M. Soccer Breezes Past Northeastern, 3-0

In its first action in 10 days, the Harvard men’s soccer team downed the Northeastern Huskies 3-0 yesterday at Ohiri Field to remain undefeated on the season.

The Crimson (2-0) dominated the game, outshooting the Huskies (3-2) 18-4 in its home opener.

Harvard jumped out to an early lead in the sixth minute on a diving header by sophomore midfielder Kevin Ara.

Bolting down the sideline, freshman striker Jeremy Truntzer received a lead pass from sophomore midfielder Ladd Fritz. Truntzer then promptly blew by a defender to break free on the right side and sent a beautiful cross to Ara. Ara headed home his first goal of the season past Husky goalie Allan Lewis to put Harvard ahead 1-0.

It was the only goal the Crimson would need.

“He owed me one from last game,” said Ara, who had set up a goal for the rookie forward in the Crimson’s season-opening 4-2 victory over Yale.

Crimson coach John Kerr was effusive in his praise for Truntzer.

“He has a lot of gusto and talent. He’s very clever and he executes. He gets knocked around and he gets back up again. I love that type of player,” Kerr said.

For the next 30 minutes, the game was tightly contested. Northeastern received a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct in the 36th minute and shifted the momentum to Harvard for the rest of the contest.

The Crimson scored again two minutes into the second half.

Junior defensive back Michael Cornish came up with the ball in the left corner and found fellow junior Marc Buan at the top of the crease. Buan buried the ball in the back of the net to give the Crimson a 2-0 lead.

Fritz, who was named the Harvard Coop’s Athlete of the Week for his play against Yale, sealed the deal with his second goal of the season in the 54th minute.

Sophomore defender Andrew Nechtem fed the ball to Fritz, who was waiting all alone on the right side. Fritz pushed past two Husky defenders and the keeper before scoring in a brilliant individual effort.

Fritz is the top returning point scorer from last season.

After the third goal, the Crimson offense continued to dominate possession, but could not score. Harvard squandered several scoring opportunities on near misses late in the game.

Defensively, senior Dan Mejias and freshman Conrad Jones combined for the shutout. Mejias tallied each of the duo’s three saves while playing the game’s first 78 minutes. It was Harvard’s first shutout of the season.

Yesterday’s game was the Huskies first action since a 3-2 double overtime loss to George Mason on September 9 and the first Northeastern athletic event since the terrorist attacks last Tuesday. The Crimson had not seen action since its September 8 season-opener versus Yale.

Harvard will now travel to Los Angeles, Calif. to take on Loyola Marymount on Friday and the University of San Diego on Sunday. The Crimson returns home to host Maine on September 29.