Ohiri Field: A Big Red Graveyard

It was simply a battle between two different electromagnetic wavelengths.

Electromagnetic wavelengths?

In the spectrum of waves, the color red occupies the extreme left spot in the rainbow. A wave's length cannot be any greater than red, or it will no longer be visible as light.

Saturday morning at Ohiri Field, the Harvard men's soccer team, which of course calls itself the Crimson, defeated Cornell, which calls itself the Big Red, proving that the closer you are to infrared the better your soccer team.

The Crimson (longer wavelengths) defeated the Big Red (shorter wavelengths), 2-0, and wish the victory raised its record to 4-3.

The win marks the first time this season Harvard has been above the .500 mark. The victory over Cornell was the third win in a row for the Crimson.

As Cornell Coach Jack Writer said, "it was a good match between the 18s."

But for the Crimson, it was a better match between the 18 yard lines, the goal area, and on the scoreboard, simply because the Harvard booters were better able to get shots on the Big Red net and were able to successfully capitalize on their opportunities.

The Crimson threw more firepower at Cornell than the Big Red defense had dealt with in any of its previous games. Crimson strikers Lane Kenworthy and John Catliff and wing raider Nick Hotchkin combined with midfield maestro Paul Nicholas to create more shots in the first half than the Cornell defenders were used to.

Big Red 'keeper Hugh O'Gorman made more saves--seven--in the first half Saturday than he had made in any other game this year.

Due to some great work by O'Gorman, who recorded 14 saves, and some near misses, however, the Crimson was not able to score, and the game was tied 0-0 at halftime.

"We didn't expect their goalkeeper to be as good as he was," Harvard Coach Jape Shattuck said.

A tactical adjustment in the second half by Shattuck swung the momentum of the game into the Crimson's favor. Noticing that the Cornell defense had concentrated on Kenworthy and Catliff, creating a four-on-two situation, he instructed the Crimson forwards to push up further in attack, eliminating the option of passing back and also making the Big Red distribute the ball more quickly.

This resulted in Harvard winning the ball more frequently in midfield, from where it could build up an attack. Eventually, the attack resulted in a goal in the 61st minute.

Catliff, about 35 yards out with his back to the goal, sent an overhead volley into the left side of the goal area to which the fleet-footed Hotchkin beat the Cornell defense. Hotchkin then crossed across the goalmouth to midfielder Nikhil Singh, who faked the pants off another defender and knocked the icebreaker into the net.

About 12 minutes later, it was almost an assumption that Cornell would equalize. Crimson 'keeper Matt Ginsburg was called by referee Jeff Mantel for interfering with a Cornell striker on the left fringe of the goal area, and the arbiter immediately pointed to the penalty spot--considered almost a 90 percent sure goal.

But for Cornell defender Keith Jebodhsingh, the Big Red penalty taker, the 10 percent chance for failure manifested itself in the form of the right post, and as Harvard back Frank DiFalco cleared the rebound out of danger, a collective roar of relief escaped from the Harvard bench.

As it turned out, the penalty, although it would have been quite helpful to the Big Red, wouldn't have been enough to put the game into overtime. In the 75th minute, Nicholas passed to Hotchkin, who was flying down the left side of the pitch.

Hotchkin shot a low shot while simultaneously fighting a shoulder challenge from Cornell defender Kevin Brynie, and the sizzler went past O'Gorman.