Scoring Machine Stalls for Soccer Squads

The only bright spot about the Harvard men's soccer team's failure to score even one goal after the first 225 minutes of the 1998 season is that the Crimson's opponents have fared just one goal better.

Harvard (0-1-1) continued to struggle on the offensive end as it battled Central Connecticut State (1-1-2, 1-0 Northeast) to a 0-0 tie after both teams were scoreless through regulation and two overtime periods yesterday at Ohiri Field.

The veteran Crimson defense, however, picked up the slack and refused to let any of the 12 Blue Devil shots past senior goalkeeper Jordan Dupuis.

Central Connecticut State nearly stole the game with two minutes left in the second sudden death overtime when senior Pat McCann eluded two Crimson defenders and had a 30-yard breakaway against Dupuis. But the senior goalie charged and closed up McCann's shooting angle for his sixth and final save of the game.

"I just saw one guy dressed in blue coming at me and I came out of the goal box to narrow the angle," Dupuis said after his first shutout of the season. "I showed him one side to shoot at, he shot there, and that was where I went to make the save."

The defense of Dupuis, along with the experienced backfield of captain Andrew Lundquist, senior Lee Williams, and junior Chris Rollins, has allowed the Crimson to take both its 1998 opponents into overtime. Aside from one goal on a broken trap play in the heartbreaking 1-0 loss to No. 8 Stanford on Sunday, the defense has kept opposing teams scoreless.

"I am very happy with the way the defense has played," Dupuis said. "The back four is a very strong unit. Central Connecticut State's offense came out like a battery today, they kept going and going and going, but we responded very well."

Despite outshooting the Blue Devils 15-12, Harvard allowed Central Connecticut State to stay in the game. The contest was very physical-the Crimson and its opponent committed 18 and 27 fouls, respectively-and Blue Devil forward Paul Wright was ejected in the second overtime after an aggressive slide tackle.

"Either team could have won this game today, and I thought we did create enough chances because we had three great headers on goal and we had that breakaway at the end of the game," Central Connecticut State coach Shaun Green said. "But this was a very healthy, well-played, competitive game where both teams showed a lot of passion and a lot of enthusiasm for the game of soccer, and people like to see that kind of commitment from teams when they play at the college level."

But Harvard cannot be happy that it has yet to score a goal heading into its Ivy League opener in New York against Columbia on Saturday. The Crimson has taken 21 shots on goal in its first two games, but none have found the net.

"Today was very disappointing because we let a team that was not that good play good soccer and that hurts," Coach Steve Locker said. "One potential issue is trying to reach a high emotional level so quickly after such an emotionally-draining game on Sunday. However, there really are no excuses for the way that we played today. We have nobody to blame but ourselves."

HARVARD-C. CONN. ST., 0-0 at Ohiri Field C. Conn. St.  0  0  0  0  --  0 Harvard  0  0  0  0  --  0

S: C. Conn. St.--Clementson 6; Harvard--Dupuis 6