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On Saturday afternoon, the Harvard men’s soccer team (4-4-4, 1-2-1 Ivy) welcomed the Brown Bears (5-5-2, 1-2-1) to Cambridge in a high-scoring game that ended in the first Ivy League conference victory for the team this season. The 4-2 result for the Crimson marked a season-high tally for the team and showcased a promising future, with all four goal scorers being first-year players.

Coming off a riveting 1-1 draw against its rival Yale the previous weekend, the Crimson came into the game with the pressure of being winless in Ivy play this season and a long October goal drought marked by successive ties. Brown was not an easy opponent for the Crimson, having defeated Harvard last year in a 3-1 win at Providence.

However, the Crimson showed an entirely new face at the start of the game, scoring a goal in the fourth minute and elating the Jordan Field crowd of 560. Sophomore midfielder Phoenix Wooten’s corner kick found the head of freshman defender Alejandro Palacio, who targeted a powerful header into the low corner of the goal to give Harvard the early lead.

The Bears then largely controlled possession until they finally broke through with Brown freshman midfielder Marshall Treese sending a cross into the box that Brown senior forward Jamin Gogo Peters buried to level the score. Fifteen minutes later, Brown freshman forward Mateo Pereyra put an exceptional turning shot into the bottom right corner of the net off a long throw-in to make the score 2-1.

Facing a goal deficit for the first time since its loss against UPenn on October 4th, the Crimson responded with determination. With just over seven minutes remaining in the eventful first half, freshman midfielder Lucas Benuce Sarvas sent a corner kick into the box, which was deflected into the net by a Bears defender, giving Sarvas credit for the equalizer.

The second half began as a defensive battle, with several goal attempts made by sophomore defender Tim Langenbahn and junior forward Dylan Tellado that went wide or were saved by the Brown goalkeeper. The deadlock was only broken in the 70th minute, when Tellado made a shot from outside the box. While the Bears goalkeeper managed to block it, first-year forward Adam Poliakov seized the rebound opportunity to score his first-ever collegiate goal from close range.

As Brown ramped up the pressure towards the Crimson’s defensive line in hopes of an equalizer, Harvard’s defensive line held firm, with senior goalkeeper Cullen MacNeil making a quick save on a shot from Peters in the 81st minute. With only a minute to play and Brown looking to make their final push to even the score, Poliakov delivered the final blow and completed his brace with a bullet from his right foot to the bottom left corner off the assist from Tellado.

The Crimson will look to continue its momentum when it travels to Stonehill College (4-8-1, 2-2-1 NEC) on Wednesday and to Columbia (1-6-4, 0-3-1 Ivy) on Saturday.

– Staff writer Nghia L. Nguyen can be reached nghia.nguyen@thecrimson.co