Ivy Play Opens with Victory

Overcoming rough winds and an aggressive Bulldog lineup, the Harvard men’s soccer team started off its Ivy League season with a bang, defeating conference rival Yale (4-4-1. 0-1 Ivy) 1-0 Saturday at Ohiri Field. With the victory, the Crimson boosted its record to 4-3-0.

After almost an hour of anticipation, Harvard finally put itself on the board with a goal by junior Kwaku Nyamekye in the 59th minute. Nyamekye broke through a sea of blue jerseys to find the Bulldog net off of a free kick from senior John Stamatis, recording his first goal of the season. The assist marked Stamatis’ fourth of the year, ranking him third on the Crimson’s offense in points.

“Today we did pretty well,” Nyamekye said. “When we really clicked, we were difficult to deal with.”

The game-winning goal, however, came after a long string of missed Harvard scoring opportunities—a cross by junior Adam Rousmaniere to co-captain Michael Fucito just barely missed the net in the first five minutes of play. Later in the first half, the Crimson came up short again on a corner kick that found its way to junior forward Andre Akpan and bounced off of the goalpost.

“Our finishing can improve for sure,” Harvard coach Jamie Clark said. “We’re producing, and we’re creating a lot of chances, but in the end, what you’re judged on is how many goals you score.”

Harvard ended the game with a 25-7 lead in shots on goal over Yale, an advantage not seen in the final score. However, the margin did help to close the offensive gap between the Crimson and its opponents, as Harvard entered the contest with a 69-79 shot deficit for its season.

The lack of scoring may have been slightly affected by external factors. Forceful winds plagued the Crimson during the first half of play, frequently sending the ball off course, and the general nature of the rival matchup aggravated aggressive tendencies.

“It wasn’t the best performance, but it was the Harvard-Yale game, so it’s always going to be scrappy and rough,” Akpan said.

The win, however closely it was achieved, was a vast improvement over the Crimson’s last contest. Last Tuesday, Harvard suffered a major 5-1 loss to cross-town opponent Boston University, setting the stage for a much-need comeback performance.

“We were very focused going into [the Yale game],” Clark said. “It’s easy to be focused after you lose a big game in the middle of the week.”

This focus could be seen in the Crimson backfield, which succeeded in resisting the building Bulldog offensive pressure and keeping its opponents scoreless. The effort was led by Nyamekye, as well as co-captain Luke Sager and freshman goalkeeper Austin Harms—who tallied his first start and first shutout of the season in the contest.

Harvard has taken its first step towards an Ivy League crown, but with over a month of hard matchups left in the regular season, the Crimson is looking to improve upon its weaknesses.

“[We need] to be a little more consistent,” Nyamekye said. “We have lots of peaks and slumps, and if we could play at our best levels consistently, that would definitely make games [easier].”

Harvard will use this knowledge and the momentum gained from its first Ivy League victory as it readies itself to take on Cornell next Saturday at home.

—Staff writer Alexandra J. Mihalek can be reached at amihalek@fas.harvard.edu.