Harvard soccer fans remember last year's men's game against Connecticut well.
With time running out, Senior Don Daigle, playing in the backfield last season, made a run from midfield, stopped just short of the goal line and pitched the ball with his left foot into the upper right corner of the net for a 2-1 Crimson advantage that stuck as Harvard defeated a UConn team that was among the best in the region.
But if you thought that was wild, yesterday's contest against the Huskies in Storrs, Connecticut tops that.
Once again, the final score was 2-1. Unfortunately, Connecticut came out on top this time, in overtime.
Harvard opened the game without the services of senior fullback Josh Morris, who sat out the game because of a red card he received last Saturday in the Columbia game. But Pepper Brill filled the void, stepping in and playing a strong game.
Harvard took a 1-0 lead at the 16:47 mark when junior midfielder Jason Luzak crossed a ball inside the box that Alex Estevez banged home into the upper left corner of the net.
But after that, things got ugly.
Soggy field conditions made play difficult and the difficulty was compounded by action that was exceptionally physical, or perhaps pugilistic is a better word.
With just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Luzak was fouled and responded by swinging back. The blow caught Connecticut's Dave Hoffman in the back of the neck and knocked him out. Play was delayed for 20 minutes and Hoffman was sent to the hospital.
With less than two minutes remaining in the half, sophomore Joe Bradley was taken down, and after no call was made, he responded by kicking the Connecticut player.
After the referee and several Huskies held back teammates from going after Bradley, he was redcarded and sent off the field.
As a result of Bradley's ejection, Harvard was forced to play the rest of regulation and the two 15-minute overtime sessions down a man.
Connecticut's Tor Fiske scored early in the second half and Erik Barbieri netted the game-winner near the end of the first overtime period, escaping from two Harvard defenders to blast the ball past Jamie Reilly.
Harvard nearly scored what would have been the game-winner for the Crimson with about 15 minutes remaining in regulation, but the shot hit the crossbar.
Yesterday's game was marred by fouls (37 for Harvard and 33 for Connecticut) and violent outbursts, but looking beyond that, Harvard was in the game the whole way, generating 20 shots on goal.
Connecticut had a tremendous 30 shots, but Reilly responded with six saves.
Harvard has suffered some tough breaks and made some poor decisions this season that have led to a somewhat misleading 2-3 start.
The Crimson will look to even its record and stay in the Ivy League hunt when it travels to New Haven Saturday to face Yale.
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