Surging Offense Crushes Crusaders

The wheels of the offensive juggernaut that is the Harvard Men’s soccer team kept rolling Tuesday night, as the No. 25 Crimson won its fifth straight game by defeating Holy Cross 5-2. The Crimson continued its offensive prolificacy despite the soggy conditions at Linden Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium, getting four second-half goals to put the game out of reach.

Fueled by stellar wing play from senior forward Jeffrey Chivers and sophomore forward Michael Fucito—both provided assists on second half goals—Harvard (10-4-0, 3-1-0 Ivy) painted the Crusader (5-9-0) net crimson en route to its third-straight road victory.

The Crimson offense, hampered a bit by the sluggish conditions on the pitch, was fairly pedestrian during the first half of play. Harvard managed to grab the early advantage through a goal by freshman forward Andre Akpan in the 28th minute but missed an opportunity to double their lead after junior forward Matt Hoff hit the cross bar on a penalty kick.

Hoff, and the rest of his teammates, exacted revenge in the second half by turning up the intensity, leaving Holy Cross reeling. Freshman defender Kwaku Nyamekye started the offensive onslaught by sending a well-timed cross to Akpan, who placed it in the back of the net for his second goal of the game. Hoff would add to the fireworks in the 53rd minute by scoring a brilliant volley to put Harvard up 3-0.

“We came into the game a little bit flat, and we needed to pick up our intensity,” said senior captain and forward Charles Altchek. So that’s what we did in the second half, we made some mental adjustments and maintained [the intensity] for the rest of the game.”

The Crimson, after finally warming up their scorching offensive attack, cooled down momentarily in the second half and allowed the Crusaders to chip at the lead, giving up two goals to Holy Cross senior forward Josh Trott.

After scoring in the 66th minute to cut the lead down to two, the Crusaders quickly went on the offensive again and earned a free kick at the top of the box. Off the ensuing free kick, Trott sent a shot towards goal, which bounced around the box and ultimately into the back of the net to make the game 3-2.

Senior midfielder Jeffrey Chivers, appropriately dubbed “Super Senior” by Altchek, provided a spark for Harvard’s dormant offense late in the second half by providing two assists to effectively put the game on ice. Altchek delivered the safety goal for the Crimson in the 73rd minute through Chivers’ first assist. Chivers continued his dominating play on the wing, feeding Fucito in the 81st minute for the game-clinching goal.

Throughout the night, the Crimson controlled the sidelines through the ferocious play of upperclassmen Matt Hoff and Chivers.

“Hoff was just a nuisance for the other team all game on the right side,” Altchek said.

Indeed, Harvard has seemingly found its magical touch on offense, blistering the Crusaders net with 16 total shots on target, including 10 in the second half. Not to be scoffed at, the Crimson defense also provided a solid effort in allowing only three shots on goal for the entire game.

Coming together as a cohesive unit in the past couple of weeks, Harvard has now put behind its mid-season troubles.

“We have a young team and we’re very new, so it took a while for all of us to get used to each other,” Altchek said. “We’ve kept the same attacking line, and [now] we’re starting to find each other in open spaces. We’ve been creating chances all season, only now we’re starting to finish.”

The Crimson entered last night’s game with two consecutive wins against ranked opponents, which pushed Harvard over the cusp of national recognition into the no. 25 spot in the latest SoccerAmerica poll, a position they solidified with another grand offensive performance. Harvard continues its road-trip on Saturday when they face off against the Princeton Tigers.

“We need to stay focused. We can learn from Brown’s mistakes two weeks ago about being ranked 15th in the nation [and afterwards losing two straight], Altchek said. “We just need to keep our heads and not get caught up in newspaper clippings and rankings.”