Even though Harvard's junior varsity soccer team had to settle for a 2-2 tie after two overtime periods against Princeton last Friday, it should be able to end its season with a win against Brown this Friday on the Business School field.
Brown is a perennial power in soccer, and a Harvard defeat at its hands makes its season complete. But the Bruins have a hard time keeping players on its junior varsity, while Harvard seems to keep a big squad right through the season.
And the Crimson have never lost to Brown in the five years that Harvard has had a junior varsity program.
Against Princeton, the slick, wet field affected Harvard's short passing game, and the first half ended without any scoring.
The Tigers, whose defensive style of play was less hampered by the soggy field, scored first on a 35-yard shot that looked as though it was going wide. But the ball's spin carried it into the upper corner of the net, as goalie Wayne Quasha watched.
A fired-up Harvard team dominated play for the rest of the third quarter and scored twice. Gene Warner and Russ Vaughan, inside forwards, scored within five minutes of each other to give the Crimson a 2-1 lead.
Princeton scored again midway through the fourth quarter when a Harvard defensive mix-up allowed a Tiger forward in the goal area unguarded. The Crimson pressed hard for the rest of regulation time, but missed several scoring opportunities. And neither team could score in the five-minute overtime periods.
"We left the field after that game with a dissatisfied feeling," said JV coach Seamus Malin. "Princeton was a good team. They beat Penn's junior varsity, but I still think we have a better team than they do." he said.
The JV's whose record is now 4-1-2, have already played Brown once this year. That game was a 2-2 tie, but was played in a 10-mile an hour gale in Providence. Weather conditions will again be a factor, but Malin hopes the outcome will be different.
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