M. Soccer Stomps Fairfield Mustangs

The Harvard men's soccer rolled to another easy win Wednesday, defeating Fairfield, 4-0 in Connecticut.

The win was just another day at the office for the Crimson (12-1, 4-1 Ivy), who have established themselves this year as one of the teams to beat in the hunt for the Ivy League crown. The victory in the final road game of the regular season also positioned Harvard as one of the strongest teams in the East.

Harvard took the lead early on a fine effort by captain Will Kohler and never looked back. Fairfield never got going offensively and could only hope to keep goals against to a minimum. Bluntly put, Fairfield was over-matched. By the second half, every Crimson player saw action, and most of the starters watched the second half from the sideline.

Freshman Ryan Keeton started at center midfielder for the first time this year and added the third goal to aid the victory effort. Keeton played in place of Sophomore Armando Petruccelli, who sat out resting a minor ankle sprain but is expected to play tomorrow when Harvard meets Ivy rival Dartmouth.

The team was clearly pleased to see such strong play from a freshman with relatively little game experience.

"Playing behind Armando [Petruccelli], [Keeton] doesn't get a lot a chances, but he stepped up for us against Fairfield," junior forward Tom McLaughlin said.

The stark contrast from last year's disappointing campaign is apparent in the attitude of the team toward games like Fairfield.

"[Fairfield] isn't a good team, [but] they tied Connecticut, so we knew we couldn't take them lightly. We beat them 8-0 last year, and when we got up early, we dominated the rest of the game," McLaughlin said.

Understandably, there is a lack of fire in the belly regarding the Fairfield win; the Crimson expects to beat such teams, but there is also a sense of real confidence about the team in McLaughlin's voice. The team knows what it needs to do in order to win, and judging from the results of late, there is no reason to suggest it is letting up.

In addition to the goals by Kohler and Keeton, senior forward Richard Wilmot and McLaughlin, who added to his Ivy League-leading goal total, added scores for the Crimson.

Harvard next faces Dartmouth tomorrow, at 11 a.m. on Ohiri Field. Harvard  4 Fairfield  0