But Harvard struggled to generate any offense at all against North Carolina. The Tar Heels didn’t allow Harvard a single shot on goal, giving goalie Ford Williams a shutout without forcing him to make a save.
“It might look bad on paper, but we had a game plan, and we stuck to it,” Ara said. “We had a couple of chances. We deserved better than what we got.”
In the Harvard goal, Johnson was forced to work hard to deny numerous North Carolina shots. He was finally beaten in the 76th minute on a header by Jamie Watson.
“We had a different strategy against North Carolina,” Johnson said. “We were planning to counterattack a lot. They played well, and didn’t try to force anything on us.”
The Crimson returns to action on Saturday when it travels to New Haven, Conn. to play Yale in both teams’ Ivy League opener.