Terps do MacMath, top Harvard

Harvard’s men’s soccer entered its third round game of the NCAA Tournament as the higher seed and the home team. But when you’re going against the defending champions who peaked at No. 2 earlier this year, anything can happen. So instead of the No. 10 Crimson advancing to the round of eight it was unseeded Maryland which came out with the 2-0 victory in Boston Sunday. The Terrapins (15-5-2) will take on ACC rival Virginia Friday for a chance to get to the Final Four, while the Ivy League champion Crimson (14-4-1) ended their season disappointed. “We don’t often get shut out in games,” Harvard coach Jamie Clark told The Crimson. “[Maryland] played effectively, they played well, they put numbers where it mattered, and they were opportunistic.” Maryland got an early goal in the 11th minute when a Taylor Kemp bouncing pass from the right side landed at the feet of sophomore Casey Townsend who chipped a shot with his left foot just underneath the crossbar. The rest of the half didn’t see much action until the 34th minute when Maryland goalie Zac MacMath took down Harvard’s captain Andre Akpan in the box. But on the ensuing penalty by Akpan — who entered the game tied for the Crimson’s all-time scoring record — MacMath — who led the nation in goals-against-average in 2008 as a freshman — blocked the kick, as well as a rebound shot. “We had done our research and had an idea of what [Akpan] likes to do,” Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski told The Crimson. “[MacMath] just stood him up and made a good reaction for the save.” Maryland added an insurance goal in the 78th minute.

Bouldered over. Harvard men’s basketball player Jeremy Lin already had a great buzzer beater earlier this year. Saturday a female Crimson hoopster had the opportunity to get one of her own. And although her midcourt shot came close, it ultimately didn’t drop. Playing in the Omni Hotels Classic final against host and Big 12 school Colorado, the Crimson were down two with just five seconds left. Brogan Berry heaved up a desperation shot from halfcourt at the buzzer that hit the rim before falling to the floor, as the Buffaloes escaped with a 67-65 win. But don’t blame Brogan for Harvard’s (3-3) loss. Last year’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year had nine assists in 38 minutes against the Buffaloes (4-1). And definitely don’t blame junior Emma Markley who had another stellar game, netting 24 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Coupled with her six blocks in the Crimson’s 60-57 victory over New Orleans in the first round, the forward set a tournament record of 10 blocks in the two-game Classic. She earned All-Tournament team honors.

Imitating Penn. Just like its Penn rivals, the Columbia wrestling team competed in the Northeast Duals Sunday. Unfortunately for Columbia, it came away with a worse record. The Lions went 1-1-1, while Penn went 2-1. Interestingly, while the two Ivy teams did not face each other, they had similar schedules. Both beat Sacred Heart by large margins and had less success with top-conference opponents. The difference was their performance against smaller schools. While Penn lost to Michigan and Columbia tied North Carolina, the Quakers beat Appalachian State, while the Lions fell to Bloomsburg.

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