Fairfield entered the game ranked first in the Northeast and 12th in the country despite not having a single win over a current Top-25 team. Harvard is unranked nationally and ranked fourth in the region, despite having beaten No. 14 San Diego in September and every Ivy opponent to date.

Peller would have liked to have won yesterday’s game outright to force a rankings correction.

“I’m really disappointed,” Peller said. “This was a big game for us. We’re not getting the respect we need right now in the rankings. We beat them in every part of the game, especially in overtime. Our fitness was so much better than theirs.”

Among the positives in the game was the return of sophomore forward Grayson Sugarman, who had been out of action for six months due to back problems. Sugarman subbed in midway through the first and second halfs and produced three shots on goal for the day.

“It’s great to have Grayson back,” Kerr said. “You could tell anytime he’s around the ball with that electric pace and the strength he has and desire to go forward, he causes all kinds of problems. The defense can never relax when he’s around.”

“He’s so quick, you just never know what he’s going to do,” Peller added. “His back’s been bothering him and he played right through it.”

The return of Sugarman was especially timely because captain Nick Lenicheck, freshman back Jason Andersen and junior back Michael Cornish were all out due to injury. Kerr did not know when any of the three would return.

Harvard will resume its Ivy schedule at Ohiri on Saturday against Dartmouth. That game, tentatively scheduled for 2:30 p.m., will immediately follow the women’s soccer match set for noon the same day.