Harvard Hands Fairfield First Loss

The last time the Harvard men’s soccer team played a one-goal game, it was the other team that pounced first, and the Crimson left the field with a bitter taste in its mouth.

But this time around, it was Harvard who left its opponent staggering off the field, as it handed Fairfield its first lost of the season last night, 1-0.

The lone goal came in the 79th minute of play, when junior midfielder Anthony Tornaritis sent a through ball down the right sideline to junior midfielder Brian Charnock, who then took the ball and shot it from 15 yards out to break open the scoreless game.

“Brian has a knack for finding open space up-field,” junior goalkeeper Ryan Johnson said. “[He’s] probably our most skilled player. [He] was real calm and collected on the finish and just buried it.”

The score was Charnock’s second of the season, and moved him into a three-way tie for second in goals (two) and points (five).

The assist was Tornaritis’ team-leading second of the season, and he now leads the Crimson (4-3-0) in the total points category with eight.

Johnson also played admirably, recording his second shutout of the season with four saves on six shots. His first shutout came against Furman on Sept. 12, when he had four saves. But against the Stags (3-1-2), Johnson had to make two quality saves off of corner kicks, one coming in each half.

“They had some pretty good weapons up top,” Johnson said. “But listen, every game you’re going to get some shots on goal. It’s my job to stop them.”

This weekend also saw a bit of a lineup change. Sophomore Tom Stapleton started in place of classmate David Williams at defense, while senior Zach Chandis got the nod over senior Pablo Koe-Krompecher at midfield. Freshman forward Michael Fucito started in the place of an injured Charles Altchek, who sprained his right MCL last week. Teammates said that they were unsure if he was going to play tomorrow against Maine.

“Starting off the game, we were more of a defensive team,” Johnson said of the different arrangement. “Zach’s more of a densive player, while Pablo is more creative offensively. Basically coach was just trying to give a different look.”

And while the card action wasn’t nearly as furious as it was last weekend during the Crimson’s play in the UMass Classic, there were two points in the game when a second yellow card was handed out within a couple minutes of the first being awarded.

“The ref didn’t really have much control of the game, so pretty much anything was going,” Charnock said.

Harvard returns to action tomorrow against the Black Bears (2-2-2) at 4 p.m. in Brunswick, Maine, a neutral site.

The Crimson and Maine have only played one similar opponent, UMass, who they both defeated 3-1. Harvard will then open it’s Ivy schedule against a struggling Yale (0-6) this Saturday at home at 4 p.m.

—Staff writer Evan R. Johnson can be reached at erjohns@fas.harvard.edu.