This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Mark Eisenhauer.
It took a stroke of luck, one good through ball and expert goaltending, but men’s soccer pulled out a 2-1 win against Harvard in the team’s home opener Sunday.
Harvard (0-2) dominated the game on paper, outshooting GW 21-8 while taking nine more corners than the Colonials, but two goals from junior forward Jonny Forrest propelled GW to victory and put the team in the black with a 2-1-0 record on the season.
The Colonials, mimicking their previous game, started out flat with few scoring chances in the first half, only registering two shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Jean-Pierre van der Merwe kept GW in the game, stopping all seven of Harvard’s shots on goal before halftime.
“It was our home opener, and we wanted to come out strong,” head coach Craig Jones said. “Unfortunately, we came out in the first five minutes, played OK, and then fell into a little bit of a funk and stopped passing the ball. It’s difficult to break that, but we got the win, which is what matters.”
Coming out of halftime with the score knotted at zero, that “funk” showed no signs of ending for the Colonials, as Harvard came out even stronger than it had in the first half.
A deflection off a corner kick placed the ball right at the feet of the Crimson’s Kyle Henderson at the top of the box, and the senior ripped a shot past van der Merwe in the 51st minute.
The goal served as a wakeup call for the Colonials, who played with more intensity once they fell behind. GW’s passing became more precise, and better communication led to more opportunities for the Colonials, pushing Harvard back on its heels.
“We kept the ball better [in the second half],” Jones said. “When we try to put passes together and get a little possession, that’s when we look like we can create chances. It started on the right side with Garrett [Heine] and Tobi [Adewole], and it had a little bit of a domino effect.”
Eventually, one domino pushed a good ball down the left wing, earning GW a corner kick in the 59th minute. An errant Harvard hand made contact with the ball when the corner was delivered in the box, giving the Colonials a penalty kick.
With the momentum shifted, GW capitalized. Forrest confidently tucked the penalty ball away in the bottom right corner to tie the game.
Both teams continued to battle with the score tied. While both sides traded chances, Harvard seemed like the team that was pressing harder. In the 84th minute, Harvard had possession and numbers in the GW box, but lost the ball when a Colonials defender cleared it.
In transition, junior Philip McQuitty raced down the field with possession and placed a through ball in position for Forrest, who sent it past the Harvard keeper for the game-winning goal. McQuitty had shook off defenders all game with his daunting 6-foot-5 frame.
“Phil played amazing again today. I wouldn’t have scored the goal if it wasn’t for him, he won almost every single header in the air,” Forrest said.
The goal made Forrest the sole leading scorer for the Colonials with three goals on the season.
With just minutes left to play, van der Merwe made a few more key stops against an unrelenting Harvard offense, rounding out his total to 10 saves on the day.
“[When you’re playing like that in the first half] you have to take the chances you can get, and when you’re under pressure, take some inspiration from the keeper, who was incredible today,” Forrest said. “Some of the saves [van der Merwe] made were just awesome.”
Jones said van der Merwe was playing through heavy traffic and taking contact, and Jones thought the game was the goalie’s best at GW.
The Colonials have an extended break before they travel Sept. 16 to Annapolis, Md. to take on Navy.
