Riding Flurry of Shots, Men's Soccer Tops Eagles at Home

An overtime header by junior midfielder Tim Schmoll gave the Harvard men’s soccer team (1-3-0) its first win of the season, 3-2, over Boston College (3-2-1) Tuesday night.

The Crimson more than doubled its previous season scoring output with the trio of goals, with captain Kyle Henderson and freshman Daniel Smith notching scores in Harvard’s first three-goal performance since November 2011.

“They are a good team,” Schmoll said. “We had some good chances, and I think we played out our game plan pretty well…. We are going to look at it tomorrow and then move on to the next game.”

ACHIEVING ITS GOALS

Leading up to the game, players and coaches argued that “all the parts were there” on offense, noting that the team had generated 21 shots on goal in its first three games. On Tuesday, the Crimson launched 12 shots on goal—nearly twice its season average—and converted three for a 25 percent conversion percentage.

The scoring started in the 21st minute, when sophomore forward Daniel Smith corralled a rebound and slipped the ball past Eagles goalkeeper Alex Kapp to tie the game at one apiece. It was the only shot that Smith took all night.

The Crimson kept up the pressure until the end of the half, generating another chance five minutes later, when Schmoll was unable to convert a chance on goal. In the 44th minute, Harvard took the lead when Henderson—on the third straight Crimson shot attempt—knocked the ball in to give Harvard its second lead of the young season.

“We work at it every day, not just the finishing part but the mentality about how we get to the final part of the game,” coach Pieter Lehrer said. “They are confident in getting possession and getting forward. It’s a good win against a good team.”

BACK FOR SCHMOLL

The Crimson, however, failed to generate an insurance goal during the opening moments of the second half, and Boston College came through with a late equalizer when Isaac Normesinu drove in an 88th minute goal.

At that point, the game bore many similarities to last year’s Ivy League opener at Yale.

That day, the Crimson carried a one-goal lead into the 87th minute of play, only to see the Bulldogs score a pair of goals before the whistle blew, taking home a 2-1 win over its archrival.

Against Boston College, there was to be no repeat; in fact, the Eagles would not even take another shot. Playing down a man after Derrick Boateng got a red card in the 84th minute, the Eagles played on their heels after surrendering the goal.

The Crimson controlled the ball for the last minutes of regulation, with Henderson missing wide in the 90th minute. Then, just five minutes into overtime, Schmoll had a shot blocked before knocking in a header off the ensuing corner kick.

“I think we got a bit lucky with the red card—I don’t know if that was fair but we will take it,” Henderson said. “We had numbers up at the end of the game and we capitalized.”

CRUCIAL STOPS

On the other side of the ball, the Crimson limited the Eagles to just seven shots on goal and 13 overall. Boston College came into the game averaging just over 15 shots a game, but Harvard held sophomores Normesinu and Zeiko Lewis—focal points of the Eagles’ attack—to just two shots on goal between the pair.

“[The defense] is great, they have done a great job all year,” Lehrer said. “The first goal [junior co-captain] Mark [Ashby] made an uncharacteristic mistake but Mark, for such a big guy, moves very well and is really an elite defender. That kind of mistake you will probably never see for the rest of the season.”

—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at david.freed@thecrimson.com.