Men's Soccer Goes For 3-0 Ivy Start

To find the last time the Harvard men’s soccer team started Ivy League play with three straight wins, you’d have to look back to the 2008 season. Before that, you’d have to go back to last century.

This rare feat, however, is what the team has a chance to accomplish this Saturday against Brown.

The 3-0 conference record isn’t the only benchmark the Crimson can pass at Jordan Field this weekend. If the squad’s defense, led by goalkeeper and co-captain Evan Mendez, can manage to keep a clean sheet for the third straight game, it will also mark the longest streak of no goals allowed since 2009.

The 2008 and 2009 seasons happen to mark the best two-year run in the NCAA Tournament that Harvard has had in recent memory.

While the comparisons to those great teams of the past are growing in head coach Pieter Lehrer’s third year at the helm, the team is aware of how fast fortunes can change in Ancient Eight play.

The Crimson was exactly at this point a season ago, entering the game against Brown with two conference wins and momentum riding high. A draw with the Bears–and subsequent loss to Princeton–however, effectively put the team out of the Ivy League title race and dashed hopes of an NCAA tournament berth.

“We’re super focused for this weekend because we remember exactly what happened last year,” senior forward Oliver White said. “We were doing really well, and all of a sudden, it was like our season was over.”

Such is the nature of competition in the Ivy League, with every one of each team’s seven Ancient Eight games having the potential to make or break a season.

Brown, just like last season, is certainly capable of playing spoiler to Harvard’s strong start. Not only are the Bears also unbeaten in conference play, but they boast the Ivy’s second best scoring offense, as well. Thus far, they have scored 16 goals to Harvard’s 11, and are led by three time Ivy League Rookie of the Week Jack Hagstrom.

Despite being a defender, Hagstrom ranks second in the league with five tallies to his name. He headed in the equalizing goal late in both of the Bears’ two conference matchups thus far, one of which led to a comeback win and the other of which secured an important draw.

“Brown is usually a very physical team, and one of the reasons we tied them last year was we weren’t ready for that,” White said.

Being unprepared is not an option for this year’s matchup, however, as six seniors anchor the Crimson starting lineup and several others feature prominently off the bench. This season marks the final shot at an elusive Ivy title for these players, who have come a long way from finishing last-place in the conference during their freshman year.

According to White, this sense of urgency is what has fueled the team’s resurgence after a string of losses to start the season.

Before Harvard began their current streak of shutting out opponents, it suffered through the exact opposite, not scoring for over 300 minutes, punctuated by a 3-0 loss against Boston University.

Another big part of Crimson’s three straight wins since then is the developing chemistry in the squad’s back-line. With co-captain and reigning Ivy League defensive player of the year Mark Ashby injured all season, junior center-backs Alex Leondis and Dan Smith have had to adjust to playing with each other.

“[Leondis and Smith have] been working really hard to improve this season, and it’s definitely showing in the past few games,” Ashby said. “They’re gaining confidence and playing much better.”

The two players, along with the rest of the defense, will certainly be tested on Saturday. Brown has scored in 10 of the 11 games it has played in this season, including a 2-0 win earlier this week over the same BU team that beat Harvard.

From this result, it might seem as if Brown has the upper edge, but with both teams playing great soccer right now, the game is one that must be settled on the field.