Second Half Propels M. Soccer

The Harvard men’s soccer team overcame a 3-0 halftime deficit and delivered its best half of the season in a 6-4 victory over Hartford at Ohiri Field.

Senior Marc Buan led the Crimson’s offensive onslaught on Saturday with two goals and an assist.

The Hawks (2-4) controlled play in the first half and seemed destined for an easy road win. The Crimson (3-1) had different ideas as Harvard coach John Kerr rallied the troops at halftime.

Kerr shook up the lineup to start the second half. Freshman goalkeeper Ryan Johnson replaced sophomore keeper Jamie Roth. Junior defenders Jonathan Napper and Andrew Nechtem started at outside backs.

“I kept the halftime talk short,” Kerr said. “We came out in the second half and played with passion and desire. We showed a willingness to compete.”

Sophomore striker Jeremy Truntzer got the Crimson on the board in the 50th minute when he took a pass from junior Kevin Ara and buried the ball in the bottom right corner of the net. Ara pulled the Crimson within one goal in the 54th minute when he struck a 20-yard blast past Hawk goalkeeper Ryan Carr.

“I just snuck in behind the two center backs and hit a good shot,” Ara said.

The barrage continued as senior Marc Buan took a cross from Truntzer and finished with a one-time shot to tie the game at three. In the 58th minute, Buan gave the Crimson the lead when he knocked in a loose ball in front of the goal off senior Joe Steffa’s long throw-in.

The Hawks were not ready to pack it in. Sophomore striker Alon Lubezky completed a hat trick in the 68th minute to tie the game, 4-4.

The Crimson attack was not slowed by the one Hawk second-half goal. Senior Charles Morrow netted the game-winner in the 75th minute when he took a cross from Buan and slid to knock the ball over the goal line.

Junior striker Ladd Fritz, who was forced to play with a cast after breaking his hand at practice, added an insurance goal a few minutes later as the Crimson pulled out the 6-4 win.

“We stuck together and didn’t give up,” Ara said. “We got the early goal that we needed in the second half and they didn’t know what hit them.”

The Crimson’s first-half struggles were made worse by the absence of senior Michael Lobach, the team’s defensive anchor. Lobach was forced to sit out after receiving two yellow cards in a game against Fairfield last week.

“Not having Lobach out there hurt us,” Kerr said. “He’s one of our leaders and top defenders.”

Lubezky, the nation’s top returning scorer with 21 goals and eight assists, proved to be a tough matchup for the Crimson defense. He got the Hawks off to a quick start by tallying two goals within the first seven minutes to give his team a 2-0 lead.

The third goal came as the Hawks capitalized on their talented pair of sophomore strikers in Lubezky and Easton Wilson by isolating them one-on-one with Crimson defenders. Wilson converted on a bicycle kick from six yards out off of a cross from the left side in the 26th minute for the 3-0 lead.

Harvard will look to start off stronger in tomorrow’s game at Maine, the Crimson’s last opponent before its Ivy opener at Brown on Saturday.

“We’re excited for Ivy League play, but we don’t want to forget about Tuesday,” Kerr said. “These teams we have been playing have been good tests for us.”

—Staff writer Anastasios Skalkos can be reached at skalkos@fas.harvard.edu.