The freshman soccer team set up three slick goals early on, then petered off in the second half, but still shut out the weak Exeter varsity 3-0 at Exeter Saturday.

The ease of the victory surprised newly elected captain Dan Potts. "Getch (Coach Dana Getchell) told us they'd be really rough, warned us they'd definitely score against us," he said yesterday. "We expected a squad as good as Dartmouth." Dartmouth trounced Harvard last week at Hanover, 4-0.

Exeter did control play through the first few minutes. But the turnabout came quickly as the ball was cleared from Harvard's goal area to halfback Frank Gerold. Gerold gave a through pass to Vinnie Vanderpool-Wallace, the left wing, who deftly faked Exeter's goalie for the score.

Wallace also provided the opportunities for Potts to score twice. Later in the first quarter Wallace looped a corner kick to the far goalpost, where Potts, uncovered, headed it in.

A few minutes before halftime Wallace made a long throw in to Leroy Thompson, positioned in front of the Exeter goal. Thompson raised his knee, faked the trap, and elegantly deflected the ball to Potts. Potts caught it in his stomach and then shot past the confused goalkeeper.

"It was a beautiful day and we were feeling good." Potts said of the flashy Harvard offense in the opening half. "We finally started giving the ball to the wings more," he said. Potts blamed Harvard's mediocre, scoreless second half on a gap that developed between offense and defense. "Our insides would move too far up, and our halfs too far back," he said.