Riding the wave of confidence after last weekend's successful jaunt into Dixie, the Harvard men's soccer team will attempt to take charge of its Ivy League destiny in its Ivy opener against Columbia.

Harvard (1-1-1 overall, 0-0 Ivy) starts its Ivy season today at 1:30 at Ohiri Field. Their opponent is one of the best squads in the Ivy League, and a win would put them in position to claim the Ivy League title and make a return trip to the NCAA tournament.

Columbia (3-2) was picked to finish 13th in Soccer America's preseason poll.

"If we can beat Columbia, we're looking good for the Ivy Leagues," junior forward Will Kohler said. "We have momentum going into it, but I don't need help getting motivated for the game: I haven't beaten them in my two years. This is a big game for the junior class."

Last week's close 2-0 loss to seventh-ranked Columbia and 2-2 tie against the College of Charleston (which reached the top eight in last year's NCAA tournament) clearly indicated Harvard's ability to compete strongly with the national soccer elite.

"We have some momentum going into the game [against Columbia]," Kohler said.

The team's strength last weekend was defense, as they held Charleston to 17 shots and North Carolina to 11, They'll look to produce an even stingier defense today.

Despite the unexplained departure of two of the team's defensemen earlier this year, the rest of the defense stepped their game up a notch to shut down some of the top offenses in the nation.

"We'll have a makeshift defensive scheme this weekend," Kohler said.

The key to the Harvard defense will be to stop Columbia's All-American forward, Ricky Dattison, who terrorized Harvard last year.

"I think any player of that caliber, you've got to give respect to," junior defenseman John Vrionis said. "I don't think we'll change the way we play; it just makes the game a little more exciting."

On offense, the Crimson is looking for the kind of firepower they opened the season with against Fairfield. Last weekend, Harvard's freshmen remained behind as the rest of the team hit the Carolinas. This weekend, they'll be back.

One of the most exciting freshmen to watch will be forward Armando Petruccelli, who notched three assists in the Fairfield blowout.

Another exciting addition to the team is Richard Wilmot, a transfer student from Penn State who notched two goals and an assist in the same game.

"[Wilmot] brings a 6' 3" frame with him," Kohler said. "We can play a powerful game with Rich up front."