Luzak Gives M. Soccer Big Boost

The Harvard men's soccer team wanted to perform an exorcism on itself Saturday afternoon. And aided by Stephen Locker, the new high priest of Harvard soccer, it did.

With a dramatic 4-3 overtime victory over the Columbia Lions, the Crimson drove away all the bad memories its 1991 season.

How bad?

Try an 0-4-1 record in overtime.

But thanks to Captain Jason Luzak's goal with 26 seconds left in the second half of over-time, Harvard (1-0-0 overall, 1-0-0 Ivy) notched its first over time win since 1989 and provided an emotional debut for Locker.

The Lions dropped to 1-2-0 overall and 1-1-0 with the Ivy league.

Columbia may not be the powerhouse it was when it produced an 8-2-6 record last year, but Harvard has clearly improved, as Saturday's victory demonstrated.

Inspired by Locker, this year's version of the Crimson possesses a "new atmosphere of confidence," according to junior midfielder Joe Bradley.

Bradley himself had a secondary assist on the day, but the biggest producers were the freshmen: midfielders Taddeh Sheriff and Chris Wojik each picked up two assists.

Griffin Scores

Columbia's Michael Griffin opened the scoring eight minutes into the second half.

Sheriff countered with a long run down the left wing in the 74th minute, as he set up an easy put away by Harvard backer Tom Marcotullio to tie the score at 1-1.

Less than four minutes later, sheriff crossed from the right side to All-America candidate Luzak, who headed the ball past Lions' netminder James Feuerborn for a 2-1 Crimson lead.

But Columbia midfielder Kimani Robinson drilled a hard shot past senior Crimson keeper Scott Salisbury to even the score just three minutes later.

That meant overtime. Oh, the horror.

Locker had braced his players for such a situation before the game.

"Coach [Locker] was very confident for his first game, and that confidence was a big lift for us, especially towards the end of the game," Wojik said.

Harvard came out strong in the first half of overtime, but Columbia grabbed the lead with a turnaround shot by forward Alon Bolokan at 4:40 in the extra period.

Led by a vocal Luzak, Harvard tried to mount a successful counterattack. And with less than four minutes to go, it happened.

Senior forward Juan Betancourt caught the drooping Lions' defense off-guard with a quick throw-in to Wojik, who dribbled down the right wing and centered into the box, where sophomore Derek Swaim latched onto the cross. His shot was awkwardly struck, but hit well enough to sneak through the legs of Feuerborn for the tying goal.

"We just kept plugging away," Bradley said.

Luzak's score at 19:34 clinched the game. A Wojik run down the right flank set up a cross to Lujak, who coolly fired a low shot just inside the left post.

"This time, we would not be content for a tie, and the manner in which we fought for the win showed a lot of character," backer Pepper Brill said.

HARVARD, 4-3 OT at Baker Field Harvard  0  2  0  2  --  4 Columbia  0  2  1  0  --  3

G: Harvard--J. Luzak (2), T. Marcatullio, D. Swaim; Columbia--M. Griffin, K. Robinson, A. Bolokan. A: H--T. Sheriff (2), C. Wojik (2), J. Bradley. C--M. Griffin, J. Gaeta. S: H--S. Salisbury, 7; C--J. Feuerborn, 4.