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Looking forward to today's game with Wesleyan, Harvard soccer coach Bruce Munro had some second thoughts about Saturday's 3-2 squeaker over Boston University.
"By now," he said, "the team should be starting to gell. But so far we haven't.
Wesleyan, with a 1-0-1 record this year, tied Ivy co-favorite Yale in their opener. It should be another tough game for the Crimson, but Munro indicated that the team needed a lot of hard work before the opening of Ivy play Saturday at Columbia.
Against B.U., the booters weren't able to adjust to the Terriers' unorthodox 4-2-2-3 defense. B.U. gave the Crimson the middle of the field, but dropped two extra men back into the penalty area. The Crimson halfbacks generally didn't pass through to the forward line quickly enough, giving the B.U. defense time to set.
Munro said that the Crimson would have to work on team combinations on offense, and on "passing, passing, passing." He added, "we have a lot of good soccer players, but not a good team yet."
Gerry Montero, outside right, pulled a groin musele, and is a doubtful starter today. Starting right halfback John Gordon, is still out with an ankle injury, and will not see action till Saturday's game. Bezo Cutler, who filled in for Gordon, and center halfback Richie Hardy turned in strong performances against B.U.
Monday's rain and tight scheduling add to the Crimson's worries. With no practice Monday, and twelve players having "academic commitments" Tuesday, the squad did not get much chance for their badly needed work together. This means that the first-string line was not able to practice attacking coordination which was conspicuously lacking against B.U.
The defense, which was "generally okay" against B.U., suffered two lapses which led to the Terrier's scores. On the first goal, B.U. attackers caught Goalie Rich Locksley out of position, while the second goal, a penalty shot, resulted from defective fullback coverage, Monro said.
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