No. 12 Harvard Takes on Fairfield in a Road Game Saturday Evening
Photo of Alex Chi courtesy DSPics.com.
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The Game:
The 12th-ranked Crimson, which has won all four games to start the
season, will begin a stretch of four road games at Fairfield in a
non-conference matchup Saturday evening. Harvard is off to its best
start since 2007 when the team opened with six straight
victories.
Follow From Home:
Once again, live statistics will be available for all
Harvard home games and most road contests this season. A live video stream of Saturday’s game is also
available with a subscription.
The Matchup:
Harvard and Fairfield have met 13 times with the Crimson owning a
10-1-2 lead in the all-time series which dates back to 1995. In the
last meeting between the schools, Harvard earned a 5-0 victory at
Ohiri field on Sept. 29, 2007. In that game, Michael Fucito
’09 and Andre Akpan each tallied two goals, while Alex Chi
chipped in with one tally.
About Harvard:
The Crimson extended its home win streak to nine games by topping
Army, 4-0, Sunday. Desmond Mitchell, who finished the game with
four points on a goal and two assists, opened the scoring only 30
seconds into the contest. Andre Akpan netted two goals in the
second half and rookie Brian Rogers tallied a goal and handed out
an assist. Two days earlier, the Crimson knocked off then-No. 14
Boston University at Ohiri Field, as Jamie Rees scored the
game’s only goal at 43:53. Austin Harms earned the shutout,
making three saves.
Harvard, which is outscoring teams 11-1 this fall, is led
offensively by Akpan who has scored four goals and dished out three
assists for 11 points. Rogers (two goals, three assists) and
Mitchell (two goals, one assist) are second and third,
respectively, on the team in points. In goal, Harms owns a 0.26
goals-against average and has stopped 17 of 18 shots faced for a
.944 save percentage. He also has two shutouts on the season,
coming against Boston College and Boston University.
The Crimson owns a 6-0 advantage in second half scoring against
opponents and has a 25-17 edge overall in corner kick chances.
About Fairfield:
The Stags are 1-3 on the year after falling, 3-0, to Boston College
Tuesday. Fairfield defeated Albany, 2-1, in a road contest Sunday
to earn its first win of the season. Opponents have scored twice as
many goals as the Stags, 8-4, but Fairfield has a sizable lead in
corner kicks, 29-19.
With two goals, Jack Burridge, who tallied the game-winning goals
against Albany, paces the Fairfield offensive attack, while
Christian Uy (one goal, one assist) and his brother, Matthew Uy,
(two assists) are also scoring threats.
Michael O’Keefe has played every minute in net and boasts a
1.97 goals-against average and a .667 save percentage (16 of
24).
Crimson Sweep:
Austin Harms, the College Soccer News National Goalkeeper of the
Week, was named the Ivy League Player of the Week, while Brian
Rogers was tabbed the Ivy Co-Rookie of the Week. Harms stopped all
nine shots last week in victories over Boston University and Army
and extended his scoreless streak to 314:39 minutes of action.
Rogers, meanwhile, assisted on the game-winning goal in
Harvard’s 1-0 win over BU and scored a goal and had an assist
in the victory against Army.
Harvard has now earned both Ivy League Player of the Week
selections this season, as Andre Akpan was tabbed the conference
Co-Player of the Week Sept. 8.
National Recognition:
With its 4-0 start, the Crimson jumped to No. 12 in the latest
Soccer America national poll and appears in every other national
ranking as well. Harvard stands at No. 13 in the NSCAA poll, No. 18
in the College Soccer News rating and No. 19 in the Soccer Times
ranking.
Defense Wins Games:
The Crimson has not surrendered a goal since the first half of the
season-opening victory against Stony Brook, a stretch of 332:25
minutes.
Up Next:
Harvard will visit New Hampshire Wednesday, Sept. 23. Game time at
Lewis Fields is slated for 4 p.m.
