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M. Soccer Ties Terriers, 1-1 in Rain

Petruccelli keys second half comeback

Coming off a 2-1 upset victory over Columbia on Saturday, the Harvard men's soccer team followed through with an equally impressive 1-1 tie with Boston University on a cold and soggy Ohiri Field yesterday afternoon.

Using a second-half goal by senior midfielder Armando Petruccelli to equalize after a late first-half goal by the Terriers, the Crimson (1-2-1, 1-0 Ivy)

was able to gain momentum for their showdown with No. 8 Yale (4-0, 0-0 Ivy) on Saturday, while B.U. (2-2-2) was left thinking "what if?"

Harvard out-played B.U. for most of the first half, but still trailed the Terriers 1-0 at halftime.

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Roughly two-and-a-half minutes into the second period, sophomore forward Alan Bengtzen fought off two B.U. defenders to earn a free kick in Terrier territory. Petruccelli, taking the kick, found a hole in the defensive wall and curved the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal, leaving goalie Matthew Smith with no time to react at 47:38.

"My teammates needed someone to score," Petruccelli said. "[Junior captain] Ryan Kelly came up to me and said 'Get it in there,' so I did."

The rain began to pick up as the second half neared an end, and with 15 minutes left in regulation, sophomore goalie Mike Meagher made an amazing diving save on a kick lasered by Bone to the far post to keep the Crimson alive.

"I was just trying to keep the team in it," Meagher said. "I tried to cut off his angle and bait him far post. I guess it worked."

Meagher made two more crucial saves in the last ten minutes to extend the game into overtime. The Terriers had been on the offensive for the last 20 minutes of the second half, but the overtime break afforded the Crimson an opportunity to reorganize for the two 15-minute sudden-death periods.

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