Booters Knot Amherst, 1-1

Across from the Kennedy School on Boylston St., Kirkland House students threw snowballs at cars. Crew boats dotted the windswept Charles. And at the Business School field yesterday, time froze before it ran out.

With less than a minute remaining in regulation and the Harvard men's soccer team desperately pressuring the Amherst net for a tiebreaking goal, the Lord Jeffs' coach scampered frantically onto the field, shouting "Hey Ref, ref, the clock froze."

Amherst coach Peter Gooding's anxiety was understandable. The Crimson dominated the second half of the slushy 1-1 deadlock, sending eight men up to attack and using only two defenders to support the goalkeeper.

The referee let the game continue for a few seconds, then blew his whistle signifying overtime--usually.

However, due to "unplayable conditions," he decided to end the contest without overtime. The official score stood at 1-1, to the relief of the faithful who watched 90 frigid minutes, but to the chagrin of the clearly superior Crimson squad.

"The field was pretty bad, but we had played the whole game on it," Crimson Captain John Sanacore said afterward. "A tie on the road is fine for them. But if the ref stopped the game then, he should have stopped it earlier and replayed it," Crimson captian John Sanacore said yesterday.

Amherst lost to the powerful UConn sqad by a 7-2 score, while the Crimson booters fell to the Huskies by a narrow margin, 2-1. But the inclement conditions "lessened our advantages," Sanacore said. "We played well, but we couldn't play our game."

The booters rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit after Amherst's purple-shirted sqad registered a sloppy goal early in the game before the Crimson got untracked. Aaron Brit crossed the ball to Robert Philbrick, who directed it into the net.

Harvard gained momentum and controlled most of the half, but could not even the score. With snow coating the field, the chances for an offensive surge appeared grim. But when the booters took the pitch after a mercifully-shortened intermission, they displayed a storm of the their own.

Fleet winger Mauro Keller-Sarmiento initiated several dangerous attacks with dazzling footwork that seemed as if it were executed on a dry field. Mike Mogollon and Walter Diaz repeatedly penetrated deep into the Amherst zone.

Finally, at the 23:05 mark of the second half, Diaz nudged the waterlogged ball to substitute forward Dave Stone, who ploughed it under the prone Amherst goalkeeper to knot the battle.

Stone did a superb job generating offense. He hit the crossbar on one occasion, and created several opportunities around the goal area. Alberto Villar unleased a wicked drive that hooked past the goalie but also struck the crossbar.

Diaz crashed through alone later in the half, but tried to blast a shot high into the goal and sailed it over the net.

Fullback Lorenzo DiBonaventura moved up to reinforce the offensive thrusts, and forced the steady Amherst goalie to come up with a sparkling save late in the game.

Despite numerous corner kicks, the Crimson could not capitalize for the gamewinner. The emphasis on keeping pressure on the Amherst defense nearly backfired, as the Lord Jeffs barely missed two chances to clinch the match. Crimson goalkeeper Billy Blood was equal to the task, thwarting the sporadic bursts of the ineffectual Amherst side.

"The ice was sticking to our cleats. You had to stand up very straight out there. It was like iceskating," Sanacore said. "It didn't bother us to play--but it was a little cold."

So long after the K-house people tired of nailing cars, and the crew went in for dinner, the booters continued to play--but they would have liked to have played a little bit longer.

THE NOTEBOOK: First the quarterbacks, now the goalies. Last season's starter Peter Walsh decided to take a year off, and an Amherst forward stepped on Bood's leg. Blood will require stitches to close the gash, and will miss this weekend's action...Eddie Weinfurtner and Bennie Erulkar will tend the twines...The booters' record now stands at 1-2-1 (0-1 in the Ivies)...Their next game is Friday night under the lights and on astroturf at Cornell...URI visits the Business School field next Wednesday--hopefully, in slightly warmer weather.