At the end of the first half, however, the score remained deadlocked at 0-0.

"The first half saw a whole lot of defense, with both teams covering up in the back very well," Petruccelli said.

Kelly's loss was felt early on in the first half, as the Crimson failed to string together passes and put together a balanced offensive attack that occupied the middle and offensive thirds.

Kelly usually plays as a central defender, but since the Columbia match Sept. 18, he has been venturing into the midfield, pushing the rest of the Harvard offense further forward. The result has been more Harvard possession in the matches against Columbia and B.U.

Against Yale, conversely, Harvard found most of its scoring chances coming in transition, or in isolated efforts by a single player.

"We got forward a bit, but at the same time we were never really a threat," Petruccelli said. "The offense never got into the process of attacking, never kept possession. One person like Henchie [Will Hench] would take on three guys and get free, but we didn't work as a team a lot."

With Kelly absent from the midfield, Petruccelli was under increased pressure on both sides of the midfield.