Men's Soccer Captures Outright Championship

Harvard crowned its first Ivy League champion of the 2006-07 school year on Saturday afternoon. Needing a single win to clinch the league crown, the Harvard men’s soccer team (13-4-0, 6-1-0 Ivy) beat Columbia 3-1 on Ohiri Field, maintaining its half-game advantage in the standings over Penn.

It was the fitting end to a late-season run of Crimson dominance. Harvard closed the year on an eight-game winning streak in which it averaged more than three goals per game. Paced by sensational freshman Andre Akpan and two starters who had taken academic leaves last season, junior Matt Hoff and sophomore Mike Fucito, the Crimson brought the nation's second-best per-game scoring average of 2.56 into the weekend.

Harvard bested that number with a standout Senior Day performance from Charles Altchek, the 2005 league Player of the Year. The forward from Rye, N.Y. scored Harvard’s final two goals of the day, his league-leading 11th and 12th of the season.

The Crimson will now await seeding in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The tourney grants the Ivy League victor an automatic bid.