Harvard men’s soccer team has made a name for itself early in the 2005 campaign with stingy defense in close games. But yesterday afternoon at Ohiri Field, the Crimson uncharacteristically coughed up a three-goal advantage to fall 4-3 in overtime to an athletic Rhode Island team.

After scoring three goals in an eight-minute span in the first half, Harvard (4-3-1, 0-1 Ivy) looked to be firmly in control with a defense that had allowed just six goals in its first seven games. But the Rams (4-5-1) managed to storm back from the early deficit, scoring four unanswered to secure the victory.

After a goal by the Rams’ Steve Mellen forced overtime with 13:30 to play in regulation, URI leading scorer Jeffrey Gonsalves netted the game-winner—his second score of the game—with just 4:12 to go, handing Harvard its second consecutive loss after a five-game unbeaten streak.

“Any time you’re up three goals, you think you’re going to win it,” Harvard coach John Kerr said. “There seemed to be a real collapse today because of a lack of concentration.”

That lack of concentration has bedeviled the Harvard defense of late. Last weekend’s three-goal performance by Yale was the first time all season that Harvard has allowed more than one goal, and the back-to-back defensive breakdowns are a major concern as the Ivy League slate looms. Kerr blames a lack of commitment on the defensive end for costing the Crimson its three-goal lead.

“It’s hard work to track players, and some of our guys weren’t willing to do that and we paid the price,” said Kerr.

This is a surprising collapse for a unit that gave up just three goals while posting three shutouts in the first six games of the year. Over the last two games the defensive struggles have become a trend.

“[Yale] scored two goals on players not tracking their men, and it killed us,” said Kerr.

“Maybe the same thing was going on at the beginning of the season, and we just got lucky and the guys didn’t finish,” said senior defenseman and captain William Craig. “But now we’re playing some top teams in the Ivy League and it’s really become apparent that it’s kind of a problem for us.”

On the offensive end, Harvard’s three goals matched their highest output of the season thus far. Senior forward Anthony Tornaritis opened the scoring on a rebound putback in the 14th minute, but the outburst was led by freshman forward John Stamatis, who found the back of the net twice in seven minutes in the first half.

It was the first multi-goal game for Stamatis as a member of the Crimson.

But Stamatis will be unavailable for Saturday’s game against Cornell because of the red card he received with 6:46 remaining in the overtime period.

“He’s a very good player, and I think he had a real lack of composure there at the end when he got his red card,” said Kerr. “He’s a young player, and I hope he’s going to learn from that because it really had a big effect on us emotionally.”

Stamatis’ red card was just the most visible sign of the obvious frustration of the Harvard team. Looking tired, the Crimson could not keep up with Rhode Island while shorthanded in the extra frame.

Recovering quickly from this disappointing loss will be crucial for the Crimson. Including the upcoming contest with Cornell, seven of the remaining nine games on the Harvard schedule are within the Ivy League.