Lord Jeffs Outkick Listless Crimson Footmen, 3-1; Porous Defense Paves Path for First Soccer Loss

There were no ominous storm clouds waiting in the West, but out of the blue a tempestuous deluge of three Amherst tallies in less than three minutes drowned any Crimson hopes of an undefeated soccer season, as the Lord Jeffs kicked their way by the Harvard soccer team to a 3-1 win on the Business School field yesterday.

One of Those Games

'Twas simply one of those games you write off as the product of a squad tired from a hard Monday practice, a team not up for a non-league game and suffering from a couple of costly errors in the penalty area. Whatever the case, the Crimson footmen were one uninspired team yesterday, and the visitors from the Berkshires took full advantage of that.

"I was surprised Harvard was not hustling off the ball as they usually do," Amherst coach Peter Gooding said yesterday. "They didn't seem as excited playing us as we were playing them."

Actually the game started out following the script, as the traditionally stronger Crimson squad booted the bouncing ball by the Lord Jeffs' netminder, David Lombardo, to take an early lead. George Grassby converted on a Chris Saunders pass, lifting a shot into the far corner, and the Crimson was quickly sporting a 1-0 advantage.

Five minutes later however, the Harvard defense was caught playing a "see how cute we can be with the ball in our penalty area" game, and Amherst center forward Greg Best, living up to his name, joined in the defensive squad's festivities by blasting a shot by Crimson crease-keeper Steve Potts.

Thirty seconds later another defensive lapse, an Amherst corner kick, a nice combination of headers, and the visitors were up, 2-1. Just as the hometown boys were developing a "let's get it together, gang" attitude, Lord Jeff winger Phil Thorton decided the cake needed a little frosting and popped in the final goal of the day's outing.

Heroics

The come-from-behind heroics of Saturday were not included in yesterday's game plan, unfortunately, and while sweeper Marc Zimmering and goalie Potts (despite the three goals) did turn in strong performances, it was all for naught.

"They weren't outstanding," captain Geoff Hargadon said. "They were just a solid club and we weren't up for the game."

Coach George Ford read deeper into the Crimson loss. "I don't think we're going to be able to play soccer this year," he said, "we'll have to revert to last year's plan of laying back and waiting for the break."

The Crimson's next contest is Friday against Cornell at Ithaca.