Men's Soccer Aims to Continue Momentum, Stifle Boston College

Coming off of a vital weekend triumph over Ivy opponent Brown, the Harvard men’s soccer team will look for its third consecutive win on Tuesday. The Crimson (3-6-2, 2-1-0 Ivy) will take on cross-town rival Boston College (5-5-2, 3-4-1 ACC) in what could be Harvard’s first victory against the Eagles since 2009.

The Crimson hopes to learn from its game against the Bears (3-6-3, 0-1-2 Ivy) as the team faces Boston College at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

The greatest threat to Harvard could be Boston College freshman Zeiko Lewis, who is tied for the team lead in goals scored (two) and paces the Eagles in assists (seven). The Crimson must also be wary of sophomore Derrick Boateng, who ended the 2012 season ranked 17th among freshmen in the country.

Senior defender Chris Ager has led the Eagles from the back while still pressuring opposing teams’ defenses. Ager was named ACC Men’s Soccer Player of the Week earlier this season after he scored two goals against Boston University. BC won that game, its season opener, 2-1.

The last time Harvard played the Eagles, the Crimson gained the lead early, but BC responded in turn. The game went into double overtime and the teams eventually tied, 1-1.

“We have been working on our ability to adjust and continue pushing,” senior A.J. Agha said. “We need to play the full 90 minutes the same way we play the first 30 minutes.”

Early in the year, Harvard struggled to hold leads late in games.

The Crimson has lost four games so far this season by a one-goal deficit. In its game against Davidson, Harvard maintained its 1-0 lead with 20 minutes left to play. The team then relinquished a pair of late goals to the Wildcats, and ultimately lost the match, 2-1.

In a similar game against Yale, the Crimson led 1-0, but eventually lost, 2-1, due to a late goal from sophomore Bulldog Henos Musie with just 40 seconds left on the clock.

But things have changed of late.

Against Cornell on Oct. 12, Harvard gave up its 1-0 advantage in the 81st minute, but knocked in a game-winner in overtime to earn its first Ivy win in three years.

The Crimson extended its winning streak against Brown on Saturday.

“What was great for us was how we transitioned from the Cornell game to the Brown game,” co-captain Ross Friedman said.

The matchup against Brown marked the team’s first Ivy competition on home turf. The first half of play proved crucial to Harvard’s 2-1 victory.

“The first 35 minutes of the game, I think were the best that I’ve seen since I’ve been here on campus,” Friedman said. “Had we put away our chances…we could have had four or five goals within the first [half].”

The Crimson came onto the field ready to play, pressuring the Brown defense for the majority of the first half. Within the first 15 minutes of the game, Harvard outshot the Bears, 10-0.

The Crimson was finally able to capitalize in the 18th minute of play, thanks to Friedman’s well-placed pass that was tipped by junior Philip Fleischman to the ready feet of rookie Ashi Geberkidane. Eight minutes later, Geberkidane found the back of the net once again, this time with a header. Classmate Andrew Wheeler had the assist.

However, Brown refused to go down without a fight and soon responded with a goal of its own. Freshman Jack Gorab headed in his third goal of the season in the 35th minute of play.

Play evened out in the second half, with both teams continuing to put pressure on its opponent. Crimson goalie Evan Mendez made several critical saves in last few minutes of the game; however, the Bears nearly tied the game with three and a half minutes left to play.

Brown junior Alex Markes blasted a bending shot from just outside the 18-yard box. Mendez failed to get a hand on it, but the ball struck the far post and bounced clear of the danger zone.

Against the Eagles on Tuesday, Harvard will continue to focus on itself in the hopes of extending its win-streak to three.

“We want to focus on ourselves rather than on Boston College. We will go to practice and assess our own performance,” Friedman said. “We hope to identify the good things and to fix the bad.”