M. Soccer Takes On Hartwick

Tomorrow afternoon at Ohiri field the Harvard men's soccer team will look to exact some revenge on the Hartwick Hawks, authors of a 3-2 victory over the Crimson last season that ended its 1997 campaign.

This year, Harvard (7-6-2, 3-3-1 Ivy) hopes things will be different, and it has reason to believe that they will. The Crimson enters tomorrow's contest red-hot, having gone 7-2-1 in its last 10 games, including 3 victories and a tie against nationally ranked foes.

Harvard enters tomorrow's match coming off of a 2-2 tie against No.15 Brown. Despite falling behind 2-0 early, the Crimson showed its tenacity by storming back and scoring two goals of its own--the first two allowed by Brown to an Ivy team this season.

Hartwick (8-9-1) is a quality team as well. The Hawks, like the Crimson, sport a deceiving record, as it has played four nationally ranked teams. It has not had the kind of success against the elite teams that the Crimson has had, however, as it has gone 0-3-1 against nationally ranked teams.

But Hartwick, which started the season 4-0-1, has been solid at times this year. Early in the season, they beat Columbia 3-1 only six days before the Lions handed Harvard a humbling 2-1 defeat. They also hung tough against then No. 13 Dartmouth before finally succumbing 2-1.

Hartwick relies on two freshmen to handle its goalkeeping duties. 6'3 freshman Matt Kessler has had a relatively successful first campaign, as the Hawks have allowed 26 goals in 18 matches.