Surging M. Soccer Tops Holy Cross

Against the Harvard men’s soccer team at Ohiri Field yesterday, the Holy Cross Crusaders faced three foes in one.

The Crimson (8-2, 3-0 Ivy) started off strong, seemed to disappear in the second half, then finally returned to form near game’s end and held on for a 1-0 win.

The Crimson was saved by senior forward and captain Nick Lenicheck, who scored the only goal with 15 minutes remaining in the match.

Holy Cross (5-4-1) managed only one shot in the first half against an utterly dominant Crimson side. Freshman keeper Jamie Roth was not required to make a save.

For his part, sophomore Holy Cross keeper Kevin Baker made three saves, as the Crimson offense fired seven shots in the first half but failed to score.

“They were sitting a lot guys behind the ball,” Lenicheck said. “We weren’t creating as much as we wanted to.”

The Crimson’s best chance in the first half came when sophomore striker Ladd Fritz, the Crimson’s leading scorer, charged into the crease on his own and unleashed a shot. Fritz, however, was robbed by Baker, who just got a piece of the shot to deflect it over the net.

Baker would finish with seven saves.

Roth, coming off four straight shutouts, aggravated a knee injury and was replaced at halftime by senior Dan Mejias.

At first, Mejias faced no more excitement in net than he did while on the bench, as Harvard kept the pressure on at the beginning of the second half.

On one play, freshmen striker Jeremy Truntzer was all alone, only to roll the ball just wide.

Four minutes later, Holy Cross found salvation in the goal post, stifling another Truntzer attempt.

“We didn’t execute our final pass [on scoring opportunities],” Harvard Coach John Kerr said. “That prevented us from scoring four or five goals.”

As it turned out, Mejias would face the brunt of the Crsudaers’ attack. After the two Truntzer near-misses, the Crusaders began what would be a relentless ten minute onslaught.

During that span, Holy Cross fired most of their 11 second-half shots, testing Mejias on several occasions.

“They’re a counterattack team,” Mejias said. “We knew that we would dominate posession, but that they could explode past our seven guys attacking and bring 10, 15, or 20 minutes of pressure.”

Junior Crusader forward Matt Ney led the charge, streaking down the right side, beating defenders to the ball and setting up several Holy Cross chances.

“[Ney] is always dangerous,” Kerr said. “Anytime he’s in the box, near the ball, he’s a problem.”

The Crimson defense appeared tired and unenthusiastic as they had trouble clearing the ball. They seemed an entirely different squad from the one that had so dominated the first half.

“Midweek games are the hardest to come out for,” Lenicheck said. “You just have stay determined, stay focused and then you’ll pull through.”

It took a fine effort from Lenicheck to resurrect the Crimson offense.

Junior sweeper Mike Lobach stole the ball near the Crimson crease and brought it near midfield before sending a long, beautiful pass to a bolting Lenichek on the left side.

The Crimson captain cut inside, beating the lone defender before blasting the ball in the top right corner. It was the Somerville, Mass., native’s fourth goal of the season.

After the goal, a newly motivated Harvard offense continued to press the issue, finishing the game with 14 shots.

Their renewed attack, however, was not without pockets of resistance from the Crusaders. With three and a half minutes to play, Ney approached the goal from the right side and attempted to cross the ball to the middle. Mejias, wholly blocking the angle and guarding the post, came up with a nice save.

The second half saw another resurection of sorts in the fine play of Mejias, who had been inactive since the Crimson’s September road-trip to California.

Frusstrated during a 3-1 loss on Sept. 23 at Loyola Marymount, Mejias shouted at his coaches and teammates.

“I lost my cool in the heat of the moment,” said Mejias, who was suspended following the incident.

Mejias has since seen his starting job usurped by Roth, whose fine play has kept him in the lineup.

“Jamie came in, and he’s playing well. That’s why he’s in, not because of what happened to me,” Mejias said. “I simply gave him the oppurtunity,” he added.

Mejias made the most of his oppurtunity yesterday, showing little rust coming off a couple weeks’ layoff.

“I wasn’t too worried about coming in,” Mejias said. “That’s when you start second guessing yourself.”

Mejias’ performance has left Kerr with every coach’s favorite quandary.

“Its nice to have two quality keepers,” Kerr said.

Whoever keeps the job must be ready to face some tough opposition in the Crimson’s next game, on Tuesday, Oct. 23 versus No. 12 Fairfield.

The Stags are the No. 1 team in the region. Harvard lost last season’s meeting with Fairfield 2-1 after leading 1-0 through the first 70 minutes.

“We let it slip and we paid the price,” Kerr said. “We hope to get our revenge this year.”