Booters Defeat Penn, 6-2; Tied for First With Brown

The Crimson soccer team took another step Saturday morning in its inexorable march toward a November 12th show-down with Brown. Dudley Blodget scored a goal in each of the first two periods and Jaime Vargas contributed a fourth-period hat trick (3 goals in one period), as Harvard whipped Pennsylvania, 6-2.

Vargas's third goal, eight and a half minutes after his first, allowed Harvard to match Brown's 6-1 score against Penn earlier in the season. A penalty kick by Penn with two minutes to play, following a minor rule infraction, altered the final margin; but the point of similarity had been made.

Both of Blodget's goals were set up by corner kicks from left wing Scott Robertson. The first assist was a low liner that miraculously rolled in front of goal un-touched to Blodget. The senior right wing punched the ball surely into the left corner of the net.

One period later, Robertson lofted a corner shot which bounced around a while before Blodget squirmed it inside the right post.

Two minutes later, Penn's left inside Frank Cobb scored to bring his team vaguely back into the game. Cobb lifted a loose ball over goalie Richie Hammond, who had come hesitantly out of the nets.

Lutz Hoeppner put the game out of reach two minutes after the second half started. His one-man exhibition of ball control freed him for a well-placed left-footed shot.

Vargas's three goals, at 1:05, 6:56, and 9:40 of the final period, were shot from the middle, the right, and the left sides of the penalty area, respectively. Assists went to Hoeppner on the second, the right post on the third, and the Penn goalie on all three.

Penn's penalty kick was awarded for Harvard's failure to check with the referee when it switched goalies near the end. The goal hardly mattered, and may have been worth the lesson it taught.

Harvard's first string was usually beaten to the ball by Penn's hustling insides, but this edge was small compared to the difference in what the two teams did with the ball once they got it.

Next week Harvard plays Princeton, which lost to Penn last week and to Brown, 2-0, Saturday. Then comes Brown.

Also at Soldiers Field Saturday, the Crimson freshmen beat their University of Connecticut counterparts, 4-1.