Crimson Powers Past Boston College, 2-0

Photo of Austin Harms courtesy DSPics.com.

NEWTON, Mass. – Scott Prozeller and Jamie Rees each scored a goal and Andre Akpan handed out two assists to guide the Harvard men’s soccer team to a 2-0 victory at Boston College in a non-conference matchup Monday afternoon. Austin Harms turned aside two shots by the Eagles, as the Crimson improved to 2-0 on the young season.

Harvard broke a scoreless tie at 21:29 when Akpan, who dribbled the ball into the box, flipped a pass to his left, finding Prozeller. The Harvard freshman took the ball and fired it with his right foot past an outstretched Justin Luthy and into the bottom right corner of the net for his first career goal. Moments later, Harms made his only save of the half, stopping a point blank shot by Boston College’s Charlie Rugg, who had stolen the ball from a Harvard defender.

In the 26th minute, Brian Rogers almost gave the Crimson a two-goal cushion, but his header from five yards out was punched away by Luthy. Harvard continued to press offensively and had another quality chance at 32:14 when Ben Tsuda grabbed a bouncing pass from the right side. Tsuda took a hard shot, but the ball nailed off the cross bar and out of bounds.

With 7:45 to play in the opening half, the Eagles nearly tied the game, but Edvin Worley’s shot from 15 yards out rang off the left post, allowing Harvard to clear. The Crimson tacked on another goal with 44 seconds left in the first to head to the locker room ahead, 2-0. Rogers sent a pass toward the front, which Akpan accepted before redirecting the ball to Rees. Rees turned and booted a shot with his left foot which hit the back of the net past Luthy.

Through 45 minutes, the Eagles outshot the Crimson, 9-6, and corner kicks were even, 2-2.

In the second half, Boston College (1-2) earned its best chance in the 73rd minute when Rugg took a cross pass from the left just to the right of the goal, but his kick sailed high and wide of the cage. Harvard withstood eight other shots from the Eagles during the half, including one on goal, but Harms and the Crimson defense stood tall, keeping Boston College off the scoreboard.

“Every win against an ACC opponent is a great win,” said Jamie Clark, the Virginia B. and James O. Welch, Jr. '52 Head Coach for Harvard Men’s Soccer. “We were successfully scoring early today and to get those early goals on their field and on a playing surface we’re not used to was the key.”

The Eagles led the final count in shots, 17-14, but the Crimson held the advantage in corner kicks, 7-6. The win also marked the first win for Harvard over Boston College since the 2000 season.

Harvard will face another intra-city rival Friday, Sept. 11, as the team welcomes No. 14 Boston University to Ohiri Field at 4 p.m.