M. Soccer Humbles Vermont, Self In Inconsistent Weekend

After cruising to a 4-0 victory in the season opener against Vermont last Friday, the Harvard men’s soccer team slipped in its rainy contest at Rhode Island yesterday, 5-1.

Though the weekend began on a high note and ended quite a bit lower, junior Ladd Fritz’s impact on the scoreboard remained stellar. Fritz tallied two goals against the Catamounts and added Harvard’s lone goal against the Rams.

In yesterday’s wet event, the Crimson allowed two goals to leak through during the early-going and saw its attempts at redemption foiled as the Rams rolled in a rout.

“Nobody’s job’s secure right now—including myself—when you play like that,” sophomore goalkeeper Jamie Roth said. “So we just need to train hard and see what happens.”

Any changes the Crimson makes will have to happen on the fly, as Harvard travels to Fairfield on Wednesday.

The Crimson has a bit more time before making its Ivy debut on Sept. 28 at Brown.

“The weekend isn’t as bad as it seems—the bad loss will serve as a wake-up call for us,” senior Charles Morrow said. “We have a really strong side. A lot of little things came together today.”

Rhode Island 5, Harvard 1

The Rams rode the momentum from its win last week over No. 15 Alabama-Birmingham, in which Rhode Island scored the game-winner with just over five minutes remaining.

Yesterday, the Rams got a head start when Kevin Kennedy scored off of a cross in the box just 39 seconds into the game. Five minutes later, Rhode Island doubled its lead on Ross Smith’s header.

“I did not play well,” Roth said. “I won’t make excuses and as a team we didn’t get into a rhythm or settle down.”

Harvard started the second half on the right foot as senior Charles Morrow sent a pass to Fritz at the top of the box. Fritz directed a bending 20-yard shot into goal, putting the Crimson on the board at the 49:40 mark.

But Harvard’s recovery was cut short when Andy O’Boyle put the ball past Roth at 69:19.

“We thought we could rebound nicely, but after the third goal, we just fell apart and couldn’t get anything else going,” Roth said.

Peter Benevides extended Rhode Island’s lead when he chipped the ball in over Roth’s head just 31 seconds later.

“Unfortunately, we conceded several soft goals both from set pieces and other lapses,” Fritz said.

The Rams capped off the rally with a fifth goal from Brian Mazza at the 82:37 mark.

“We couldn’t establish a tempo and keep the ball, and it was a constant struggle to keep it,” Roth said.

Harvard 4, Vermont 0

The Crimson’s season opener last Friday remained scoreless for most of the first half until Harvard senior Joe Steffa spoke up at the 39:54 mark.

Morrow crossed the ball to Steffa, who directed a shot on net. The ball bounced off of the top corner post, but Steffa booted the ball back in to put the Crimson on the board.

“We had to take care to shake off some rust, but we started with a beautiful 30-yard strike from Joe Steffa and that really got us on our way,” Fritz said.

Junior Kevin Ara scored just 21 seconds later off of an assist from senior Marc Buan, giving Harvard a two-goal advantage to start the second half.

That’s when Fritz took over, adding two goals to close out the Crimson’s 4-0 victory and Roth’s fourth career shutout.

The star sniper’s first tally came at the 60:05 mark, when junior Spencer George picked up a loose ball in the box and sent it to Fritz, who converted for the goal. Senior Mike Lobach assisted Fritz’s second score with 16:35 left in the game.