SEASON RECAP: Harvard Makes Third-Straight Trip to Tournament

The Harvard men’s soccer team will look back on its 2008 season and forever wonder what could have been.

What if outgoing co-captain and star forward Michael Fucito had not been forced off the field by injury after only 30 minutes in the 1-0 loss to Dartmouth? What if the Crimson had capitalized on one of its many chances in a game that it dominated against Penn, instead of going down, 1-0, in overtime? What if Harvard had avoided the two mental lapses that led to two South Florida goals in a 2-1 loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament?

“Overall, it was a great season,” Fucito said. “But unfortunately a few key moments overshadowed the good and made it disappointing.”

Still, the Crimson—led by a strong senior class—was able to put together a solid season containing some outstanding highs on the way to a 12-6 record.

In his first year on the job, Harvard coach Jamie Clark was immediately thrown into the fire, as the Crimson opened the season with a tense matchup against his predecessor John Kerr’s Duke Blue Devils.

Harvard went down, 3-1, to Duke, but was able to bounce back just two days later against NC State. Three second-half goals helped the Crimson to an impressive 3-1 victory.

An overtime loss to Rhode Island was sandwiched in between wins against Vermont and New Hampshire before Harvard was soundly beaten, 5-1, by Boston University in the final game before the start of Ivy play.

Again, the Crimson showed its mettle following a loss, downing Yale and Cornell to set up a showdown against 2007 Ivy League champion Brown.

“Going to Brown had that extra edge,” incoming co-captain Andre Akpan said. “[The game] was passionate and hard-fought, and something about the atmosphere really made us take off.”

In the end, the much-anticipated matchup was not even close, as Harvard destroyed its fierce rivals, 4-1, in Providence.

The win put on display the main strength of the team: an extremely potent counterattack. All season long, the Crimson used its pace to move the ball quickly up the field, utilizing the creativity of senior midfielder John Stamatis, who finished the season with a team-high nine assists, and the attacking prowess of Fucito and Akpan, who combined to score 19 goals.

Three wins followed—including a notable 3-1 victory over Providence—before the loss to a very strong Dartmouth squad on Nov. 1.

Harvard got back on track with a nonconference win against Maine before crushing Columbia, 6-1, in a game that saw Akpan break the Crimson’s all-time records for both points and assists.

In the final league match of the year, then-No. 26 Harvard faced off against then-No. 24 Penn, with the Ivy League title up for grabs. The Crimson dominated the game, outshooting the Quakers, 15-7, in regulation, but was unable to find the net in the biggest game of the season. Instead, Penn snagged a goal five minutes into overtime.

“We blew it in the Ivy League,” Fucito said. “The goal that Penn scored was a soft one, and we had chances to win that game early. We were the better team.”

Despite the disappointing third-place finish in the conference, Harvard earned an at-large spot in the NCAA Tournament.

A 1-0 win in the first round against UMass provided the high point of the season for the Crimson.

“There were horrible field conditions and everyone was exhausted, but we somehow managed to pull out a victory on opponents’ territory,” said Akpan, whose strike in the 102nd minute sent Harvard into the second round.

The season ended with a 2-1 loss to No. 8 South Florida, with the Crimson pushing the powerhouse Bulls to the brink.

“I thought we were brilliant,” Clark said after the match.

Akpan led the team with 10 goals on the season, and was named a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy, awarded to the top collegiate player. Fucito was a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, and was selected by the Seattle Sounders in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. Stamatis led the Ivy League in assists and joined the striking duo on the All-Ivy First Team.

While Akpan, Fucito, and Stamatis deservedly garnered most of the attention, Harvard’s defensive unit kept seven clean sheets on the year. Senior Michael Giammanco and co-captain Luke Sager were rock-solid at the back all season long. Junior Kwaku Nyamekye—also a first-team All-Ivy selection—and sophomore Robert Millock rounded off a back four which gave up only 18 goals over the course of the season.

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