Akpan Continues Rookie Run, Helps Harvard to Upset

The Harvard men’s soccer team entered the contest against Yale on Saturday at Ohiri Field on a sour note—coming off of a four-game stretch over which it went a dismal 1-3. But the Crimson left the field with the taste of victory once again.

Harvard (6-4-1, 1-1-0 Ivy) rallied twice to steal a huge victory from the Bulldogs (4-5-1, 1-1-0 Ivy) and record its first Ivy League win of the young season in a game that senior forward and captain Charles Altchek described as “do or die”.

After falling behind twice in one half, some teams may have folded. Not this team. The Crimson battled over the final fifteen minutes of the first half and seemed to gain control of the game for the first time all day. With 3:47 remaining, it found the equalizer when Altchek got his foot on a bouncing loose ball just a few yards in front of the goal.

“We made life difficult going down twice in the first half,” Harvard coach John Kerr said. “But it shows that we have a lot of resiliency and a lot of poise to come back twice in the first half, to level things off at halftime.”

Returning in the second half with a larger and louder crowd, Harvard continued to dominate an increasingly flustered Bulldog team. Less than 10 minutes into the second half, the Crimson scored its final goal of the game when Akpan again received a pass from Stamatis and scored from 15 yards out. The winning goal was Akpan’s second of the game and sixth of the season.

“We felt the home field advantage today—no question about it,” Kerr said. “It lifted our guys. You could tell [Yale] was a little bit deflated in the second half. They didn’t have as much energy as we did.”

“The crowd was great,” Altchek added. “We had a lot of people come out...It really helps you and makes a difference to be at home.”

Although Harvard won the game 3-2, it was Yale who struck first. With 21:48 remaining in the first half, the Bulldogs’ Alexander Guzinski netted the game’s first of five goals on a bullet from 35 yards out.

Despite mounting frustration, the Crimson found an answer just four minutes later when freshman forward Andre Akpan took a pass from streaking sophomore forward John Stamatis and slid it past Yale goalie Erik Geiger.

The Bulldogs were not ready to hand over the momentum just yet. On the first play following the ensuing kick off, Yale freshmen Kevin Pope attracted a foul resulting in a free kick 20 yards in front of the Harvard goal. Despite a wall of six Crimson players, senior Alex Munns had no problem finding the back of the net from there. Quickly, Harvard found itself down by a goal once again.

After Akpan’s goal in the second half made the score 3-2, the remainder of the second half was a mere formality as Yale proved unable to bounce back from the deficit.

“I am really proud of the guys,” Kerr said. “I thought they worked really really hard, and I think they deserved the victory.”

The win had added significance because after dropping its Ivy opener 3-1 at Penn last Saturday, the Crimson was in need of a win to set itself up for a successful Ivy campaign.

“It definitely helps with some confidence and some momentum going forward,” Kerr said. “You go 0-2 in the Ivy League and you start second guessing yourself.”

Instead, Harvard will take its 1-1 record and bolstered confidence into its match against Cornell next Saturday. Although it will likely be another tough game, the Crimson will be up for the challenge.