Disappointing Finish to Regular Season

As the No. 26 Harvard men’s soccer team watched Penn celebrate its Ivy League title yesterday, its entire squad shared the same single thought: that should have been us.

“We were the better team today, no question about it,” co-captain Luke Sager said.

The Crimson (11-5, 5-2 Ivy) dominated the vast majority of yesterday afternoon’s match against the No. 24 Quakers, only to have a goal in the fifth minute of overtime bring its hopes of an Ivy championship to an end. With the 1-0 victory, Penn (11-2-4, 5-1-1) moved into first place in the league table on the final day of the season. Dartmouth, who beat defending champion Brown, 2-0, on Saturday, will also take home a share of the crown.

Harvard now finds itself in the same place as it was this time last year: without a trophy, and desperately hoping for a spot in the tournament.

Yesterday’s match was originally scheduled for Saturday night, but was postponed due to rain. While the Crimson walked off the field emotionally shattered, the day began with high expectations. Co-captain Michael Fucito shrugged off an injury to start up front, despite not being at full fitness. The Crimson also had momentum on its side, entering the weekend having won eight of its last nine games. Harvard knew that a win yesterday translated into sole possession of the title.

While the Quakers forced freshman keeper Austin Harms into two early saves, it was Harvard who took the upper hand. The Crimson had several chances to take the lead near the end of the half, but could not break the deadlock. Fucito had a strike go just wide of the post, and junior Andre Akpan and senior John Stamatis were both denied by Penn keeper Drew Healy.

The second half started just like the first had ended, as Harvard continued to threaten. Fucito forced Healy into a save a minute into the period. Four minutes later, a ball over the top found Akpan, but his powerful volley was once again held by Healy.

“He definitely made a few very great saves,” Akpan said. “He didn’t give us anything, not even rebounds.”

The Crimson managed to get off 10 shots at goal in the second half—and 15 for the match, but was unable to find the net. Healy made eight saves to Harms’ four.

“We had about five great chances, but didn’t tuck any one away,” Harvard coach Jamie Clark said.

With no score after 90 minutes of play, the game went to overtime. In the end, the Crimson would rue the all of the missed opportunities during regulation.

Loukas Tasigianis was the hero for the Quakers. After a missed clearance, junior Kwaku Nyamekye recovered and used his body to force Tasigianis to the outside, towards the corner of the box. Tasigianis did well to even get a shot off. The ball bounced to the far post, beat Harms, and somehow managed to trickle into the net.

“In [overtime], it’s sort of one and done—you don’t really have time to recover,” Clark said.

The game ended with celebrations from Penn, while the Crimson players were left to wonder what went wrong.

“We showed that we were clearly the better team,” Akpan said. “But in these games—with the championship on the line—it’s not about how you play or how it looks. It’s just about getting the win.”

The 1-0 losses to both Dartmouth and Penn leave Harvard in third place in the Ivy League.

While the championship will be split, the fact that Penn defeated Dartmouth 1-0 in October allows the Quakers to take the automatic tournament spot. Dartmouth will likely join them in the field.

On the other hand, nothing is guaranteed for the Crimson. The NCAA selection show will air tonight at 5:30 on ESPNews, and the Harvard players will be nervously watching and awaiting the results.

“I just hope we get a chance to get a chance to make up for this loss, because I feel like we could do special things in the tournament,” Clark said.

“Now we just have to wait,” Akpan added. “Hopefully we get lucky.”

—Staff writer Jay M. Cohen can be reached at jaycohen@fas.harvard.edu.