Men's Soccer Left Out of NCAA Tournament

Last season, the only thing separating the Harvard men’s soccer team from the NCAA Tournament was Penn. But with a 2-0 win over the Crimson in the season finale, it was the Quakers who captured the Ivy League crown as well as an automatic tournament bid.

After a year of waiting, Harvard (11-4-2, 4-1-2 Ivy) finally earned its revenge on Saturday. Behind an 89th minute goal from freshman forward Christian Sady, the Crimson picked up its first victory over Penn since 2010.

But despite closing the season with a win, Harvard found itself on the outside looking in when the 48-team tournament field was announced by the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee Monday.

After recording its best record since 2009, the Crimson held an outside chance of making the field, but according to Harvard coach Pieter Lehrer, the team had tempered its expectations.

The Crimson had entered the weekend trailing Dartmouth and Princeton by two points in the Ivy League standings, needing a win and losses from both rivals to earn an automatic bid. Otherwise, Harvard—ranked no. 55 in RPI—faced a steep hill to obtain an at-large bid.

In the end, the chips would not fall into place, as both the Big Green (11-4-2, 5-1-1) and the Tigers (11-3-3, 5-1-1) picked up wins in their final games. Meanwhile, Harvard fell to no. 59 in RPI.

By virtue of a 2-1 win over Princeton in October, Dartmouth—ranked no. 27 in RPI—received the automatic bid from the Ancient Eight. The Big Green takes on Fordham in the opening round Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Tigers join the Crimson on the outside of the field, having narrowly missed the cut. Princeton finished the season ranked no. 41 in RPI, but with several teams lower in the rankings receiving automatic bids for winning their conferences, the Tigers were out of luck.

Harvard played to a 0-1-1 record against the co-Ivy League champions.

The Crimson tied Dartmouth when the two sides clashed three weeks ago in Hanover, as senior midfielder Kyle Henderson found the back of the net on the team’s only shot of the contest.

Harvard was not as fortunate on the road against Princeton, however. Despite mounting a comeback late in the game, the Crimson could not climb out of an early three-goal hole, falling to the Tigers, 3-2.

The loss would be the only one that Harvard would endure in conference play, but it proved to make all the difference in the standings—backing up a claim made by junior defenseman Philip Fleischman back in October.

“Every game in the Ivy League is like a single elimination tournament,” Fleishman said.

Appears that way.