"I thought we had it." Jim Langton was plain frustrated, along with the rest of the Harvard booters, after the Crimson dropped an overtime 3-2 decision to Columbia in Saturday's Ivy opener.
It was frustrating to lose after coming back from a first-half two-goal deficit.
It was frustrating that the offense was again unable to score when aggressive defense allowed Harvard to control much of the game.
And it left an empty feeling in one's stomach that Columbia won on a sloppy goal after Bill Blood had come of age with some spectacular saves to keep the Crimson in the game.
The game winner came at 6:10 of the first overtime period. Columbia playmaker, Shahin Shayan (from Tehran, Iran), took the ball deep in the Crimson zone and crossed it from the left corner over the crease.
Blood was blocked out on the play and could not get to the bouncing ball as Lion captain Cliff Simms lofted it over him and past a tangled up Langton.
Columbia opened the scoring at 19:10 of the first half on a goal which ominously resembled the game winner. The ball rolled across the crease untouched and the Lion's garbage man, Simms, directed it in.
The Lion's Shayan set up Steve Charles five minutes later for a 30-ft. bullet to the upper right corner of the net. But these outbursts were sandwiched between periods of Harvard domination.
The Crimson started a front line of Alberto Villar, Lee Nelson, Steve Yakopec, and Mauro Keller Sarmiento. They utilized the slippery speed of wings Villar and the Argentinian freshman to expose holes in a sagging Lion defense but Yakopec and Nelson, who was marked all game, were unable to convert.
It took a run by midfielder Mike Smith, who blooms a little brighter every game, to get Harvard on the board at 31:23. He traversed the field from the left sideline to the right endline, teasing the Lion defense, before finding Yakopec in front for the score.
Harvard seemed ready to break the game wide open with a pretty goal early in the second half. Smith brought the ball down the middle and put a through pass on the foot of Keller Sarmiento to the left of the Columbia goal. He slipped one defender and fired a shot at the far post where Walter Diaz broke his shooting drought, slamming the ball home.
But the second half turned into wide open soccer which seemed to favor Columbia, and Blood was called upon to make two big saves, one with two minutes remaining. That and a diving save with 20 seconds in the first half proved that Blood is capable of making the big play. He must now develop poise in crowded situations in front of the net. Because for the second straight game, loose balls proved to be the Crimson's undoing.
As coach George Ford said when it was all over, "It's tough when you play so well." First Half: Columbia 1, Harvard 0. Simms (unassisted), 19:10. Columbia 2, Harvard 0. Charles from Shayan, 24:00. Columbia 2, Harvard 1. Yakopec from Smith, 31:23. Second Half: Harvard 2, Columbia 2. Diaz from Keller Sarmiento, 8:10. Overtime: Columbia 3, Harvard 2. Simms (unassisted), 6:10.
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