Sunday's men's soccer game gave new meaning to the term "winning ugly."
In a hard-fought but often sloppy match in which both teams demonstrated flashes of brilliance as well as lapses in concentration, Harvard (8-1-0 overall, 3-1-0 Ivy) outlasted the Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds, 2-0, at Ohiri Field, to run its winning streak to eight games.
"We played awful, to put it bluntly," captain Will Kohler said. "But for us to play that poorly and come out with a victory, it's definitely a plus for us."
Well, it wasn't exactly awful. But it was a different game of soccer than what Harvard usually produces.
The game began with Loyola controlling the action and Harvard having a hard time getting its sea legs.
Loyola's first scoring chance came seven minutes into the game, when forward Kevin Alvero had a one-on-one with Harvard netminder Peter Albers.
Albers charged out of the net, and forced Alvero to shoot the ball wide to the left.
Meanwhile, Harvard's offense had a particularly difficult time getting started, mainly due to the speed of the Loyola backfield, which contained breaks on the side of the field and prevented Harvard from making many crosses in front of the goal to set up scoring opportunities.
"Usually [junior forward Tom McLaughlin] can turn the corner on a couple of these kids, and he struggled at doing that today," Harvard coach Steve Locker said.
But Loyola also made some nearly fatal mistakes in its backfield.
To keep the ball in the Harvard end of the field, the Loyola backs cheated up to the midfield line. They relied on their speed to prevent fast breaks.
But with 20 minutes gone in the first half, Harvard took advantage of this opportunity.
Senior forward Rich Wilmot, stationed at midfield, led McLaughlin with a pass down the middle of the field. McLaughlin blasted past his man and went one-on-one with Loyola goalkeeper Joe Schafer.
Schafer ran out of the box and attempted to make the save, but he failed to get the ball. With no one in goal, he was forced to take McLaughlin down to prevent the inevitable score. Read more in SportsRecommended Articles
