For one half, Wednesday's match between the Harvard and Fairfield men's soccer teams at Ohiri Field was a relatively competitive, interesting game.

The second 45 minutes, however, were so lopsided in the Crimson's favor that the Stags could have benefited from having Peter McNeely's manager on their bench.

Plainly put, the game was brutal--an 8-0 pasting by the Crimson. Add that result to the two Harvard women victories (over Fairfield and Canisius), and Harvard soccer has outscored its opponents so far this year, 21-0.

However, for a team that went winless in non-league play last year, any win over any team (no matter how pathetic) is worth something. The triumph was also Harvard's 500th all-time win, and the margin of victory was the team's largest since an 8-0 shellacking of Brandeis in 1987.

"I think we started off with kind of a light game this season because going into this weekend [against preseason No. 5 North Carolina] we needed a little bit of confidence," junior Penn State transfer Richard Wilmot (two goals, one assist) said. "We wanted to get some goals and have many players get in."

Competition like Fairfield (1-4-0) will not at all prepare Harvard (1-0-0) for the rest of the season. The Stags lack in many areas, including composure. They cost themselves any respect and the Crimson meaningful playing time when midfielder Craig Lennon earned two yellow cards and the subsequent red card ejection late in the first half.

At even strength, Harvard was the superior team. With a man advantage, it just wasn't fair.

"We were sort of nervous at the beginning," freshman Armando Petruccelli (three assists) said. "Fairfield seemed to let down after the [red card]."

Harvard's top two new offensive faces--Wilmot and Petruccelli--wasted little time showing that they belonged in the lineup. Under 14 minutes into the game, the duo connected for the first goal of the season on a set play off a direct kick.

Petruccelli lofted the ball towards the goalie's box, and Wilmot used every inch of his 6'4" frame to head it into the lower left corner of the goal. Wilmot should have had a chance to make it 2-0 a couple of minutes later, when he was pulled down from behind and even pantsed in the penalty box, but the referee made no call.

The zebra tried to make up for the blown non-call 33:56 into the half when Wilmot was again hindered in the box, calling the penalty kick. Junior T.J. Carella, however, shot it right into the goalie, and junior Will Kohler fired the rebound into the side of the net.

And Harvard would head into halftime up only by one.

"When it was 11 vs. 11 we clearly were the more dominant team, but I wanted more production," Locker said. "A 1-0 lead was a disappointment to met--those are goal-scoring chances that we need to convert."

As for the second half, the 10 Stags truly looked like deer caught in head-lights, exposing lane after lane for Harvard to score through. Kohler was tripped up by the Fairfield goalie 2:50 into the half, and captain Chris Wojcik converted the Crimson's second penalty kick of the game.

Sophomore Toure McCluskey (two goals) took Wilmot's lead and beat the goalie low left six minutes later, while Wilmot scored his second shortly later.