M. Soccer loses game, goalkeeper against Harvard

The Harvard men's soccer team beat Penn in more ways than one yesterday afternoon at Rhodes Field. In addition to suffering a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Crimson, Quakers freshman goalie Mike O'Connor had to be helped off the field after a second-half collision with two Harvard players. Early in the second half, O'Connor made a save on a play in which one Crimson player slid into him and another, and in order to avoid running into the two, tried to hurdle O'Connor. The latter Harvard player, however, caught a cleat on O'Connor's head. The keeper was slow to get up from the play, but action resumed seconds later, and O'Connor had seemingly escaped with nothing more than a bump. Fifteen minutes later, though, O'Connor went to the ground again, this time without being touched. "He told Brad Copeland that he couldn't see and that he needed to come out," Penn coach George O'Neill said. O'Connor was indeed removed from the game and was taken to the Student Health Service for precautionary measures. What those two Crimson players did to O'Connor on the play was symbolic of what Harvard had been doing to the Quakers all afternoon. Harvard (6-1) scored its first goal in the 22nd minute of the first half, and that was all that would be needed against Penn (1-5). By halftime, the Crimson had built a 2-0 lead, which held up as the final score. "Harvard is a real strong team," Penn midfielder Reginald Brown said. "We had a lack of confidence in the beginning because they were 5-1 and we were 1-4 coming in, but we showed we could play with them." According to O'Neill, the Quakers' confidence did not start to wane until Harvard took the lead. "Until the first goal, I thought the teams were about the same," the coach said. "But once Harvard scored, their confidence increased and ours decreased." The game was won primarily in the midfield, where Harvard was repeatedly able to pounce on loose balls faster than Penn. "They were beating us to the ball all over the field, and once they got it, they passed around us," Quakers midfielder Greg Kroll said. "They kept control of the ball most of the game. "They're quicker and more skilled than we are, and it showed. We had opportunities. We just couldn't put them away." Penn's best scoring opportunity came with 21 minutes remaining in the second half, when the Quakers got off a shot a few feet in front of the Crimson goal. But it resulted in nothing more than a pile-up of several players and another save for the Harvard goalie. "We were tentative most of the game," O'Neill said. "But we did have some good opportunities in the second half. "They showed great character, fighting right up to the end." The Quakers hope that character will eventually start translating into wins. For now, Penn is well on its way to its 12th straight losing season.