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Men's Soccer Aims to Continue Momentum, Stifle Boston College

Anneli L. Tostar

The Harvard men’s soccer team aims to earn its third straight win when it plays Boston College on Tuesday. The Crimson comes into the game on a roll, having beaten both Brown and Cornell this past week.

Coming off of a vital weekend triumph over Ivy opponent Brown, the Harvard men’s soccer team will look for its third consecutive win on Tuesday. The Crimson (3-6-2, 2-1-0 Ivy) will take on cross-town rival Boston College (5-5-2, 3-4-1 ACC) in what could be Harvard’s first victory against the Eagles since 2009.

The Crimson hopes to learn from its game against the Bears (3-6-3, 0-1-2 Ivy) as the team faces Boston College at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

The greatest threat to Harvard could be Boston College freshman Zeiko Lewis, who is tied for the team lead in goals scored (two) and paces the Eagles in assists (seven). The Crimson must also be wary of sophomore Derrick Boateng, who ended the 2012 season ranked 17th among freshmen in the country.

Senior defender Chris Ager has led the Eagles from the back while still pressuring opposing teams’ defenses. Ager was named ACC Men’s Soccer Player of the Week earlier this season after he scored two goals against Boston University. BC won that game, its season opener, 2-1.

The last time Harvard played the Eagles, the Crimson gained the lead early, but BC responded in turn. The game went into double overtime and the teams eventually tied, 1-1.

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“We have been working on our ability to adjust and continue pushing,” senior A.J. Agha said. “We need to play the full 90 minutes the same way we play the first 30 minutes.”

Early in the year, Harvard struggled to hold leads late in games.

The Crimson has lost four games so far this season by a one-goal deficit. In its game against Davidson, Harvard maintained its 1-0 lead with 20 minutes left to play. The team then relinquished a pair of late goals to the Wildcats, and ultimately lost the match, 2-1.

In a similar game against Yale, the Crimson led 1-0, but eventually lost, 2-1, due to a late goal from sophomore Bulldog Henos Musie with just 40 seconds left on the clock.

But things have changed of late.

Against Cornell on Oct. 12, Harvard gave up its 1-0 advantage in the 81st minute, but knocked in a game-winner in overtime to earn its first Ivy win in three years.

The Crimson extended its winning streak against Brown on Saturday.

“What was great for us was how we transitioned from the Cornell game to the Brown game,” co-captain Ross Friedman said.

The matchup against Brown marked the team’s first Ivy competition on home turf. The first half of play proved crucial to Harvard’s 2-1 victory.

“The first 35 minutes of the game, I think were the best that I’ve seen since I’ve been here on campus,” Friedman said. “Had we put away our chances…we could have had four or five goals within the first [half].”

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