ITHACA, N.Y.--For 110 minutes they played on windswept, bitterly damp Schoellkopf Field here Saturday, and for 110 minutes the nets remained empty. The final tally read Harvard 0-Cornell 0, but if gutsy performances in the face of imposing odds count for anything in sports, it was a clearcut Harvard win.

The Crimson defense, glued together by captain Fred Herold's uncannily strong performance in goal, battled through two 45-minute halves and a pair of 10-minute overtime periods to withstand the Big Red's formidable offensive firepower.

Herold, aided by the strong defensive work of Jim Langton, Michael Smith and John Sanacore--among others--registered 16 saves against the constantly pressing Cornell attack.

"They outplayed us," Senior Herold said after the game, "but there was just no way we were going to lose that game."

Besides the talented Big Red squad (5-1 entering the game), the Crimson also had to contend with a chilling drizzle, swirling winds and the disadvantage of playing on Cornell's polyturf field. But despite game-long pressure from the opposition (Cornell racked up a 14-1 edge in corner kicks), the defense refused to crack.

On offense, the Harvard booters found themselves hacking away at the closets thing to four Franz Beckenbauers one can find in Ivy soccer. Cornell's four-across defensive wall methodically blanketed Harvard's offensive attack throughout most of the contest.

Crimson freshman Walter Diaz found himself knocking on the door time after time, but his efforts ended in nothing but frustration, as he always seemed to need one more dribble, one less defender, one more split second to break loose.

It was not the first time this fall that the Cornell defense had proved stingy. In an earlier four-game stretch, the Big Red defenders compiled 359 consecutive minutes of perfect play.

Still, Harvard's front line came close to breaking the scoreless deadlock on several occasions, the best chance coming four minutes into the first overtime.

At that point, leading Crimson scorer Lee Nelson gathered in a header from Lorenzo diBonaventure and deftly dribbled by two fullbacks before setting up 15 yards out and launching a hard, left-footed shot just over the upper right corner of the net.

The story of the game, though, was written by the defense. Strong throughout the game--especially against the wind in the first half--Herold absolutely shone in the 11th hour, as he stood off a Cornell offense that swarmed in the last ten minutes of regulation and in both overtimes.

"Frede" forced the overtime by repelling a pair of blasts of the foot of Brock Tredway in the closing minutes, only to find that still tougher challenges remained in the extra periods.

The Big Red came within a gnat's eyelash of winning it just ten seconds into the second overtime. Racing downfield off the kickoff, the Big Red sent a hard shot goalward--resulting in a Herold deflection--but then striker Steve Ruoff knocked the ball slowly toward the open net.

Out of nowhere, left-wing fullback Sanacore emerged to clear the ball wide and, at least momentarily, preserve the knotted score. Five minutes later, the Red mounted another charge.

Taking the ball from Crimson defensive halfback Smith on one of the freshman's rare miscues on the day, Ruoff looked ready to beat Herold on the semi-breakaway. But out came the keeper, steady as usual, to shut the door.

The roughly played game (Harvard's Matt Boyer received a yellow card) ended in a rough, unpleasant exchange in front of the Crimson net, but considering the circumstances, the Harvard booters could not have been too disappointed with the 0-0 verdict against highly touted Cornell. Call it a win.