Brown 3, Harvard 2 (OT)

I’ve seen a lot of college soccer games. Some have been bad, most have been pretty good, and some have been very good. And then there have been a few that I would label as true classics—spirited battles between highly competitive teams, loads at stake, many goals, boisterous fans, hard tackles, controversial refereeing, passion, all on a crisp fall afternoon. In short, these are the games that college soccer is all about.

The Brown vs. Harvard game this past Saturday clearly belongs in this “classic” category. It wasn’t always the prettiest soccer (Rhett Bernstein walked off the field and said, “That was the ugliest game of soccer EVER!”) but it was undeniably and endlessly entertaining. For a hundred minutes, it was filled with drama and passion, and for a hundred minutes, no one could look away.

Last year, Harvard handed Brown a good old fashioned spanking, 6-1 at Stevenson Field. This year, Brown entered the game ranked #11 in the country, with Harvard ranked # 9. Both teams were 1-0 in the Ivy League, both had significant wins out of conference, and both knew each other very well. In other words, there was a lot at stake. In the end, Brown emerged the winner, putting itself in sole possession of first place in the league. Combined with the midweek win over BC, they might also be poised to crack the top ten national rankings. Brown continues their season on Saturday, October 20th when they travel to Ithaca, NY to play Cornell.

Now, here is your post-game report:

1st minute – Two teams that looked very relaxed in warm-up begin to play at a furious pace. No one takes more than two touches, and no one seems to complete more than four passes. Tackles fly, tempers flare.

12th minute – Kevin Davies fires a sharp angled shot that surprises the Harvard keeper, but which he manages to save.

17th minute – An incredibly speedy Harvard forward turns and fires a quick left footed shot from fifteen yards out, but Paul Grandstrand holds it cleanly.

22nd minute – Brown strings together several wonderful passes and releases Darren Howerton down the left side, but his first time effort sails wide of goal.

23rd minute - Howerton tosses in a flip throw. The goalkeeper drops the ball, creating a great scoring opportunity, but a Brown player is whistled for a phantom foul. Five minutes later, the same thing happens. What contact are you seeing, sir?

25th minute – Harvard appears to shove as they challenge for every head ball, but the referee blows his whistle selectively. It seems every call is going the way of the home team.

28th minute – Howerton tosses another lethal flip throw into the Harvard box, and several players rise to meet it. The goalkeeper can’t get his hands to the ball, and if falls into the scrum. After a couple of whacks, it comes to Dylan Sheehan, who easily slots a low left footed shot into the goal. The Brown bench explodes to its feet and the Brown coaching staff exchanges fist pumps and high fives. 1-0 Brown.

29th minute – Just fifteen seconds later, Harvard plays the ball forward into the Brown penalty area. Getting good position on defender Matt Britner, a Harvard forward takes a touch toward the end line. Realizing he has pushed the ball too far and has no other options, he slows up to draw contact, and flops to the ground. Unbelievably, the referee whistles for a PK, as the Brown coaching staff sprints down the sideline in protest. As if steered by the fates, the ensuing penalty kick glances off the left post and out of bounds. The law of universal justice is preserved, and order is restored to the cosmos. As the saying goes, “The ball never lies.”

32nd minute –A good turn and quick shot by forward TJ Thompson is saved by the Harvard goalkeeper.

41st minute – The linesman turns to respond to a Mike Noonan inquiry about a hand ball. At that exact moment, the ball is flighted over the Brown defense, and the linesman is caught out of position. Noonan screams, “He’s offsides!” As if mind controlled, the linesman raises his flag and halts a Harvard half-breakaway. We’ll have to take a closer look at that one on the film.

HALFTIME – Brown gets some much needed water. Coach Noonan tells the boys they played great until the last twelve minutes, and they need to keep the energy levels high.

53rd minute – A Harvard player cuts the ball back and serves in a left footed cross from the right wing. A Harvard forward leaps and sends a glancing header just beyond the impressively long outstretched wings of a leaping Grandstrand, into the upper left corner of the goal. The Crimson Crazies celebrate wildly. 1-1 tie.

54th minute – Thirty seconds later, left back Steve Sawyer takes a touch and nails a right footed laser into the Harvard penalty area. Dylan Sheehan leaps forward and smashes a header on goal, and the Harvard keeper does well to make the initial save. Kevin Davies, however, sniffs out the rebound like a well trained schnauzer and quickly kicks it into the net. The goal comes so quickly after the Harvard goal that the scorekeepers have to announce them together. 2-1 Brown.

57th minute – Rhett Bernstein heads a ball off the left post.

58th to 82nd minutes – The teams go back and forth and back and forth, with plenty of hard tackles and shots.

83rd minute – In a highly controversial series of plays, Nick Elenz-Martin slides and taps the ball, disrupting a Harvard player as he shoots and causing him to blast the ball over the net. The referee wrongly whistles for a Harvard corner kick, then compounds his mistake by allowing them to take the kick while two balls are on the field. As goalkeeper Paul Grandstrand clears the second ball off the field, a Harvard player takes the short corner and sends a hard, driven ball cross across the face of goal. Another Harvard player first times it easily into the net. The Harvard fans behind the net dance and celebrate as Grandstrand stands with his palms upturned, wondering why play had been allowed to continue. 2-2 tie.

100th minute – The fates once again exert their influence on the match. A Harvard player attempts to clear the ball up the left sideline but kicks a large, invisible lump of turf. The player looks down in confusion as the ball rolls out of bounds. How did that happen? As Howerton saunters across the field, Brown fans scream, “Hey Harvard, another flip throw coming at you. Let’s see you deal with THIS!” as Howerton chucks the ball into the six-yard box. Dylan Sheehan rises and nods it on to the far post, where a six-man Brown/Harvard caravan arrives and somehow ushers it into the goal. For the third straight game, the Brown bench (accompanied by a number of fans) rushes the field to celebrate an overtime victory.

And order is once again returned to the cosmos.

Final Score: Brown 3, Harvard 2 (OT)
Overall Record: 9-1-1
Ivy Record: 2-0-0

Next game: Saturday, October 20th @ Cornell