A Reporter's Strange Case of Deja Vu

Anyone attending the Harvard-Dartmouth men's and women's soccer games over the weekend could not help but see double.

With time racing to the conclusion of the men's match, something seemed very strange. Like the women's match Friday night, Saturday's men's match was tied 2-2. Like the women's team, the men's team has a goalie named Reilly.

So with 20 minutes remaining in Saturday's game, it looked like a second bout of a two-period overtime for this reporter.

But alas, the Big Green's Justin Head banged home the game winner against the Crimson, sweeping away the imagery like a gust of Arctic Hanoverian wind.

Head--Dartmouth's striking superforward--put a foot and a head into all three Big Green scores. He tallied two goals and an assist en route to Dartmouth's 3-2 win over the Crimson in Hanover, N.H.

Head capped the win by heading a rebound volley off the Crimson cross-bar, just two minutes after Harvard freshman Joe Bradley knotted the match, 2-2, with an unassisted tally.

Bradley was named Ivy Rookie of the Week for his efforts. The goal was Bradley's first of the season, complementing his two assists.

While the goal ignited interest in the contest, it proved futile as the Big Green rallied to win, 3-2.

"We equalized twice, but we just got unlucky in the end," Harvard sophomore midfielder Kenji Hall said.

Easy For You To Say: "I would tell her to do it every time, but she has to get a card," very egalitarian women's soccer Coach Tim Wheaton told the linesman after Crimson back Amy Weinstein made a diving block with her hands to stop the Green's Ginger Smith from scoring on an empty net.

Dartmouth shanked the ensuing penalty kick, and Weinstein walked away with no warning from the referee. The play proved crucial as the Crimson and Dartmouth finished tied, 2-2.

One Unhappy Camper: Dartmouth women's soccer Coach Steve Swanson had some choice words for his team about the Big Green's inability to put the ball into the net.

"It's all in the team attitude," Swanson fumed. "We had three breakaways and a penalty kick, and we couldn't score."

Much of this was courtesy of the heroics of Weinstein and Harvard netminder Beth Reilly--who stuffed the Big Green's Ginger Smith on two one-on-one chances.

"It's simple: if you can't score, you can't win," Swanson said. "I'm not happy with this result, and I hope [the Dartmouth women's soccer team] is not either."

It's In The Cards: Harvard senior midfielder Tara Weinstock thinks that fate had something in store for Weinstein on Friday afternoon.

"It was in the tarot cards," Weinstock professed. "We were playing cards on the bus, and we decided that Steiner would either save or score a goal."

Weinstein, however, has other thoughts on the matter.

"I was just thinking the ball is not going to cross that line," the junior back declared.