For 71 minutes it looked like the Harvard men's soccer team was going to be denied its first victory of the season for the third straight game. But on their home field and in front of almost 600 fans, the defending Ivy League champs would have none of that.

With just over 19 minutes remaining in regulation, junior Paul Cantagallo headed in a deflected shot from the foot of sophomore Juan Carlos Montoy for what proved to be the game-winning tally over Columbia (1-3, 0-1 Ivy) on Saturday.

Although not the prettiest game of soccer, the Crimson's (1-1-1,1-1) 1-0 victory could not have come at a more opportune time as it ended the Crimson's two-game winless streak to start the season.

"We've been looking for that win all year," said captain Tom McLaughlin. "I'm just glad it came."

It was a streak which saw the Crimson fall to two inferior teams. It was a set of games which saw a potentially explosive offense be handcuffed by youth.

Most importantly, it was also a week which saw a team that last year made it all the way to the second round NCAA tournament slowly lose confidence in its abilities.

"It was very important to us," said Coach Steve Locker. "This was a good result for us and we definitely needed to get ourselves thinking more positive and back on the right track."

In its first two contests against Pennsylvania and Boston College, Harvard was lured into a game of long balls, abandoning its basic principles and the strength of its short game. Both the midfield and the backs were content to loft balls into the offensive zone, forcing the frontrunners to be caught in a continuous, futile sprint for the ball.

"I don't like it when we start doing that," Locker said. "You'll notice that when we play long balls they win it, they come back down and they shoot again.

We need to settle down and play out of the back. When we do that, that's when we start working the ball up the field, our confidence level comes up, the rhythm is there and then we're playing the kind of soccer we want to play."

Even with the win, the Crimson still had difficulty containing Columbia's offense. Harvard junior goaltender Jordan Dupuis was forced to make seven saves to only one by Columbia's Matt Napolean.

With just over 28 minutes remaining in the contest, the Lions caught the Crimson off guard.

A dangerous cross from the right flank forced the Harvard defense to retreat towards its own goal. Thus with the defense on its heels and Dupuis pulled out of position, Columbia's Khouri Mullings ripped a bullet at the Harvard net. Luckily for Harvard, sophomore back Chinezi Chijioke was covering the net and cleared the ball out of trouble, keeping the game scoreless.

"I can't say enough about the four defenders and how well they played," Locker said. "We're very comfortable with our defense so we aren't worried about the pressure on them. They can handle it."

For 71 minutes, the Crimson defense had to do just that. And how fitting, that when the pressure was finally relieved, the goal scorer, Cantagallo, was making a rush from the stopper position.

"It wasn't the prettiest of soccer, but we came out and we worked hard," McLaughlin said. "That's what coach has been telling us, every game is going to be a fight and we have to find a way to win and today we did. Paul Cantagallo coming from stopper-a second effort like that-that's awesome."

The Harvard offense did show sparks, however. Both McLaughlin and fellow senior striker Toure McCluskey found daylight-more so than in the prior two games. At one point, McLaughlin maneuvered past two Columbia defensemen and released a blast just inside the 18-yard box. The rebound squirted out in front of the net to McCluskey whose second-chance was denied by a diving Napolean.

"We're scoring in practice. Everyone looks good at practice, but we just weren't finishing in games," McLaughlin said. "I knew that it was just a matter of time and hopefully we just needed that one goal and now maybe the floodgates will open. Maybe the rest of them will come a little easier now."

Harvard looks to continue its newest winning steak as it embarks on its longest road campaign of the season. The Crimson first takes on regional foe, Providence, tomorrow afternoon before meeting its next Ivy opponent, Yale, on Friday