Men's Soccer Outlasts Boston College in Overtime

Standing 6’6” tall, Harvard midfielder Tim Schmoll is a difficult man to mark. And Tuesday night at Soldiers Field, Boston College discovered that the hard way.

With the score tied at two in the first overtime of the Crimson men’s soccer team’s home opener, Harvard earned a corner with five minutes remaining in the contest.

Freshman midfielder Christian Sady sent the ball flying toward the near post, and Schmoll was there to head it home, launching the Crimson (1-3-0) to its first victory of the season by a score of 3-2.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Schmoll said. “But again, [it was] a huge team effort. One day it will be me; tomorrow it will be another guy. We’re just confident in what we do well, so we’ll keep doing it.”

Harvard had previously been well on track to earn the win in regulation. Leading 2-1 in the closing stages of the game, the Crimson went up a man after Eagles’ midfielder Derrick Boateng was sent off for kneeing Harvard midfielder Oliver White.

But the Eagles (3-2-1) put any celebration on hold in the 88th minute.

Following a Crimson clearance, Boston College mounted a threat by launching the ball right back into Harvard territory.

In the midst of a crowded backfield, the ball bounced off a series of legs before making its way to the foot of the Eagles’ leading scorer Isaac Normesinu, who buried the equalizer in the back of the net.

Normesinu, Boateng, and sophomore midfielder Zeiko Lewis were responsible for much of the Boston College offense throughout the night. Together, the three attackers have scored eight of the team’s ten goals this season, and they combined for seven shots against the Crimson.

“We tailored our game to be very aware of [those] center midfielders,” Schmoll said. “They were a good trio of dangerous players, [so] they’re going to get the ball. But I think we did pretty well as a team, knowing what our tactic was and executing.”

According to Schmoll, Harvard was able to bounce back after surrendering the game-tying goal by maintaining its composure and remaining vocal on the field.

“Anyone who has any input to say at any point in the game, from the bench or on the field, is going to speak up and say it, and that’s the great thing about this team,” Schmoll said. “Everyone on this team is a leader.”

The Crimson played with a lead for the majority of the second half courtesy of a goal late in the first by co-captain Kyle Henderson.

The senior had his initial shot sent aside by Eagles’ goalkeeper Alex Kapp, but the ball eventually found its way back to Henderson, who finished his second opportunity from the center of the box.

The build-up that led to Henderson’s goal proved very similar to that of the tally that initially put Harvard in the scoring column. After conceding a fourth minute goal to Boston College forward Phil Sandgren, the Crimson managed to break even in the 22nd minute.

Shortly after entering the game as a substitute, White sent a rocket toward the net, which was saved by Kapp—one of his career-high nine stops for the contest.

But the ball ricocheted off the goalkeeper’s hands, allowing sophomore defenseman Daniel Smith to score on the rebound after fighting through the Eagles’ defense.

“The guys work unbelievably hard,” Harvard coach Pieter Lehrer said. “They are edgy, they fight, they’re competitive, and they’re supportive of the other guys. [The season] was going to turn, and it’s going to continue to.”

The Crimson recorded 21 shots on the game, tying its season high, with 11 different players getting their names on the stat sheet.

On the other side of the ball, Boston College had just 13 shots, five of which were saved by Harvard goalkeeper Evan Mendez.

“[Boston College] is a great team,” Lehrer said. “They’re always going to be [near] the top 20. [Eagles coach Ed Kelly] runs a phenomenal program there. We have to be successful against a team like that to do well in the tournament, and that’s really what we’re looking for.”

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