Booters Collect in OT; Tie Brown, 2-2

Harvard men's soccer Coach Mike Getman has tried just about everything.

Change the starting line-up. Change player positions. Play a three-forward, three-midfielder attack. Switch to a two-forward, four-midfielder combo. Play the ball in the air. Play the ball to the feet.

Nothing works.

Saturday at Ohiri Field the Crimson outshot Brown, 31-11. Nearly three times as many opportunities--same number of goals. Harvard and the Bruins finished in a 2-2 overtime tie in a critical Ivy League contest.

"Little mistakes, little letdowns, we've been having the same problems all year," Getman said. "I just don't know what it is at this point. Every time I think we've figured it out, something else breaks down."

Junior forward Nick D'Onofrio finished off a Ramy Rajballie shot 28:02 into the contest for a 1-0 Harvard lead that lasted until Bruin Bret Buggeln netted the ball with 11:41 remaining in the game. The 1-1 deadlock sent the game into overtime.

Senior midfielder Steven Thomas nailed a line drive just out of Crimson keeper Stephen Hall's reach for a 2-1 Bruin lead just 2:23 into the first 10-minute OT. Harvard sophomore sweeper Nick Gates netted his first goal of the season with a shot through the middle at 95:39. Both teams failed to score in the second OT.

"We have so much of the ball, so much possession," sophomore sweeper Nick Gates said, "then they have two good shots and score on both of them. We're just not having any luck."

The Crimson (6-3-3 overall, 3-1-1 Ivies) has been suffering from a host of problems--not least of which is its inability to score goals. Harvard maintained possession for the majority of the game, taking a season-high 31 shots, but once again the team couldn't finish its scoring opportunities. Brown goalie Doug Tudor was forced to make only five saves.

With the wind against them in the opening half, the Bruins (3-7-2 overall, 2-2-2 league) struggled on the attack, and were forced to play defensive soccer for most of the period. But it was Harvard that looked shaky after the teams traded sides at halftime.

"We played 45 minutes of great soccer, then we played 45 minutes of poor soccer," Getman said. "It's just like the whole season--high moments, low moments, playing well, then playing poorly."

The Crimson had a pair of corner kick opportunities in the closing minutes of regulation but failed to capitalize.

"[The players] have tried hard, they've worked hard in practice," Getman said. "It just isn't there this year. I just don't think we're a title team."

Harvard's destiny in the Ivy League race has been taken out of its own hands. Princeton--whose leading scorer, Andrew Dechet, has scored as many Ivy goals (eight) as the entire Harvard offense combined--leads the league with a 5-1 record. A Tiger win over Yale on Nov. 12 would eliminate the Crimson from the title race.

Even if Princeton loses and Harvard wins its two remaining Ivy games, Dartmouth (4-1 after a 1-0 triumph over Yale Saturday) must tie or lose in one of its final two league contests for Harvard to take at least a share of the Ivy title.

THE NOTEBOOK: Freshman midfielder Lenny Ilkhanoff left the game with an injured knee in the first half and is unlikely for this Wednesday's home match against the University of Massachusetts...Hall made six saves...The two teams had six corner kicks apiece...The Crimson-UMass game will be at 2 p.m. at Ohiri Field.