Tourney Bound

Revenge is sweet.

It’s even sweeter when it comes with a trophy.

In a game that was postponed for 24 hours due to Saturday’s heavy rain, the Harvard men’s soccer team clinched the Ivy League title yesterday, defeating Penn, 1-0, on Ohiri Field.

A year ago, the Quakers were the ones celebrating in the final conference game of the year. On that day, the Crimson dominated the match but gave up a soft overtime goal to hand the championship to Penn.

While the Quakers may have been out of the running for the crown this year, the game didn’t mean any less to Harvard. Win, and the Crimson was guaranteed sole possession of the title. Anything else wouldn’t cut it.

Adding to the excitement surrounding the match was the fact that it came on Senior Day—a chance for the Crimson to celebrate what might be the greatest recruiting class in the history of Harvard soccer.

But in the biggest game of the season, an unlikely pair of underclassmen came up with the heroics.

With the score knotted at zero in the 68th minute, sophomore Tim Linden—who had entered the game just two minutes earlier—found himself with space on the left. Linden curled in a cross towards the back post that flew over the heads of the Penn back line.

The ball fell to freshman defender Richard Smith—still in the box from a corner a few seconds earlier—who directed his first-time shot towards the right side of the goal. Despite getting his hands on it, Quakers’ freshman keeper Garon Smith was unable to stop the ball from trickling into the net.

It was Richard Smith’s first goal of his Crimson career, and it couldn’t have come on a bigger stage.

“He was just there at the right time, and sort of stuck his foot out,” co-captain Andre Akpan said.

Smith has combined with senior Kwaku Nyamekye in the center of Harvard’s defense, helping to anchor a unit that has been one of the nation’s best this season.

The two massive defenders made their work look very easy in a first half in which the Crimson dictated the play.

The field was still soaked from the previous day’s downpour, but that didn’t stop Harvard from creating chances right from the start.

In the ninth minute, a long cross from sophomore defender Baba Omosegbon found senior midfielder Desmond Mitchell at the back post.

Mitchell headed back across goal to freshman striker Brian Rogers, whose header forced Garon Smith to make a good save to his right.

Later in the half, Garon Smith made another fine save to stop Crimson senior midfielder Adam Rousmaniere’s shot from a tight angle.

“In the first half, our guys played almost some of our best stuff—they moved the ball, they connected,” Harvard coach Jamie Clark said. “This is almost the best that we’ve played in a month.”

But despite its dominance, the Crimson couldn’t find a goal and went into the break tied. And after controlling the match’s first 45 minutes, Harvard was suddenly thrust into the back seat.

In the 50th minute, Penn hit the crossbar. Seven minutes later, the Quakers again came inches away from taking the lead.

Sophomore goalkeeper Austin Harms made a spectacular save, and Nyamekye followed with a last-ditch block on the rebound, to keep the score level.

“I thought [Nyamekye] was very, very good in the second half,” Clark said. “He really fought and worked for us.”

Harvard, led by co-captain Brian Grimm, soon regained its foothold. In the 60th minute, Grimm took possession of the ball in midfield before firing just wide. A minute later, he tried his luck again from afar but shot straight at the keeper.

After the Crimson finally broke the deadlock with Richard Smith’s 68th-minute goal, the team looked determined not to let the lead slip away.

Harvard remained on the attack for the remainder of the game, although it never managed to score a second goal. A couple of scrambles around the Penn box following Crimson set pieces would be the closest either team would come.

With the win, Harvard’s five seniors—Akpan, Grimm, Mitchell, Nyamekye, and Rousmaniere—claimed their second Ivy title.

“After winning that first year, it’s always the goal to win another one,” Grimm said. “It took a little longer than I hoped, but you couldn’t ask for a better end.”

“We had a phenomenal class and kind of changed the face of the program for the last three years,” Akpan said. “Hopefully we set the tone for years to come.”

—Staff writer Jay M. Cohen can be reached at jaycohen@fas.harvard.edu.