Big Red Is Big Easy For Men's Soccer

The Big Red men's soccer team comes to town today, but the Crimson has little need to worry about its marginally more colorful Ivy rivals.

Despite falling 4-1 to Eastern power Boston University Thursday, Harvard (4-2-0 overall, 2-0-0 Ivy) should regain its winning ways with a solid showing against the Big Red (4-3-0, 1-2-0).

The Ithaca squad has come up short in its last five meetings with the Crimson, including last year's 1-0 Harvard win. Playing at Ohiri Field also boosts the the Crimson's chances: Harvard last lost a home encounter to Cornell in 1976.

The sting of the loss to the Terriers, which is certain to drop Harvard a few notches in both the Eastern and national rankings, should ensure a consistently strong outing today, as the Crimson needs to stay on top in the Ivy race in order to secure an NCAA bid later this season, and must not pass up this golden opportunity in its otherwise stiff schedule.

Cornell, despite falling to Columbia 4-0 a week ago, rests its hopes for defeating recent history, and the Crimson, on the feet of senior forward Ted Lesh, whose four goals lead the Big Red. But Lesh looks lonely on the Cornell front line, especially facing the strong Harvard back field of junior Ping Li and sophomore Pepper Brill.

Although the Harvard offense stalled against the Terriers, senior Captain Jason Luzak leads an attack which is likely to test Cornell's astonishing freshman goaltender Quinn O'Sullivan.

Though only slotted as a "challenger" for the starting position in pre-season, O'Sullivan has played every minute, and compiled a 1.23 goals-against-average.

Harvard's main concern against the Big Red is, really, maintaining the intensity which led it to four straight wins at the start of the season.

For all Cornell's relative weakness, Harvard players must avoid counting on a victory today, as they may be tempted to do with a looming contest against Maine.

The Black Bears, also ranked in the top 10 in the East, await the Crimson for a Tuesday afternoon matchup in Orono, Maine.

Yet a loss to Cornell would be a blemish on its Ivy record the Crimson could ill afford, so look for the control Harvard displayed in earlier contests to reappear. With a pair of losses leading into this game, the Crimson needs to regain its momentum.

Also, with its next two games against non-league opponents, Harvard will follow with interest the upcoming Dartmouth-Yale and Princeton-Yale matchups.

These landmarks in the Ivy calendar will help determine the tone for the rest of Harvard's league schedule, which still includes both the Big Green and the Tigers. Crimson G. Bart Kasowski PING LEE and JOSH MARTIN (9) celebrate a goal earlier this season. There wasn't much joy Thursday, however, when the team lost 4-1.