Hubristic Terriers Get Just Desserts at Ohiri

With 20 minutes remaining and the score 2-0 in their favor, the Boston University men's soccer team had every right to be cocky.

The Terriers taunted senior forward Kevin Silva as he collected himself before taking the penalty kick that would put Harvard on the scoreboard.

The jeering didn't stop there.

"On the penalty kick, they were standing behind Kevin Silva and calling him a choke," senior Rich Wilmot said. "So after the goal I said something to them and they said, `Come on back when you tie it up.'"

Ask and they shall receive.

One minute later, the ball ricocheted around the BU six-yard area, and junior forward Tom McLaughlin headed it into the Terriers' net. All of a sudden, the Crimson made the impossible seem probable.

The game story was written during the Crimson's explosive second-half scoring spree. Two goals in two minutes is normally good enough to undo the frustration experienced by a good team fighting through an uncharacteristically chaotic performance.

Lost in all the celebration, however, after senior John Vrionis headed another loose ball into the net for an 89th-minute game-winner, were the important lessons to be learned by all teams in first-round NCAA Tournament games.

Come ready to play from the opening whistle. Remember what got you there. Don't panic.

"Winning your first tournament game is absolutely vital," Harvard coach Steve Locker said. "We learned so much in this game. I think it makes a better team than we were coming in. Today, fighting the way we did puts us in good shape."

The NCAA Tournament represents a new season for all 32 teams competing. A year's worth of wins, losses and ties can be rendered meaningless by the vagaries of fate.

And while a game's first 10 minutes don't usually prove decisive, there isn't any good time to allow goals you might regret later.

"One thing we learned is that you can't afford not to show up in the first 10 minutes of an NCAA Tournament game," senior captain Will Kohler said. "This isn't the regular season. You can't just give a team a one-goal lead."

Nor a two-goal lead. Fifteen minutes into the game, the Crimson defense looked rattled, its offense flustered. And yet, despite this general state of disorganization, Harvard's usual offensive forces--Kohler, McLaughlin, Wilmot--were still able to create a flurry of chances inside the BU penalty area.

Many of Harvard's 16 shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes represented legitimate scoring opportunities. Were it not for the good positioning of Terrier goalie Bryan Murphy or a few inches on either side of the goalposts, it might have been a different game come halftime.

Fortunately, Harvard was confident enough to wait out its spell of frustration and rely on the abilities that got it to the NCAA Tournament.

It was only fitting that the Crimson's first goal resulted from one of the passing combinations that has been a staple of the Harvard attack. Armando Petruccelli, from his central midfield position, connected with a streaking Silva on the left wing, Silva was tackled, and the referee whistled for a penalty.

Down 2-0, the team had had every reason to self destruct, to run around the field launching desperation shots as the minutes ticked by, but it didn't. Harvard stayed true to its game plan and found its winning form in time for an unlikely victory.

"When you're down 2-0 it just shows so much character to come back," Wilmot said. "We knew we had the team to do it. We just stayed composed, played our game, and as soon as we got the first goal [the game] just opened up. We played with confidence. We were going to score. We know we can score, and that's where it all turned around."

Lessons learned. Next test.