Men's Soccer Extends Winning Steak, Defeats Providence 2-0

Don’t look now, but the Harvard men’s soccer team is making a late season push for post-season play.

After battling inconsistency for much of the season, the Crimson turned in its third dominating performance in a row yesterday afternoon at Providence, beating the Friars (6-9-2) 2-0.

With the victory, Harvard (8-4-3, 2-2-1 Ivy) extended its winning streak and remained in contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Harvard has outscored its opponents 8-1 in beating Princeton (2-0 on Oct. 25), Dartmouth (4-1 on Saturday) and Providence.

In all three victories, Harvard has burst out of the gate, outplaying the opposition from the start.

“We controlled the game pretty much from the beginning,” junior Zach Chandis said. “We came out strong and took care of business.”

But despite dominating the first half—outshooting the Friars 8-2—the Crimson only led 1-0 at the break.

Freshman forward Charles Altchek changed all that early in the second half. In the sixth minute of the second frame, senior Andrew Nechtem found Altchek with a cross in front of the net, which Altchek headed into the back of the goal for his third tally of the season.

Altchek, who now has two goals and an assist in his last two games, has teamed up with forward Matt Hoff to create a dynamic freshman duo.

“Hoff and Charles do a great job up top creating offense for us,” Nechtem said. “There are a bunch of freshmen on this team with a lot of talent.”

It was a veteran, however, who got Harvard on the board early in the game.

In the 16th minute, senior midfielder Kevin Ara deflected a corner kick from Nechtem directly to senior Ladd Fritz, who beat Friar goalie Chris Konopka to give Harvard a 1-0 lead. The Crimson has taken the lead in the first 23 minutes in each game of its winning streak.

Harvard sophomore goaltender Ryan Johnson recorded his second shutout in three games, though he can credit much of his success to the Crimson’s outstanding defense.

Chandis and captain Andrew Old kept the Providence offense in check throughout the game. The Friars rarely had a quality scoring opportunity, and Johnson only had to make three saves all game.

“Chandis and Andy Old controlled the middle of the field the entire way,” Nechtem said. “The defense really played well throughout.”

Harvard got another piece of good news yesterday when sophomore forward Brian Charnock returned to action against the Big Green after having been sidelined with a virus. Charnock was still not at full strength and did not start, but his presence was a welcome sign for a team gearing up for the stretch run.

As for the Crimson’s post-season hopes, Harvard still has a difficult road ahead. But what seemed like a dream just three games ago is suddenly more realistic.

With no shot at winning the Ivy crown, Harvard must count on getting an at-large invitation to the Tournament. In order to do that, the Crimson will have to finish the season strong. If Harvard fails to defeat Columbia on Saturday and defending Ivy co-champion Penn in the regular-season finale on Nov. 15, the team’s playoff chances are dim.

“We know we have to win the next two games,” Chandis said.

But if the Crimson can win out the rest of the way, the squad is confident in its chances.

“I think the general consensus is that if we win these last two games, we’re in the Tournament,” Nechtem said. “And heading into the Tournament with a five-game winning steak would give us great momentum.”