Harvard Bounces Back With 2-0 Stony Brook Victory

Pausing from Ivy League play for the final time this season, the Harvard men’s soccer team returned to the win column Tuesday night with a 2-0 victory over Stony Brook.

“It was just a good team win,” junior defenseman Philip Fleischman said. “Overall, we’re excited that we executed what we set out to do, and it [gives us] great momentum going into Dartmouth this weekend.”

After being held out of the team’s previous two contests, Fleischman returned to action against the Sea Wolves (4-11-1, 2-3-0 America East) and proved to be the difference-maker.

Entering the game as a substitute, the junior scored twice in just 32 minutes of action to earn Harvard its first win in two weeks.

The junior struck first for the Crimson (9-4-1, 2-1-1 Ivy) with less than four minutes to play in the first half as a result of an intercepted pass at midfield by sophomore Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu.

Carrying the ball upfield by himself, Wheeler-Omiunu made his way through several defenders before having the play broken up at the 18-yard line.

However, the sophomore stayed with the play, regaining control of the ball, moving to his right, and then sending a back-heel pass to senior forward Hiroki Kobayashi inside the box.

With his first touch, Kobayashi channeled his inner Wheeler-Omiunu, sending a back-heel pass of his own to freshman Nate Devine. The rookie then flicked the ball onward to Fleischman, who was left standing all alone in front of the keeper.

After the ball had made its way to four different players on just four touches, Fleischman finished the job, finessing the ball into the right side of the net to put Harvard ahead.

“It’s great,” said Fleischman, referring to the goal. “It’s just me doing what I’m supposed to do. We built the ball up all the way from the back to the front, and I just had the last touch on it.”

At the start of the second half, Fleischman was back on the sideline. But just moments after coming on as a substitute in the 63rd minute, Fleischman provided the Crimson with some insurance—once again serving as the beneficiary of some strong Harvard passing.

Launching the attack, senior defender Tyler Evans cleared the ball out of his own end and into the vicinity of junior attackers Matt Sheeleigh and Jake Freeman.

Seeing an opportunity, Sheeleigh bumped the lone Stony Brook defender in the area to take him out of the play, thus creating an open lane for Freeman.

With no one left to defend, Stony Brook goalkeeper Jason Orban vacated his net to charge at Freeman. In response, the junior found Fleischman making a run into the box, and the defenseman used his left foot to bang the ball into the empty net.

“[Fleischman] was fantastic,” Harvard coach Pieter Lehrer said. “He is very consistent. He comes every day and works his tail off regardless of the situation. He’s somebody that we have missed because he has done very well.”

On the other side of the ball, making his first start since freshman year, junior goalkeeper Joe Festa stood tall in net to earn the clean sheet for the Crimson. Giving starter Evan Mendez his first break of the season, Festa made four saves, including a diving stop in the final minute.

“I thought [Festa] was very good,” Lehrer said. “His communication was good and [his] handling was good. You know he’s going to be a little bit nervous coming into his first game, but he performed very well.”

In six career starts for Harvard, Festa has now compiled 27 saves to go along with a 1.21 GAA. However, the win against Stony Brook is just the first of the goalkeeper’s collegiate career.

The Crimson came into the game looking to get back on track after its nine-game unbeaten streak was snapped Saturday against Princeton.

Harvard had rattled off eight straight wins following three losses to open the season before a tie with Brown and the loss to the Tigers knocked the team out of first place in the Ivy League. The Crimson is now tied for second in the conference with Princeton. Dartmouth, which now leads the league, will host Harvard on Saturday in a pivotal league matchup.

With just one home game remaining, the Crimson has now improved to 7-0 at Soldiers Field and 8-0 at home overall. The last time Harvard finished the season unbeaten at home was in 2008, when the Crimson finished 12-6 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.­

—Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jmeagher@college.harvard.edu.