Offensive Struggles Continue as Harvard Falls at Yale

It just wasn’t Harvard’s night Saturday evening in New Haven, Conn. Despite a late clinic put on by the Crimson men’s soccer team against rival Yale, a defensive misjudgment early in the first half handed the Bulldogs a narrow 1-0 victory over the Crimson in a fiery Ancient Eight matchup.

“Overall, it was a decent game for us,” co-captain Tim Linden said. “The second half was definitely better than the first half for us. In the second half we out-played them, out-shot them pretty badly, but dropping three points [in the league standings] in our first Ivy game was pretty disappointing for the team.”

As a light drizzle beat down on Yale’s Reese Stadium, the game began as many had expected—at full pace with neither side backing down from early challenges.

It was the Crimson which had the first of many early chances to open the scoring. A pass to Harvard senior Jamie Rees in front of the Bulldog goal was squandered when the midfielder’s shot flew high off the goal frame.

Minutes later, a Yale counterattack resulted in Max Morice taking a powerful shot on goal that was blocked by the Harvard back line.

As the fast-paced encounter unfolded, the home side’s pressure on Harvard’s defense continued.

Working off a long throw-in into the penalty box in the 14th minute, Bulldog Peter Jacobson knocked the ball to teammate Chris Dennen, who then headed the ball past senior goalkeeper Austin Harms and into the back of the net, giving Yale the 1-0 lead.

Despite the early goal, Harvard quickly regrouped and resumed its offensive pressure.

During the 15th minute, the Crimson nearly found the equalizer, when junior forward Zack Wolfenzon wrested possession of a 50-50 ball in front of the opposing goal and summarily delivered a shot on net. But Bulldogs goalkeeper Bobby Thalman’s superbly timed diving effort earned him a save—and for the Yale fans in attendance, a breath of relief.

Midway into the first half, the Harvard front line—anchored by Rogers, freshman forward Michael Innocenzi and junior co-captain Scott Prozeller—took control of the match and fired a number of shots on target. But Thalman once again rose to the occasion and made a flurry of saves to deny the Crimson.

In the 24th minute of play, with Harvard threatening again, Rogers fired a shot on target to force a fingertip save from the Bulldog goalkeeper.

Minutes later, the two were in the thick of it again. Gazing at a ball crossed into the Yale penalty box, Rogers looked to have a clear shot on goal, but his header attempt floated tamely into the palms of the host goalie.

For the half, although Yale held a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard, the Crimson held the lead in shots, 8-6.

The second half of the match started slowly, and neither side mustered a shot on goal for about 10 minutes. But then the game sprang back to life.

At the 56th minute, co-captain Tim Linden blasted a shot on goal, but a Bulldog defender blocked the ball and knocked it out of play for a corner kick.

Five minutes later, Harvard’s Zack Wolfenzon had another fantastic scoring opportunity when he turned past a defender and blasted a powerful shot on goal from the edge of the penalty box. But the Yale netminder once again proved to be one step ahead, batting the ball out of play to preserve the Bulldogs’ lead.

As time dwindled down on the scoreboard, the Crimson continued its relentless search for an equalizer by out-shooting Yale, 11-1, in the second half.

But despite Harvard’s offensive pressure, Thalman and the Bulldogs back line held on to earn the victory and to claim bragging rights in the Ivy League’s most storied rivalry.

“The biggest takeaway in this game was that we had a slow start to the first half,” junior forward Brian Rogers said. “We all have realized that in order to win Ivy League games, we cannot continue to have slow starts. We have to play with a certain level of tenacity from the beginning, and not just at the end.”

For the match, although the Crimson out-shot Yale overall, 19-7, Bulldog keeper Thalman registered eight saves to earn the shutout over the away side.

Harvard picks up action next weekend when it travels to Ithaca, N.Y., for its second Ivy League matchup.

“We are really excited to get back on the field against Cornell next weekend,” Rogers said. “The Ivy League is completely open this year, and there are no dominant teams. So with one win, we can really put our season back on track.”

—Staff writer Oluwatoni A. Campbell can be reached at oluwatoni.campbell@college.harvard.edu.