Men's Soccer Travels to Iona to Conclude Pre-Ivy League Play

The Harvard men’s soccer team looks to rebound from a turbulent California road trip this Saturday as it concludes its away portion of pre-Ivy League play, visiting Iona. The Crimson (2-3-1) squares off against the Gaels (1-6-0) for the first time since being shutout in its 2013 home opener.

“We’re looking to be confident going in,” Harvard senior forward Jake Freeman remarked. “After last weekend, we want to get back to our winning ways… and start peaking at the right time going into the Ivy League season.”

The Crimson is still in search of its first road victory of the year. Iona is in a similar position on the heels of four consecutive losses, and will look to make a statement against an opponent that it rarely sees in Harvard.

Both teams seek to rectify their less-than-impressive defensive showings in recent games. The Crimson ‘s back line, anchored by junior goalkeeper Kyle Parks, will turn its focus to locking down Iona’s forward ensemble after conceding a combined nine goals across two matches last weekend.

Likewise, the Gaels, allowing over two goals per game in 2016, have been outscored 9-3 by opponents during their four-game losing streak.

“After that kind of performance, you just want to get back to the fundamentals and try to get back to our identity of a team who is just going to battle and compete no matter what the score is,” Freeman said. “We’re trying to buckle down defensively.”

Parks, despite Harvard’s latest defensive struggles, boasts two clean sheets on the season, having posted a 1.77 goals-against average and .738 save percentage. Crimson opponents over that span, however, have put up an impressive 0.96 GAA. Iona’s rather permeable defense manifests itself more directly in its goaltender’s numbers: sophomore Kellar Sirstins surely hopes to remedy his middling 2.14 GAA and .583 SV%.

Gaels junior forward Marcos Nunez, reigning MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, will certainly look to break down Harvard’s defensive efforts. The speedster has already registered two goals and two assists on the season and accounts for roughly one-third of Iona’s total shot attempts with 27.

On the other side of the pitch, Freeman has six points of his own, including a game-winning goal against Pac-12 foe Washington. Harvard has also received offensive contributions thus far in the form of two goals from freshman midfielder Matthew Glass, a goal and assist from sophomore forward Cesar Farias and co-captain Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu.

“It’s been a good diversity in terms of point-getting so far this year,” Wheeler-Omiunu said. “You prefer to see that rather than just depending on one person every single game.”

As the Gaels have mustered just a single goal in all first halves combined this season, the Crimson will look to capitalize early in the first half.

“We obviously want to see if we can come out with a fast start and try to play with a lead,” Freeman said. “When we have [played with a lead], we’ve won….We just need to focus on playing out the full 90 minutes.”

Despite Harvard’s apparent offensive advantage, Iona still trumps Harvard in multiple statistical signs of scoring success: the Gaels lead the Crimson in shot-on-goal percentage (.477 to .356) and shots per game (12.3 to 9.8).

These may be indicators that despite its struggles early in matches, Iona comes on strong in the latter half of games.

The Crimson can expect to see this pattern unfold on Saturday, so discipline and stamina become even more crucial to a Harvard victory.

The Crimson edges the Gaels in the disciplinary aspect of the game, amassing 12 total bookings this season—including no red cards—compared to Iona’s 19. Furthermore, look for Harvard to utilize its bench to ensure fresh legs to counter the anticipated late-match push from the Gaels.

“In regards to staying disciplined, we just need to continue to do what we do in terms of preparing,” Wheeler-Omiunu said. “And whenever anybody steps onto the field, we have complete confidence in their ability to perform…. Players one through 22 on our team are always ready.”