Advertisement

Harvard's Winning Streak Is Snapped As Goaltender Stars in 3-1 Thrashing

The Tufts booters stymied the Crimson scoring machine and stunned Harvard, New England's fourth-ranked squad, 3-1, at the Business School field yesterday.

Lyman Bullard, who had scored all eight Crimson goals in its last four victories, was continually harrassed by the Tufts fullbacks. He managed only five shots and failed to beat Jumbo netminder Dexter Legg.

"We knew stopping Bullard was the key to the game since he has been really hot lately," Tufts coach Jerry Clinton said. "So we shadowed him with zone and made sure that one man was always on him."

Meanwhile Jumbo striker Jan Pandecki was taking charge of the offensive phase of the game. He tallied twice to assure Tufts of its eighth triumph against three setbacks and a tie.

At the outset of the contest the Jumbos passed well and penned Harvard in its own end. The constant pressure sparked Pandecki's first tally at 17:15. He took a pass from forward Andres Drobney and threaded the ball through defenders Bob Thompson and Ralph Booth into the lower lefthand corner past the outstretched arms of goalie Ben Bryan.

Advertisement

Instant Response

The Crimson responded immediately as it mounted a swarming attack. Art Faden booted a corner kick in front of the Jumbo goal and Bullard popped the ball into the air. Eric Zager was stationed perfectly and he slammed it into the net at 22:25 to knot the game at one apiece.

Harvard continued its flurry as Zager narrowly missed a second goal in an attempt to put the Crimson on top. Minutes later Steve Hines rifled a shot, but goalie Legg kicked it away with a dazzling save.

Harvard dominated the rest of the half as it outshot the Jumbos, 14-8. But it could not convert its opportunities, and the half ended in a deadlock.

"The first half really hurt," coach George Ford said. "We outplayed them but we couldn't score. Their goalie was tough."

Sloppy Passing

Sloppy passing marred the opening of the second half as neither team could sustain much of a threat. Both teams were flat and the ball changed hands repeatedly.

The Crimson received its best scoring chance of the half at ten minutes. Chris Saunders headed the ball to Leroy Thompson ten yards in front of the Tufts goal. Thompson had half of an empty net, but he fanned as the ball hopped over his leg.

The Jumbos took control and the ball spent much of its time in the Crimson end. But Ralph Booth and Jeff Hargadon played gritty defense and thwarted the potentially dangerous Jumbo assaults.

Finally the Tufts offense clicked behind the excellent mid-field passing of halfbacks Owen Hart and Pat Sullivan. They adroitly carried the ball up the field where Fred Sanchez took a feed from Sullivan and rolled it by Bryan from 15 yards out on a short angle. With twenty minutes remaining in the game, Tufts led, 2-1.

Harvard tried to battle back but it lacked any sort of scoring spark.

Tufts picked up an insurance goal at 36:37. Sullivan knocked a corner kick into a crowd of players. Pendecki emerged with the loose ball and rocketed a screen shot past Bryan for his second tally of the afternoon.

No Chance

"I hardly even saw the last goal," goaltender Bryan said. "I really didn't have much of a chance on any of the scores, but it was certainly not one of my better games."

The game concluded with no further scoring as both squads began substituting for the regulars.

Harvard outshot Tufts, 23-16, but it could not capitalize as Legg was outstanding in goal, allowing only a solo score while making fifteen saves.

"Dexter was tough," coach Clinton said. "But then he has been a standout all year and has kept us in a lot of tight games."

The loss snaps the Crimson victory string at four games and drops its record to 6-2-1. But Harvard is still unscathed in Ivy play and shares the league lead with a highly-touted Brown squad.

The Crimson invades Princeton, Saturday, hoping to resume its winning patterns and extend its unbeaten Ivy ledger.

"We made too many mistakes today and weren't really up. But Saturday is a big one and we'll find out what kind of team we really have," Ford explained yesterday.

If the Crimson should rebound by defeating the Tigers on Saturday, and Brown is not ambushed by Cornell, the stage would be set for the big Ivy showdown. The Bruins travel to the Business School field on November 16 to tangle with the Crimson, in a contest which could very well determine the Ivy championship.

Advertisement