Despite Late Comeback, Men's Soccer Loses in Overtime

Despite a furious two-goal comeback in the waning minutes of regulation to force overtime, the Harvard men’s soccer team was unable to close the deal.

Hartford senior forward Peter Bernhardsson’s header into the back of the net in the 98th minute sealed the fate of the Crimson (1-4-1) in Friday night’s tilt against Hartford (5-0-2) in Connecticut. The 3-2 loss was Harvard’s fourth of the season.

Having been outshot in first period of the game, Harvard found itself down, 2-0, early in the second half. But the team was able to regroup and responded with six shots after the break.

“We [didn’t] dwell on it…[We] were ready to fight back,” senior defender Ross Friedman said. “You could see that we were going to come back before it even happened.”

Harvard’s persistence finally paid off in the 77th minute. Friedman played a free kick into the box, which sophomore midfielder Andrew Chang was able to possess and chest home for Harvard’s first goal of the game.

Minutes later, Friedman struck again. This time, he sent in Harvard’s only corner kick of the second half and connected with freshman defender Alex Leondis, who scored to knot the game up at two goals apiece in the 81st minute.

With his two assist performance on Friday, and another on Sunday, Friedman has now recorded four on the season—a team high. Both Chang and Leondis notched their first goals of the season on Friday.

“They fought for everything they got,” Harvard coach Pieter Lehrer said. “Every chance they got, they earned.”

Harvard looked for its second-half momentum to carry over into the extra period but was held to a single shot in overtime before Bernhardsson’s golden goal ended the Crimson’s hopes for its first win of the season.

“They did a great job; we took a big step forward,” Lehrer said. “[But] it’s not the result we’re looking for.”

Hartford’s first two goals allowed it to jump out to a lead that was ultimately insurmountable. Senior forward Anthony Santaga opened the scoring for the Hawks with his first goal of the year in the 18th minute. He brought down a long ball in the right side of the box, pivoted, and put a half volley past Harvard co-captain goalkeeper Brett Conrad.

Hartford maintained its offensive pressure early in the second half. Conrad was able to make an initial save on a shot by Hawks’ junior defender Damion Lowe in the 53rd minute. But sophomore midfielder Anthony Lobello collected the rebound and finished to put Hartford up by two.

The Hawks’ lead would not last for long. Twenty five minutes later, Harvard netted two goals in quick succession to tie the game, 2-2.

These two goals by the Crimson were the first to pass Hawks’ freshman goalkeeper David MacKinnon all season. He had recorded four straight complete-game shutouts before his tilt against Harvard.

“I think the other team may have thought they had [the game won],” Lehrer said. “[But] we continued to fight at every transition, every moment.”

Overcoming the two-goal deficit proved to be a feat too large for the Harvard squad, and only four substitutes came off the bench for the Crimson during regulation play. With the game extending into overtime, Harvard was unable to put together another goal scoring opportunity, as the Hawks handed the Crimson its fourth loss in its first five games.

“It’s really difficult coping [with such a close] loss,” Friedman said. “But at the same time I thought we really dominated play. We created so many chances…I’m really proud of this team.”

Both Lowe and Lobello recorded their first goals of the season in Friday night’s win in Connecticut. Bernhardsson’s header in the extra period was his second goal of the season, both of which were game winners. He leads the Hawks with two goals on the season.

Freshman defenseman Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu and junior forward Hiroki Kobayashi each put a shot on net for the Crimson.

“We keep making jumps,” Lehrer said. “We keep getting better. We’re just struggling to close that door and get over the top and turn it into a victory… If we can be a little more consistent, we can get over that hump.”