Booters Reach.500 Mark With 4-1 Win Over MIT

When the Harvard men's soccer team defeated Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) yesterday afternoon at Ohiri Field, 4-1, they really defeated them.

The Crimson outshot the hapless Engineers, 32-4, and were to dominant on defense that Crimson keeper Matt Ginsburg was only forced to make one save all afternoon, that coming five seconds before the end of the game.

They're just an incredible bunch of players," said MIT, goalkeeper Mike Schon, who played an exceptional game in the losing cause. "I was just happy to be competing against so many well-known players."

With yesterday's second consecutive win, the Crimson battled its way to a 3-3 record. It marks the first time this season Harvard has been at the, 500 level.

Although Harvard, for the most part, had its way with the visitors, it was MIT who scored first, surprising Ginsburg and the Crimson defenders four minutes after the first touch. MIT striker Grant Schaffner knocked a cross across the Crimson goalmouth, which Ginsburg pushed into the path of fellow frontliner Ed Savard.

The Engineer wasted no time, knocking the gift into the net for a surprise Engineer lead.

If the Crimson had underestimated the lightly regarded Engineers, the goal quickly brought them back to reality. In any event, the Harvardians quickly regrouped and began to pressure the other end of the pitch with increasing regularity.

Crimson striker John Catliff almost had things up one minute later, but Schoen made the first of his 13 saves to deny the Olympian.

In the 11th minute, however, Harvard got the equalizer, and the Crimson got it the same way many of its goals have come this season with superiority in the air.

Harvard defender Matt Cameron, on the right side of the pitch about 30 yards out, sent a high, well-hit cross across the goalmouth, where Captain Lane Ken-worthy won a heading contest with an Engineer defender.

His reward was a goal over the head of Schoen.

From this tying goal on, the Crimson tried and tried to put the go-ahead score in the net, with a lot of shots being taken and a lot of different Harvardians taking them.

But when referee Frank Scargella signaled halftime, the scoreboard still read 1-1.

If the game had ended like that, it would have been yet another example of the Crimson dominating, but still not winning. Harvard outshot the Engineers, 14-2, in the first half and Crimson Coach Jape Shattuck was starting to remember some of the earlier games of the season.

"I'm not going to lie and say that I wasn't a bit worried. I saw what happened at Brandeis," he said, referring to a similar situation in the season's first game.

Fortunately for the Crimson, though, there are 90 minutes to a soccer game. And the hosts wasted no time in taking advantage in the second 45. For if Harvard dominated the Engineers in the first half, they destroyed them in the second.

Throughout the final half, the Crimson spent most of the time taking shots and stealing the ball from MIT. Harvard was so effective in keeping the ball in the Engineer half that it looked like MIT was playing an Italian catenaccio defense, a defense that floods the defensive zone with bodies.

In fact, though, the visitors just weren't able to get the ball out of their area.

As a result, the Crimson backs felt free to overlap into offensive roles and take shots, and sweeper Miles Welch, the last line of defense before Ginsburg, who was as lonely as a Maytag repairman most of the afternoon, played most of the second half almost on the midfield line.

Harvard took nine shots before it got its second goal. In the 61st minute. Paul Nicholas, who has been one of the most effective Crimson midfielders throughout the season had his efforts rewarded when he received a pass about 12 yards out from Mark Pepper, who had dribbled unchallenged from midfield to set up Nicholas.

The Crimson star had only Schoen to beat, and he brushed the back of the net to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.

Nicholas repeated in the 82nd minute after he was fed by Nick Hotchkin, and Catliff, who hadn't scored since the first game of the season at Brandeis, put in the fourth in the 85th after, lan Hardington set him up.