ITHACA, N.Y.--Cornell's Schoellkopf Field was the sight of a sorry second half for the Crimson gridders Saturday afternoon. Two Big Red touchdowns in the closing minutes handed Harvard its first loss of the season.

But Schoellkopf took on a new look under the lights that night, as the Harvard men's soccer team proved itself to be a second-half squad once again.

For the third straight game, Harvard (5-0-2 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) carried a scoreless contest into the second stanza, only to come through with a late-game tally.

Saturday the honors went to sophomore forward David Kramer, who bumped in a pretty feed from midfielder Paul Baverstock to break the 0-0 deadlock. Harvard held on to claim a 1-0 Ivy victory.

Neither Harvard Coach Mike Getman nor senior midfielder Nick Hotchkin were happy with the Crimson's play in the opening half. The team struggled with Schoellkopf's astroturf field and from a general lack of organization.

"We played very badly the first half," Hotchkin said. "We're the better team, but it took us the first half to realize we'd have to show it."

Cornell tested the Crimson defense for the first 45 minutes, with senior midfielder John Bayne--the Big Red's leading scorer with three goals on the season--firing a bevy of shots at the Harvard goal.

But the Crimson was saved by the sharp play of goalie Stephen Hall, who recorded five saves en route to his fourth shutout of the season. Hall was supported by a strong backfield, with freshman Nick Gates clearing off the line well as the starting sweeper.

"Cornell was a very good team," Hotchkin said. "They played well for the whole night."

The momentum of the game changed in the second half, with a quicker Harvard team outrunning its Big Red opponents and creating more scoring opportunities.

"We played good offense and we were good in front of goal," Getman said.

A shuffle in the line-up figured heavily in Harvard's play. Getman started three forwards and three midfielders, rather than the standard two-four combination. A trial run of the new set-up had proven effective in last Tuesday's 1-0 triumph over Boston College, so Getman decided to make full use of his strength in the front field.

Sophomore sensation Derek Mills joined regulars Kramer and Nick D'Onofrio for his first start of the season. A summer knee injury had held Mills to limited action for the Crimson's first six contests.

"Derek and the other two forwards have been playing so well, I wanted to be sure they all got to play," Getman said. "On astroturf we're more effective with three forwards."

Strong midfield support gave the trio of forwards several scoring opportunities, with D'Onofrio nearly netting a pass off a Hotchkin free kick just minutes after the Crimson's lone goal. Trailing in total shots at the close of the first half, Harvard finished with 11 in the game, the same number recorded by the Big Red.

THE NOTEBOOK: Senior forward Ken Rouff saw several minutes of action in his hometown...The Crimson hosts Boston University in a non-league contest today at 3 p.m. at Ohiri Field.