Men's Soccer Falls to Seattle in Scrappy Affair

A 44th-minute score doomed the Harvard men’s soccer team to its first loss of the season as the Crimson fell to Seattle University, 1-0.

After a scrappy half that saw Harvard struggle to find creative outlets and escape out of its own half, Redhawks junior midfielder Alex Roldan played a ball through the middle of the Crimson backline to set up senior forward Jeff Rose. Several Harvard defenders raised their hands to call for offsides, but the Seattle player beat the trap and slotted the ball past junior netminder Kyle Parks.

Although the Crimson (1-1-1) fought to get back into the game in the second frame, the team ultimately was unable to find the goal to avoid defeat.

“It was a great fight,” Harvard co-captain Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu said. “From minute zero to 90...[we] fought to the end. It’s the best thing about our team.”

It was a tale of two stanzas at Jordan Field, as the Redhawks (2-2-0) aggressively pushed the Crimson back within its own half early in the game, controlling possession and not allowing Harvard to get an attack going. After starting both of its games the prior weekend by wreaking havoc on the wings against Villanova and Hofstra, the Crimson got a taste of its own medicine.

While Seattle loomed dangerously on the offensive end to start the game, it took nearly 15 minutes for either earn to get off a shot, when senior midfielder Cameron Rohani’s fired the ball to the bottom left. Parks made a comfortable save, the first of five stops for the Texas native.

Following a yellow card for Harvard sophomore midfielder Cesar Farias–his third of the season–after a studs-up challenge, the Redhawks’ offense began to find its touch, sending four more shots at Parks as well as two dangerous crosses that barely missed their targets in the box. The Crimson, however, was limited to just one shot in the period.

The narrative flipped in the second frame, as Farias immediately fired a header that went wide as well as a powerful shot at Seattle sophomore keeper RJ Noll, part of a four-minute stretch that saw the teams combine for six shots.

“It was very important [to respond],” Wheeler-Omiunu said. “That’s what I expect from my team because we have great mental fortitude and that’s the way we train. Not only do we train on the field stuff but also the mental part of the game. And that’s what you saw during the second half.”

Despite the host’s offense coming to life, the team continued to struggle to finish opportunities, failing to score for the second consecutive game. While d attackers were able to piece together runs and send crosses into the box, the team had difficulties getting on the end of balls.

With plenty of promising attacks, however, Harvard coach Pieter Lehrer believes the program has the ingredients for offensive success.

“We have to keep doing what we’re doing.” Lehrer said. “The guys are good on it, [and] there’s good discipline in training. We’re in a good place.”

Along with the inability to finish attacks, the Crimson’s yellow card woes continued, as Wheeler-Omiunu and junior Christian Sady both picked up bookings while the Redhawks also earned a pair. It was the second game in a row that Harvard had racked up at least three yellow cards, giving it a conference-worst seven cards.

Though the Crimson suffered the its first loss of the campaign, the team looks to regroup quickly as it welcomes another tough opponent in Washington on Sunday. While Harvard failed to earn the victory on Thursday, Lehrer believes the team’s continued hard work and reaction shows promise.

“We fought hard.” Lehrer said. “[Seattle’s] a top team, and we competed and fought. We had a great reaction in the second half to really get after it and get forward as much as we could. We’ll look at it and get things a little tidier. But it was good.”

–Staff writer Julio Fierro can be reached at julio.fierro@thecrimson.com.