Halloween Night Frightens Men’s Soccer in 2-0 Loss to Princeton

In an especially scary Halloween weekend for Harvard football – both the European and American varieties – the men’s soccer team (4-7-3, 2-3-1 Ivy League) fell frighteningly scoreless to the Princeton Tigers (7-4-4, 2-3-1), falling 2-0 in its penultimate regular season match.

While Cambridge began to feel the chills of All Hallow’s Eve early on Saturday, the conditions at Princeton’s Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium offered calm winds and temperate high 50s, primed for an offensive display.

In a packed Ivy League field, with the Crimson entering the weekend following a heroic last-effort header goal from junior defender Tim Langenbahn to draw with Penn (6-3-4, 2-1-2) 3-3, no costume could mask the importance of Harvard’s Halloween matchup in New Jersey.

The Crimson threatened just two minutes into Saturday’s matchup at Princeton, as captain Dylan Tellado put an early shot on target. The Tigers’ goalkeeper, captain Andrew Samuels, made the save, denying Harvard an opening breakthrough and deflating the visitor’s early momentum. That opportunity proved to be the Crimson’s lone shot of the first half.

Princeton then ensured that Harvard sophomore goalkeeper Jason Broome was busy. Broome turned away attempts from three Tigers players as they piled up nine shots and five corners before halftime.

The hosting team broke through in the 28th minute after sustained pressure throughout the first half. Princeton junior defender Roka Tsunehara fired a shot that deflected off Crimson junior defender Alexander Castel, sending the loose ball into the path of the Tigers’ other captain, Liam Beckwith, who powered it towards the net.

As Harvard’s offense struggled to find a rhythm, Princeton maintained control through the final 45 minutes. Eight minutes into the second half, Tiger senior midfielder Bardia Hormozi landed a powerful shot from the perimeter of the penalty box.

Down two goals, the Crimson continued searching for a way back into the match, generating seven of its eight shots after halftime. The team’s best chance came when captain and forward Andreas Savva sent a ball into the goal area, where sophomore forward Adam Poliakov fired a shot that a defender blocked.

Harvard earned just one corner all game, well below its average of four per match entering Saturday. The Crimson also trailed 17-8 in total shots, though the gap in attempts on target was far smaller: six for the Tigers and four for Harvard.

When the final whistles blew across the Ancient Eight, four teams, including Harvard, concluded October tied for fourth place in the Ivy League with seven points in conference play.

Although the Crimson will enter its Nov. 7 Senior Day match versus Dartmouth (4-6-4, 2-3-1) with the lowest overall winning percentage in the conference, there are still permutations where Harvard could find itself among the top four, earning a coveted spot in the Ivy Tournament.

While a series of results could significantly change the tiebreakers for securing seeding in the Ivy Tournament, the path for Harvard is most simple as follows.

The least significant match of the weekend will be between Cornell (10-3-1, 5-0-1) and Columbia (5-4-5, 0-3-3), with the Big Red having already secured the first seed spot and the Lions locked in eighth place. Any result there would have no bearing on Harvard, so the focus shifts to the remaining three matchups.

Simply stated: win, the Crimson advances; draw, it needs help; loss, it’s over.

A home win against the Big Green is all it takes to make the Ivy Tournament, as it would put Harvard at 10 points and eliminate Dartmouth from fourth-place contention with just seven points, given that Penn and Yale (4-6-4, 2-1-3) are both already at nine points.

With Penn playing Princeton (seven points) and Yale playing Brown (7-5-3, 2-3-1, seven points), only one team from each match could reach 10 or more points, so only Harvard plus two other teams could join Cornell in the 10+ point threshold and earn qualification by placing in the top four.

In terms of seeding, the highest place Harvard could reach with a win would be third, assuming the Bears and the Quakers both win, which would leave Penn in second with 12 points and Brown in fourth also with 10 points because the Crimson has the head-to-head tiebreaker from its 2-1 win earlier this year.

Penn could also draw Princeton, leaving the Quakers, Brown, and Harvard all level with 10 points tied for second. The tiebreaker there would be with Harvard and Penn each having four points amongst teams in the tie. Penn having drawn Yale would give it second over Harvard in third since Harvard lost to Yale.

There are also plenty of ways Harvard ends up with fourth, assuming the Crimson win on Senior Day, but in the event of a draw there is still one way forward.

Harvard drawing Dartmouth, Brown drawing with Yale, and Penn beating Princeton would be just enough for the Crimson to place fourth.

The tiebreaker with three teams at eight points would be points against teams in the tiebreaker, of which Harvard would have four (beat Brown, theoretically draws Dartmouth), Brown would have three (beat Dartmouth, lost to Harvard), and Dartmouth would have one (theoretically draws Harvard, lost to Brown). This would leave Harvard with victory in the tiebreaker and a ticket punched to the Ivy League’s final four.

This is the only possible outcome if Harvard draws, as if Brown and Princeton lose, Dartmouth would win the tiebreaker on points against the best opponent outside the tie. The Big Green and Crimson lost to Cornell, but since Yale drew Cornell and Penn lost to the Big Red, Yale would be second, and since Dartmouth drew Yale and Harvard lost, Dartmouth would be fourth in the Ivy.

Any other result where Brown or Princeton won, or Princeton drew, would leave Harvard on the outside looking in.

A loss would put Dartmouth at 10 points, and with Penn and Yale already at a minimum of nine, the Crimson’s road would end on Nov. 7 at Jordan Field.

With all the permutations considered, the most straightforward path to the Ivy for Harvard would be a guaranteed spot with a win over Dartmouth. A draw at Jordan would require a Brown draw and a Princeton loss. Any other outcome would leave Harvard in Cambridge.

While Halloween may have been scary for the Crimson, it has every opportunity to dispel the horror and set right the season’s course next Saturday when the Big Green come to town with an Ivy Tournament bid on the line.

—Staff writer Leo P. Petropoulos can be reached at [email protected].