Men's Soccer Leaves Opening Weekend Without Win

Looking to build upon a finish to last season which saw the team lose only one of its last 14 games, the Harvard men’s soccer team (0-1-1) opened up the season at home without a win, losing to Loyola Marymount (4-0-0) before drawing with No. 23 Southern Methodist (2-1-1).

HARVARD 2, SMU 2

After being held scoreless in its season opener, the Crimson offense came alive as goals by senior forwards Jake Freeman and Oliver White helped Harvard pick up a draw versus the Mustangs.

The Crimson played catch-up from early on, as SMU rookie Caleb Smith broke down the Harvard defense on the wing before taking a shot that rebounded off senior goalkeeper Evan Mendez. The ball landed at the feet of SMU forward Mauro Cichero, who took a touch and slotted it into the net to give the Mustangs the lead a little under five minutes into the contest.

Despite some early jitters, Harvard began to pressure SMU offensively. The Crimson looked like it had evened the score in the 39th minute after the ball bounced into the net following a collision between senior Tim Schmoll and SMU goalie Michael Nelson off Schmoll’s header. But the referee waved it off for a foul. Despite the goal being disallowed, the play appeared to further spark the Harvard attack.

“One of our traits is that we fight and never give up,” White said. “Especially with [Schmoll’s] goal being called back, as well as their goal, it really lit a fire underneath us, and we just wanted to fight.”

The disallowed goal didn’t deter the Crimson offense, as Freeman would score his first goal of the season in the 42nd minute. After sophomore Sam Brown’s initial effort was blocked inside the box, Freeman collected the ball and calmly drove it into the lower right corner for the first Harvard goal of the season.

The offensive pressure continued for the Crimson in the second half, as White joined Freeman on the stat sheet with a goal 65 seconds into the stanza. The Belmont, Mass., native squeezed between two SMU defenders and headed it past Nelson from inside the goal box following a long throw in by classmate Michael Klain.

Though Harvard continued to press forward, it was the Mustangs who scored after sophomore Christian Sady took down SMU’s Anthony Jeffries inside the penalty area, conceding a penalty shot in the 54th minute. The Mustang’s John Lujano converted the opportunity with a chip down the middle, scoring the last goal of the game.

While the Crimson dominated offensively following the spot kick, including a six-to-one shot advantage in double overtime, it was unable to get past Nelson, ultimately leading to a draw.

Though the team was ultimately unable to obtain their first win, Harvard coach Peter Lehrer was happy with his team’s performance.

“I thought [the game] was pretty good,” Lehrer said. “The energy was pretty good, [SMU] is a really good team but these guys fought hard and we kept the ball a lot more and executed a lot better.”

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 1, HARVARD 0

A goal by LMU forward Alvaro Madrigal helped the Lions spoil Harvard’s season opener, 1-0.

In a contest that didn’t feature many clear scoring opportunities for either side, it was Madrigal who made the difference in the 73rd minute. The forward dribbled his way past two Crimson players before unleashing a shot from 25 yards out past Mendez and into the far post.

Madrigal and teammate Adrian Perez proved to be difficult to contain for Harvard, as the two helped break down the Crimson defense, particularly in transition where LMU had the majority of its opportunities.

“Those are two good players,” Lehrer said. “They have good feet, the move well, so they’re a handful to deal with in transition or in the run of play. We just need to slow down, make them come backwards.”

Despite having a 12-to-11 shot advantage, the Crimson was not able to consistently threaten the Lions, placing only four shots on goal compared to eight for LMU. Harvard’s closest opportunity came off the foot of senior Phillip Fleischman, who attempted to poke it in off a cross but was calmly denied by LMU goalie Paul Blanchette.

The Crimson was also unable to dominate the midfield, often failing to keep possession as well as losing many of the 50-50 battles that led to LMU threats and scoring opportunities.

“It was a hard fought game,” said junior co-captain Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu. “There were a lot of 50-50 battles that decided the game quite a bit especially in the midfield…. Unfortunately the 50-50s weren’t in our favor today.”

—Staff writer Julio Fierro can be reached at julio.fierro@thecrimson.com.