CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard men's soccer team scored twice in the final 19 minutes behind goals from sophomore
Alessandro Arlotti and senior
Martin Vician to rally and defeat No. 15 Penn, 3-2, Saturday afternoon at Jordan Field.
The Crimson, which is now unbeaten in six straight games (4-0-2), improved to 8-4-3 overall (2-1-2 Ivy League), while the Quakers – previously unbeaten in Ivy League play – dropped to 10-2-2 (4-1-0 Ivy).
Penn scored first in the 12th minute only to have the Crimson level the ledger just over 10 minutes later. Harvard, however, did not have much time to celebrate as the visitors jumped in front 39 seconds later and took that advantage into halftime. The score remained untouched until Harvard tickled the twine in the 72nd minute and then earned the winner in the 85th.
Harvard Highlights
- First-year Ethan Veghte posted his first goal of his career when he scored in the 22nd minute. He tacked on an assist on the game-tying goal.
- Sophomore Alessandro Arlotti found the back of the net in the 72nd minute, logging his fourth goal of the year. Arlotti added an assist – his seventh of the year – on the game-winning goal. He has now recorded at least one point in three straight games and has 15 points this season.
- Senior Martin Vician scored his second game-winning goal of the season in the 85th minute. He is tied with Ale Gutierrez for the team lead as each has six goals.
- Junior Willem Ebbinge recorded an assist on Veghte's goal for his team-best ninth assist of 2022. Ebbinge leads the team with 15 points on the year.
- Sophomore Marko Isakovic tallied two assists on the day, contributing helpers on the game-tying and game-winning goals. He now has six assists on the season.
- Sophomore Jan Riecke has played 1,343 of a possible 1,350 minutes this season. He, once again, played the full 90.
- Senior goalkeeper Oskar Nilsson made a season-high six saves and improved to 5-3-3 on the year.
- Harvard improved to 40-37-5 all-time vs. Penn with the victory.
How It Happened
- The Quakers dented the scoreboard first when a pass from the endline was directed 10 yards in front of the net. Issac McGinnis slotted his shot into the lower left corner of the net to put Penn in front, 1-0.
- Harvard's first equalizing goal came off a corner kick in the 22nd minute. Ebbinge served his corner into the box where Veghte was waiting and the first-year headed his attempt into the right side of the cage.
- Shortly after the Crimson knotted the score at 1-1, Penn's Stas Korzeniowski took a hard-angled shot from the right side and was able to find the lower left corner, pushing the Quakers ahead, 2-1.
- The physical game tilted toward Harvard in the second half and its persistence paid off. The Crimson served a pass from the right sideline into the box where it was flicked off a Harvard player's head and right to Arlotti, who headed his shot past Penn goalkeeper Nick Christoffersen.
- With both teams looking for the game-winner and not much time to find it, Harvard played the ball from its end of the pitch over to the right side to Marko Isakovic. The sophomore moved it ahead to a streaking Vician, who lobbed his shot over Christoffersen for what ended up as the deciding goal.
Next Up
Harvard plays at Princeton on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+) in its final road contest of the regular season.
