Harvard’s early strategy was immediately evident when the Crimson played the ball deep into its own end off the opening kickoff. The play went awry when El Bialy stole the ball and set up Ludwig in front of the net. Ludwig could only deflect the ball softly off his body right at Mejias.
After that initial lapse, neither team could manage a shot on goal for the rest of the half.
Also contributing to Harvard’s offensive struggles was the absence of sophomore midfielder Kevin Ara—the team’s second-leading scorer—who had to miss the game due to the number of yellow cards he had accumulated throughout the season. Freshman forward Jeremy Truntzer was also missing due to a concussion from last week.
In the second half, the Crimson decided to step up the offensive pressure.
“We changed our tactics a little bit, and I think people also calmed down and we tried to pressure them some more,” Lenicheck said. “I think that paid off, because we thought they might be a little bit shaky in the back and we did get some chances because of that. We stepped up our game but it just wasn’t enough.”
Some of Harvard’s best chances came around the 70th minute. On one opportunity, junior back Joe Steffa crossed the ball to junior forward Charles Morrow who headed the ball to Zinter for Harvard’s only shot on goal all evening. Shortly after, junior Michael Cornish patiently passed back to junior back Joe Steffa, who set up junior midfielder Marc Buan in front of the net with a fairly clear shot, but the ball sailed over the net.
“We changed tactics at halftime and decided to go for it and stepped it up, and we were fortunate to have some opportunities to score, and we had some clean shots at goal but unfortunately they weren’t on target,” Kerr said. “You have to make the most of opportunities in games like this.”
As Harvard stepped up the offensive pressure, Rutgers started to get more chances of its own. The change of tempo meant that Mejias was forced to make four crucial saves in the second half just to keep the Crimson in the game.
One of the Knight’s best scoring chances of the evening came in the 65th minute, when Rutgers freshman midfielder Anthony Schiavino fired a hard shot from the 18 that bent to the right of Mejias who was able to punch it out to keep the game tied.
Shortly after, Mejias made another punch save, and Schiavnio got the rebound, but his shot was blocked by the Harvard defenders. Sheppard sent that rebound over the net.
Mejias’ saves kept Harvard in the game at that point, but because the Crimson could not capitalize on its opportunities five minutes later, it went for naught.
BF:Ivy Honors
The All-Ivy teams were announced early last week, and six Crimson players received honors. Sophomore Ladd Fritz and junior back Mike Lobach led the way as Harvard’s two First Team selections.
Fritz was Harvard’s top returning scorer going into the season, and he did not disappoint. He led the team in scoring with six goals, including Harvard’s first score of the season against Yale, and the game-winners in Harvard’s 1-0 victories over Columbia and Ivy co-champion Princeton.
Lobach has been a steady presence in the backfield for Harvard, starting all but two games in his three years with the Crimson. He was a Second Team All-Ivy player in both his freshman and sophomore years.
Ara and Peller were Harvard’s two Second Team All-Ivy selections. Ara tied with Fritz as the team’s leading overall scorer with five goals and three assists for the season. He netted the game-winning penalty kick in Harvard’s 1-0 victory over Penn and added two assists in Harvard’s season-opening 4-2 victory over Yale.
Peller scored the game-tying goal in Harvard’s 2-1 upset of then-No. 6 San Diego in September, and the game-winner in Harvard’s 1-0 win over Cornell.
Junior back Joe Steffa and sophomore back Andrew Old each earned Honorable Mention honors.