Men's Soccer Comes Back Late, Overcomes Princeton

After falling behind in the first 10 minutes of play on a Princeton penalty kick, the Harvard men’s soccer team fought aggressively during the second half to leave Saturday’s competition victorious, responding with two goals in the final 20 minutes.

Extending its Ivy League win streak to three games, the Crimson (4-7-2, 3-1-0 Ivy) beat Princeton (5-7-1, 2-1-1), 2-1, at Soldiers Field Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium.Harvard’s win not only represented Princeton’s first Ivy League loss, but also handed the Crimson sole possession of second place, behind Penn.

Coming out strong in the second half, Harvard quickly began to pressure the Tigers and create scoring opportunities. After senior defender Ross Friedman put the ball in the box, junior defender Philip Fleischman headed it home in the 71st minute to tie the game, 1-1. Friedman’s 12th assist of the season vaulted him to the top of the conference in that category.

Freshman forward Daniel Smith’s first goal of the season sealed the Crimson’s victory with just over eight minutes left in the contest, following an attempt on goal by junior midfielder Matt Sheeleigh.

“It was a great service from the outside,” Smith said. “[Sheeleigh] won the first ball, and it just kind of fell right to me. I was lucky to finish it but I didn’t do the work.”

Despite an early deficit, Smith said Harvard wasn’t worried about its ability to make a comeback and followed its initial strategy to make the reversal a possibility.

“We knew that if we stuck to our game plan and just pressured them the whole field, they weren’t going to be able to handle us,” Smith said. “We had trouble in the first half, but we refocused at halftime and just got back to our plan. The whole season we’ve been saying it over and over. If we just stick to our process, then we know good things are going to come, and you’re seeing it now.”

Crimson coach Pieter Lehrer recognized the level of intensity his team put forth in Saturday’s game and attributed it to the determination and confidence the team has held throughout the season, despite failing to pick up a win in its first five matches.

“It was a great win,” Lehrer said. “I think these guys have worked so hard for this moment. I can’t tell you enough about their effort. They’ve been fantastic all year and now it’s come out in a result.”

A decisive conference game for both Harvard and the Tigers—combined with the effects of the strong wind and a raucous crowd—fostered a physical environment, resulting in five yellow cards and 34 fouls between both teams.

“We obviously want to get pressure to the ball whenever we can,” Lehrer said. “In order to do that we had to get tight; that’s a physical part of the game. I think the elements caused a little change in the game. When we came out of the first half we knew 1-0 down was not that bad with the wind, so I think given the physical part and the elements, we were in a pretty good situation at half and went from there.”

In Lehrer’s first season at the helm, the Crimson has already won more Ancient Eight games than in the last two years, where Harvard went 0-6-1 in conference games. Lehrer refused the credit for the team’s turnaround.

“We come in and we work hard,” Lehrer said. “We try to improve the process of what we do every day. If we’re struggling on one thing, we try to fix that, and we try to make sure we’re constantly improving our operation.”

With three games remaining in Ivy League play—including its season closer against first-place Penn—the Crimson will take it one game at a time and look to maintain its newfound success.

“Going forward, it’ll be business as usual,” Lehrer said.“[The team] is really good about their process on and off the field all year. Now that it’s starting to come together, what they continue to do will be no different. The confidence of the group is high but it’s been high. As they start producing wins, they gain more confidence, and they’re more difficult to play against, which is pretty exciting.”