Party Crashers

As the last few seconds ticked off the clock, all that was left for the Harvard men’s soccer team to do was dump the water cooler on the coach, storm the field, and kiss the Ivy League championship trophy.

And after the Crimson (13-4-0, 6-1-0 Ivy) closed out a 3-1 win over Columbia (7-8-2, 0-5-2) on Saturday at Ohiri Field to claim its first Ivy League title since 1996, that is exactly what it did.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said senior captain Charles Altchek, who scored the decisive second and third Harvard goals. “It’s something that we have all worked for. It’s just great to win with all these guys, guys that I care about.”

After seizing an early 1-0 lead, Harvard had trouble putting the Lions away for good.

That all changed when, with 15 minutes remaining in the second half, sophomore forward Mike Fucito beat his man down the wing and crossed a ball that found Altchek unguarded directly in front of the net.

“Fucito just did his thing,” Altchek said. “If I had missed that, I would have never been able to forgive myself.”

The goal all but put the game out of reach for Columbia.

“Once we got on top and got the second goal I knew it was going to be very difficult for them,” coach John Kerr said.

The Lions didn’t go down without a fight, however. Columbia got on the board just a minute later courtesy of a James Pounder goal, but that effort proved to be too little to late.

Three minutes later, sophomore John Stamatis connected with Altchek, who placed a shot into the far side netting. The goal, Altchek’s second of the game, was his league-leading 12th of the season.

The Crimson tallied its first goal just 10 minutes into the match when junior Matt Hoff took a free kick just outside the box and curled it into the upper left corner of the net.

It was a fitting finish for Harvard, whose Ivy League season ended in much better shape than it began. The Crimson lost 3-1 to Penn back on Sept. 23 in its first league game.

But Harvard did not drop another match to a league opponent, going undefeated through all of October and extending its eight-game win streak into November.

“The biggest thing is that we made a commitment last spring to put the team before anything,” Kerr said. “I think that has been the biggest difference. You can see the unselfishness in our play.”

“Guys have been really committed to this team and to their teammates and to all the time and hard work that goes into this,” Altchek said. “It’s just a really good group.”

Although Penn handed Harvard its only Ivy loss of the season, it was the Crimson who had the last laugh. Heading into the weekend, the Crimson and the Quakers were both contending for the top spot in the league. Harvard controlled its destiny with a half-game lead and stood to clinch the outright championship with a win, while Penn needed a Crimson loss or tie to get a piece of the title.

By winning the Ivies, Harvard, which was ranked No. 17 in Division I entering the weekend and boasts the second most prolific offense in the nation with a 2.59 goals per game average, earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Harvard is hoping for one of the top 16 bids, which would give it a bye through the first round and a home game in the second. The NCAA Tournament selection show is scheduled to air today on ESPN News at 4 p.m.

“The willingness to work hard for each other is something that has been so successful for our group,” Kerr said, “And hopefully we can continue that into the playoffs.”