Men's Soccer Forces Tie with Last-Minute Score

Once again, Brian Rogers refused to give up.

Standing 15 feet away from the net in the right center of the box, with the seconds ticking off the clock, he saw the ball deflect off a defender and land at his feet. Taking position, the sophomore forward aimed and fired.

The ball zipped past diving Stony Brook goalie Stefan Manz, and just like that, in the 90th minute, the game was tied.

It was not the first time Rogers had the flair for the dramatic this season, but his goal gave his struggling No. 21 Harvard men’s soccer team—winless in its previous three contests—a much-needed boost and propelled it to a 1-1 tie at LaVelle Stadium Friday night.

“Once they scored I just kept telling myself I would get at least one good opportunity,” Rogers said. “That opportunity just happened to come with 30 seconds left. I saw the ball, and I just tried to get it on frame, and luckily it went in.”

After getting the start over junior Austin Harms, sophomore Brett Conrad was solid in net for Harvard, making three saves in the contest.

“Coach [Carl] Junot highlighted a couple of games where I would get the opportunity to come in and show I could help the team,” Conrad said. “It was an interesting game to come into first game of the season, but I definitely think I held my own, showed the team some good stuff, and overall it was a good performance.”

Neither goalie faced much pressure in the first half, with Stony Brook controlling the tempo and outshooting Harvard, 3-2.

Conrad had the only save in the period, stopping a header off a free kick by Seawolf midfielder Mame Samb at the 17:39 mark.

After Crimson sophomore defender Richard Smith committed a foul later in the first half, a direct kick by Stony Brook midfielder Mihailo Pavlisin sailed over the net.

Early in the second half, the Seawolves applied pressure early. Forward Berian Gobeil Cruz got tangled up one-on-one with Conrad, who tripped Cruz, setting up a penalty kick.

Cruz’s ensuing shot beat Conrad to the right, putting Stony Brook up, 1-0, in the 49th minute. It was the fourth goal out of seven allowed this season for Harvard that came on a free kick or penalty kick.

“I think after we went down a goal, we kind of lost our way a little bit,” Rogers said. “It looked like people were losing confidence. We were a bit scrambled.”

Conrad nonetheless kept his team in the game as the second half played on, making saves off of shot attempts by Seawolf midfielder Leonardo Fernandes in the 69th and 83rd minutes.

With its back against the wall in the final minutes of the game, the Harvard offense finally began to pick up. Junior midfielder Jamie Rees had a shot go over the bar at 88:22, but exactly one minute later, Rogers’ third goal of the season sent the game into overtime.

“I think that goal gave us the confidence that we carried over to OT,” Rogers said. “It shows us that even if the other team scores first, we have the players and the talent to come back and score.”

The Crimson kept up the pressure at the start of the first extra session. After three shots were blocked by the Stony Brook defense, sophomore forward Zack Wolfenzon was able to manage an attempt on goal, but Manz made the save at 99:37.

Harvard nearly won the game in the second overtime period, when Rogers took a kick from the far corner and headed it on goal, but Manz made a fantastic diving save to his left at 101:25. Neither team was able to manage a shot on net the rest of the extra session, and the Crimson ended up with its second consecutive draw against an unranked team.

“I think everyone would rather win these games,” Rogers said. “But the beginning of the year, up until we start our Ivy season, is really just a learning process. We have a young team, and we’re all still getting to know how each other plays.”

Rogers also said he would like to see the pressure the team was able to apply at the end of the second half and in overtime maintained throughout the whole game.

“I think it comes with confidence,” he said. “We have to not be afraid to make mistakes going forward, not play people defensively...you have to take chances in order to score and in order to win.”

The Crimson was outshot, 14-11, and had two corner kicks to Stony Brook’s six, but the squad was still content with the result and the dramatics it brought.

“Games like this always help with preparation,” Conrad said. “I think we’re gaining a lot of experience; there were a lot of positives to come out of that game.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.