Men's Soccer Outlasts Washington, Ends Homestand With Win

Several times in the first half against its game against Washington (3-2, 1-0 Pac-12), the Harvard men’s soccer team (2-1-1) found itself in the attacking third of the field, but each of those times, the team found itself unable to connect those last few passes it needed to put a point on the board.

With just over three minutes left in the first half, the Crimson was yet again in Washington’s box. A ball had just been sent in from the right, but was deflected by a Huskies defender at the near post. It seemed that once again, Harvard’s attempt would be thwarted, but then the ball found its way back to the Crimson.

After nearly five scoreless halves, senior forward Jake Freeman found the bottom corner of the net off co-captain Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu’s deflection.

Freeman’s goal would be the only score of the night, defeating Washington by a final score of 1-0. The win evened the weekend for the Crimson after it lost to Seattle on Sept. 8.

“We battled and competed and did extremely well, fighting for every ball, keeping it when we got it,” head coach Pieter Lehrer said. “The Washington team is a very good team.”

The Crimson had just two days to rest and regroup after a physical game against Seattle on Thursday, and was hungry for a goal after two shutouts. This would prove to be a difficult task against a strong Washington team, which had won the last three of its four games.

“We knew going in, they were going to be a good team,” Freeman said. “At the same time we knew we had the talent, we had the grit, we had what it took to match them and even outplay them. We did that through the first half, and obviously we got the goal at the end of the half, and whether we were going to have the ball or not through the second half we were going to grind to get the result.”

Both teams came out aggressive and defensive-minded from the starting whistle, with both limited in their shots on goal. Each had attempts on offense, but either through missed opportunities or strong defensive efforts, both were unable to score. The Crimson defense, led by junior goalkeeper Kyle Parks, and supported by senior Daniel Smith, juniors Tyler Savitsky and Justin Crichlow, and freshman Joel Serugo, was central in shutting down an active Washington offense and keeping them from netting a goal. Parks recorded his second-career shutout, defending five shots on target by the Huskies.

In the latter part of the first half, the Crimson began to attack more, with Freeman, who had five of the Crimson’s eight shots on the day, leading the way. Freeman was also the only member of the Harvard squad to shoot on target, claiming all three of the team’s shots on goal.

“I was scoring for the team,” Freeman said. “It’s one of my jobs as a forward, and it was good to get the first one, obviously, and if it results in a win, even better.”

Washington responded with a near-goal of its own after one of its players broke away, but an invigorated Parks and the Crimson defense recovered quickly to end the half with a clean sheet.

The Crimson was slower to start in the second half, with the Huskies possessing the ball and attacking more. After a few minutes of miscommunication and near saves, Harvard found its rhythm again.

Both teams were aggressive again, and both gave up multiple fouls as emotions ran high. In the last few minutes of the second half, the Huskies stepped up its offense and had several chances, with one shot hitting the crossbar and others just over and wide. Despite each team getting just four shots on net in the first half, Washington tallied 18 shots in the second frame.

As the clock wound down, Washington made a last-minute effort to get a goal to send the game into overtime, but Harvard prevailed and finished its opening home stretch with a win.

“I think we’ll keep that mentality going,” Lehrer said. “What we see in training every day, and that competitiveness and that fight and quality, we think, is going to keep carrying into games in the future.”

Staff writer Katherine Scott can be reached at katherine.scott@thecrimson.com.