September 15, 2010

No. 6 Men's Soccer Soccer Travels West for Games Against UC Santa Barbara, New Mexico

Photo of junior defender Baba Omosegbon courtesy of David Silverman.

Live Statistics (vs. UC Santa Barbara)
Live Statistics (at New Mexico)
Live Video at New Mexico (with subscription)

The Matchups:
The sixth-ranked Harvard men's soccer team heads to New Mexico for the Lobo Classic, as the Crimson will face UC Santa Barbara and New Mexico Sept. 17 and 19, respectively.

Harvard enters the weekend unbeaten with a 2-0-1 mark, while the Gauchos stand at 0-2-2 and the Lobos are 3-1-1. 

Follow From Home:
Live statistics will be available for both games this weekend and most road contests this fall.

Live statistics vs. UC Santa Barbara
Live statistics at New Mexico

In addition, live video will be available with a subscription for the game against New Mexico.

A History Lesson:
Harvard and UC Santa Barbara have met once, a 1-1 tie, on Sept. 23, 2007.  Meanwhile, the Crimson and Lobos have never met on the soccer field.

Moving On Up:
Harvard started the season ranked 10th in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) national poll, and has since moved up to No. 6.  In addition, the Crimson appears 17th in the Top Drawer Soccer and CollegeSoccerNews rankings.

About No. 6 Harvard:
For the second straight year, the Crimson is unbeaten after three games, as Harvard earned a 1-1 tie at then-No. 10 Connecticut Sept. 11.  Zack Wolfenzon supplied the Harvard offense with a goal in the 19th minute, while Austin Harms finished the tie with three saves in 110 minutes.

Through three games, Brian Rogers is Harvard's leading scorer with two goals and four points.  Wolfenzon, Scott Prozeller and Ross Friedman have also supplied offense for the Crimson with a goal apiece.  Kyle Henderson has handed out a team-high two assists, while Rogers has fired a Harvard-best 10 shots. 

Harms is off to a strong start in net, going 2-0-1 with a 1.24 goals-against average and eight saves to his credit.

Harvard is outscoring teams by a 6-4 margin, but trails in shots, 47-38, and corner kicks, 17-7.

About UC Santa Barbara:
The Gauchos  are hoping to improve on their 0-2-2 start, tying Davidson, 2-2, in their last game Sept. 10.  UC Santa Barbara has also tied New Mexico, 1-1, while falling to Cal State Bakersfield, 1-0, and Creighton, 1-0, earlier this fall.
Sam Garza (two goals, one assist) and Michael Tetteh (one goal) have found the back of the net for the Gauchos, who have only scored three goals in four games.  Sam Hayden has played all 406 minutes in net, and is 0-2-2 with a 1.11 goals-against mark and 15 stops.

Opponents are outscoring UC Santa Barbara, 5-3, but the Gauchos have a sizable lead in shots, 56-39, and corner kicks, 30-16.

About New Mexico:
The Lobos, who will face Buffalo in the Lobo Classic Sept. 17, are coming off a 2-1 loss at home to Portland Sept. 12.  UNM has earned wins this season against Saint Louis, 3-2, and Georgetown, 3-1.

Six different players have scored goals, led by Lance Rozeboom and Levi Rossi, who have tallied two goals apiece and have netted a game-winning tally each.  Goalkeeper Justin Holmes has made five saves in four games and owns a 1.44 goals-against average to go along with a 2-1-1 record.

The Lobos have netted eight goals, compared to six for opponents, but are considerably outshooting teams by a 65-25 margin.  UNM also has earned 24 corner kicks, while opponents have 18.

Quest For Five Straight:
Harvard has reached the NCAA tournament four straight seasons, advancing to the second round three times.  The Crimson reached the tournament in five consecutive seasons from 1968-1972, a program record.

Up Next:
The Crimson returns East to visit Stony Brook Friday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.