The 25th-ranked Broncos took advantage of two late Jamil Walker tallies to overcome a red card received by sophomore defender Zach Knight in the first half as they defeated the Crimson 2-0 yesterday afternoon.

Harvard could not figure out a way to solve the Broncos’ aggressive offsides trap, which forced twelve offsides calls against the Crimson.

Harvard posted another solid first half as the defensive unit of Nechtem, Michael Cornish, Andrew Old and Jason Andersen combined to keep Santa Clara (5-3-1) off the board.

Andersen, who had been kept out all season with a knee injury, returned to action this week and has helped make up for the absence of Lobach with his solid play in the back.

It was the Crimson offense that could not get into gear. Even though the Broncos were playing shorthanded, they held the Crimson to only four shots in the first half. Santa Clara’s star sophomore goalkeeper Steve Cronin, a member of the Under-20 US Men’s National Team, was also a big factor in goal.

“Every time he punted the ball it went into our defensive third,” Andersen said. “He made some solid saves for them, too.”

Walker scored his first goal with 18 minutes left when he struck a laser off a free kick that banged off the inside post and into the net. His second tally came just minutes later on a rebound off a shot that freshman goalkeeper Ryan Johnson could not handle.

Despite the two goals, Johnson played strong as he recorded eight saves in the defeat. Charnock stepped in and played strong in the midfield again as he helped fill the void left by Ara’s red card suspension.

“Even though we were up a player, I think we just ran out of gas,” Nechtem said. “It’s been a long weekend and the injuries started to affect us also. Not having Lobach hurt us a lot too. He brings a lot to our team and we missed him in more ways than one.”

Harvard is still in good shape to battle for its goal of an Ivy League title with its 1-0 Ivy League record and a week for its injured players to heal before the next contest. The Crimson is one of four unbeaten teams atop the Ivy standings along with Yale (6-1, 1-0), Penn (6-1, 2-0) and Columbia (6-2, 1-0).

“Despite the two losses, we still played some very good soccer at times,” Andersen said. “We still have a lot to work for and a lot to look forward to.”

—Contributing writer Anastasios Skalkos can be reached at skalkos@fas.harvard.edu.