Men's Soccer Set to Take on Seattle, Washington

Sometimes, defining moments in a season come at unexpected times. They could come at the end of the season, when a team attempts to clinch a playoff berth, or in the tournament as a team competes to bring home hardware.

For the Harvard men’s soccer team (1-0-1), one of these moments could happen this weekend, as it looks to remain undefeated before it goes on the road for the next few weeks.

“A lot of what we’ve done has been recovery and then just working on the technical part of the game and getting ourselves ready for this weekend,” senior forward Jake Freeman said. “We’ve been going over a lot of film of ourselves to correct what we need to do to get ready for the next two games...to have the best outcome.”

After a win against Villanova and an overtime tie against Hofstra, the Crimson is about to face a string of top competitors. In its final two games at Jordan Field before taking a road trip to face Stanford and Cal, the team will have the chance to continue the momentum started by a solid opening weekend performance.

“Whether it’s home or away, momentum is a very important thing in all sports,” co-captain Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu said. “So to feel good about yourself in terms of your performance and to feel good about your team’s performance, to remain confident about your ability as a team on the field...is extremely important. So whether the game is home or away wouldn’t really make a difference.”

Similar to last week’s games, the Crimson will be playing two teams against which it has only faced once before, and will be looking for its first win against both.

The Crimson will first host Seattle (1-2-0) at Jordan Field on Thursday. In the inaugural matchup between the teams last season, Harvard was shut out, 2-0, despite late-game charges led by seniors Daniel Smith and Jake Freeman. Two players who made an impact in last season’s contest, Seattle sophomores Sergio Rivas and Julio Rubio, are back and will be players to watch, as will junior midfielder Alex Roldan, who currently leads the team in goals and points.

Seattle has had a relatively slow start to its season, having lost its last two games against No. 10 Akron and Ohio. Harvard will hope to extend the Redhawks’ losing streak and continue building confidence as it goes into Sunday’s game against Washington (2-1-0, 1-0 Pac-12).

The Huskies are out to a strong start this season. After suffering a close loss to No. 12 Utah Valley, Washington picked up victories over St. Mary’s and Oral Roberts. The Crimson may have a difficult time finding the back of the net on Sunday, facing a Huskies back line that allowed just 13 goals last season. Washington also features forward Mason Robertson, who missed last season with an injury and is now the team’s top scorer, and junior Henry Wingo, who was ranked No. 57 on Top Drawer Soccer’s Top 100 players.

“We’ve pointed out their players that can be dangerous to us but really it’s just about looking at what they do well on the team and talk about what we can do as a team to nullify it,” Freeman said. “So...making it difficult for them to play through us as a team, and really just bringing our energy and our fight.”

Though Seattle and Washington are strong competitors and bring highly skilled players to the pitch, Harvard has played some of its best soccer in recent years at Jordan Field. The team boasts a 14-4-2 record at home since the 2013-2014 season. The Crimson also boasts both seasoned and breakout stars, including Wheeler, Freeman, sophomore forward Cesar Farias, and freshman midfielder Matthew Glass, who was last week’s Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

Harvard will not be at home again until Sept. 27, so the Crimson will try to make the most of the opportunity for six points this weekend.

—Staff writer Katherine H. Scott can be reached at katherinescott@college.harvard.edu.