [Lenicheck]," Kelly said. "Nicky then had an open net and finished it off."

Lenicheck's score pulled the Crimson to within a goal, but it would be the last offensive production from either side as the second half became a defensive chess match.

Even in the losing effort, Mejias was solid and displayed a wealth of skill. He made nine saves, including two phenomenal stops that kept the game as close as it would end.

"Without a doubt, Danny Mejias was the MVP of the game," Kelly said. "Without him in goal we would have lost by a lot more."

The game against Brown was the last of a four-game road trip for the Crimson. Next up, Harvard will host four games at Ohiri Field beginning this Tuesday with a contest against Northeastern.

"We learned a hard lesson this weekend, that a few lapses can cost you," Kelly said. "But we're hoping to go 4-0 in our games at home to get our season back on track."

Kelly has a point. In the last few seasons, the eventual Ivy champ did not go undefeated. If Harvard can learn from its early season miscues, then a title and NCAA tourney bid is still a possibility.

Most importantly though, Harvard has no reason to be ashamed of its gritty performance this weekend.

"We need to move on and take care of business," George said. "We have absolutely no reason to hang our heads."