Men's Soccer Picks Up First Win of Season, Downs Stony Brook, 2-1

UPDATED: September 15, 2015, at 12:23 pm

When Stony Brook senior Martin Giordano’s 77th minute shot pulled the Seawolves even with the Harvard men’s soccer team Sunday evening, it appeared as though yet another chapter had been added to a familiar Crimson narrative.

For the fourth time in as many tries to open the year, Harvard found itself on the verge of conceding the game’s final goal, watching another potential victory begin to slip away. But five minutes later, the Crimson finally managed to turn the page.

After receiving a pass on a counter-attack from freshman forward Cesar Farias, senior forward Jake Freeman stared down his defender from the edge of the 18-yard box.

Then with one quick step to his left, the Long Island native gained enough separation to send a long shot sliding across the wet turf and into the lower left corner of the net, lifting Harvard (1-2-1) to its first victory of 2015.

“I thought we responded really well,” Freeman said. “We were definitely a little shocked, but at the same time, we all came together like we do after every goal that’s scored against us and we just said, ‘Nothing changes. We’re going to go out the same way. Let’s just try to get our chances to take over the game like we know we can.’ And in the end, it worked out.”

With the 2-1 win, the Crimson has now beaten Stony Brook (1-3-1) in consecutive seasons.

Last year, Harvard upended the Seawolves at home by a score of 2-0 behind two goals from then-junior defender Philip Fleischman, one of which was assisted by Freeman.

Fleischman had not scored since that contest last Oct. 28—that is, until Sunday. Finding just enough space to work with inside the box, the senior put the Crimson in front in the 27th minute, redirecting a long throw-in from senior midfielder Michael Klain with his head past junior goalkeeper Jason Orban.

The goal marked the first time Harvard had struck first in a game all season, but it also represented one of the few bright spots in a half largely controlled by the hosts.

Stony Brook outshot the Crimson, 7-2, in the frame, generating dangerous scoring chances inside the box on multiple occasions. However, the Seawolves could only keep one of their seven shots on target, leaving the door open for Harvard to capitalize.

Stony Brook continued to struggle with its shooting accuracy in the second half, missing the net on four out of its five attempts.

But the Seawolves were not missing by much. Sophomore Danny Espinoza nearly came up with an equalizer in the 62nd minute, but his dipping shot from 24 yards out bounced off the post.

The hosts’ efforts finally came to fruition in the 77th minute, when Giordano produced a highlight-reel caliber goal to even things up at one.

With sophomore Thibault Duval’s cross dipping into the box, Giordano ran left towards the ball before lunging at it with his right foot. Then with his back to Crimson goaltender Evan Mendez in the midst of a 360 degree spin, Giordano squeezed a shot just inside the near post to bring the score to 1-1.

Giordano’s goal put the Seawolves in a position to extend their unbeaten streak at home to three games, but Freeman had other ideas. His 82nd minute winner was his second goal of the season.

“Jake’s a fantastic finisher,” Fleischman said. “He’s definitely a guy who’s had a good, fast start to the season, and hopefully he can use that through the rest of the season because he has the ability to.”

Freeman nearly got on the board in the first half as well. With the game still scoreless, the senior generated his side’s first shot on goal, forcing Orban to make a diving stop to his left from inside the box.

Orban’s initial save sent the ball spinning into the air in the direction of the goal a second time, but the keeper made another sprawling save, this time to his right, to keep the Crimson off the scoreboard.

Nonetheless, behind the two goals that followed, Harvard earned its first win of the season in its fourth attempt for the second year in a row.

Fleischman pointed to the way Harvard’s nonconference opponents kick off their seasons earlier than Ivy League squads as a potential explanation.

“It’s always a challenge for us as an Ivy League team to start the season [at] a fast pace winning a bunch of games,” Fleischman said. “So I guess it’s been a trend that it takes us a couple games to find our groove, but I’m definitely excited at the prospect of getting out of this week and really charging through the early part of the season here.”

Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jake.meagher@thecrimson.com.

This story has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: September 15, 2015

A previous headline of this story misstated the final score of the men's soccer game against Stony Brook. The score was 2-1, not 2-0.