Crimson Catapults Past Catamounts in Overtime Win

After one half of play it looked like the Harvard men’s soccer team was about to live a repeat of last’s year game against Vermont, when it lost to the Catamounts, 1-0.

After a halt-time pep talk though, Harvard (5-2-0, 0-0-0 Ivy) returned to the field with renewed energy and defeated Vermont (3-4-2) 2-1 in overtime.

“I am proud of the team because in years past we might have lost this game or tied this game,” said head coach John Kerr. “But we have enough fire power, enough belief in ourselves that we were able to come and win that one.”

Harvard’s winning goal came with 7:57 minutes left in overtime. Junior forward Matt Hoff crossed the ball directly in front of the goal, allowing freshman midfielder Brian Grimm to head in his first goal of the season.

The game, however, did not start out in the Crimson’s favor—Vermont found the back of the net only 15 minutes into the game.

“We just kind of came out slow and they jumped right on top of us,” said sophomore forward Mike Fucito. “It took the wind out of us. We knew had to come from behind. It made our task greater.”

Even with diminished energy, Harvard was able to protect its own goal until halftime.

The Crimson was helped in part by some spectacular saves by sophomore goalie Adam Hahn and the defenders against two consecutive Catamount corner kicks.

“At halftime we had some readjustments to make,” Kerr said. “Some words with the team in terms of understanding that a little more effort was needed and composure around the goal.”

Vermont’s high-energy play can somewhat be contributed to their coaches liberal substitutions. Every single player that the Catamounts brought to the game saw playing time with Vermont head coach Jessie Cormier often subbing in four or five players at a time giving his players ample time to rest.

Yet, Harvard entered the second half of play with improved enthusiasm and soon was able to get in a couple of close shots on goal. Freshman forward Andre Akpan even took a dive over the Vermont goalie on a breakaway play.

The Crimson’s big break was soon to com when Fucito got the ball on a break- away play. The forward sprinted pass the defenders and charged the Catamount goalie.

The goalie, realizing his dire situation, decided to take the dirty way out and blatantly took Fucito down inside the box.

The referee was right there for the flagrant foul and promptly awarded a red card to sophomore Tom Critz. Fucito was awarded a penalty kick to be taken from the edge of the box. Hoff was chosen to take the kick and was able to put the Crimson on the board by hitting the top left corner of the net.

“Our goal was to come out and get the first goal of the second half and we knew once we got that that the game would be back in our hands,” Fucito said. “We are confident in our offense and knew we could get a couple more after that.”

The day proved to get even rougher for Fucito as later in the second half he was once again taken down by a Vermont player committing a flagrant foul. The Vermont player slid directly under Fucito, knocking him clean off his feet and garnering a yellow card in the process.

“They are going to try to shut [Fucito] down,” Kerr said. “He is going to have to deal with some harsh treatment and hopefully the referees will protect him.”

Harvard had one more big opportunity to score in the second half, but wasn’t able to capitalize on the chance. The Crimson brought the ball down to three feet in front of the Catamount net, and a scramble for possession ensued with the Vermont defenders. Senior forward and captain Charles Altchek emerged from the fray with the ball and get off a shot, but was sorely disappointed when the ball hit the top of the goal and bounced back out.

Harvard starts its Ivy League season this weekend when it takes on Penn this Saturday in Pennsylvania.

­—Staff writer Abigail M. Baird can be reached at ambaird@fas.harvard.edu.