M. Soccer Edges Vermont 1-0 in Thriller

Two days after the USA men's soccer team made history by reaching the Olympic quarterfinals for the first time, the Harvard men's soccer was creating some drama of its own.

Freshman forward Spencer George, who scored the lone goal as the unlikely hero in the season opener, duplicated his feat yesterday as he lobbed home the winning goal in the 89th minute to lift the Crimson (2-1-1) over the Vermont Catamounts (3-4-0), 1-0.

The strike, which came with only 53 seconds to play in regulation, was set up by a feed from captain Ryan Kelly. Kelly now has two assists on the season, cementing his role as the quarterback of the Crimson's young and explosive offense.

George, who is quickly becoming Harvard's most lethal weapon, notched his second goal of the season. His two goals account for half of the Crimson's total offensive production for the year.

Yesterday's climactic goal was eerily reminiscent of George's first goal of the season. In that instance, the young forward controlled a pass from fellow freshman Ladd Fritz in the 79th minute and scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 contest against West Virginia.

Junior goalie Dan Mejias also repeated the strong play he showed during his first collegiate shutout against the Moutaineers on September 10. As against West Virginia, Mejias made six crucial saves yesterday to record his second shutout.

Chris Shaver, Mejias' Vermont counterpart, turned away only three shots in the losing effort.

Perhaps the only difference between the Crimson's season opener against the Mountaineers and its most recent victory against the Catamounts was the overall tempo of the game.

Against West Virginia, Harvard was clearly the better team. The Crimson outshot the Mountaineers 20-6 and maintained possession for most of the game. Yesterday against the Catamounts, however, the Crimson was outshot 14-7 and was mostly on the defensive from the starting whistle.

Late in the game, for instance, Vermont had two golden scoring opportunities that would have broken the deadlock.

In the 70th minute, Catamount Kevin Smyth was positioned perfectly in the box and sent a header towards the net. Luckily for Mejias and Harvard, Smyth's attempt sailed just wide.

With three minutes left to play, teammate Matt Chavez tried a similar shot and ended up with the same result.

For Vermont, which started the season a respectable 3-1, yesterday's loss to Harvard was its third in row.

The Crimson, coming off a grueling loss to No. 9 Stanford and a disappointing tie to Boston University last weekend, are in the midst of a four-game road trip.

So far, Harvard is 1-1-1 away from Ohiri Field. The Crimson now turns its attention to the biggest game of the season thus far.

On Sunday, Harvard will kick off its Ivy competition against perennial contender and last year's league runner-up Brown. Last year, the Crimson lost to the Bears on the road, 2-0, in Coach Kerr's inaugural season.

Kerr has had Sunday's date circled and underlined on his calendar since preseason practice and has made playing well against Brown--and contending for an Ivy League Title--a top priority for this young team.

The last time the Crimson defeated the Bears was during its remarkable 1996 Ivy League champion campaign. That year Harvard, led by first-team All-American Will Kohler, beat Brown en route to establishing a school record of sixteen consecutive wins.

Although such an impressive accomplishment is unlikely for this year's Crimson, the depth and tenacity it has shown in its first four games is an indication that an Ivy League Title may be well within reach.