UMass men lose to Harvard

AMHERST, Mass. - Bryant Craft and Stuart Amick each scored goals for the UMass men's soccer team, but it was not enough as No. 10 Harvard defeated the Minutemen 3-2 on Monday afternoon in front of 1,062 fans at Rudd Field. After a 1-1 tie at halftime, Harvard scored twice in the second half before UMass' comeback bid fell just shy. The Minutemen return to action on Saturday at Fairfield (1 PM).

UMass (0-1-1) scored first when Craft converted a penalty kick at the 18:21 mark of the game for the 1-0 lead. Tyler Cleverdon was fouled inside the box on an indirect kick which set-up Craft's PK conversion.

The lead stood until Harvard's Scott Prozeller poked home a rebound inside the left post following a Kyle Henderson corner kick with 13 seconds remaining in the first half.

Harvard (2-0-0) then opened the second half with a goal from Brian Rogers at the 48:27 mark and another from Ross Friedman at the 70:19 mark to take a 3-1 lead.

The Minutemen went on the attack nearly tying the game in the 56th minute when Amick rang a shot from just outside the 18-yard box off the cross bar. Following Friedman's goal, UMass continued to apply pressure in the comeback bid adding a third forward to the lineup.

The move worked as Ben Arikian was able to find Amick in the 84th minute to cut the lead to 3-2.

With just over 30 seconds to go, a Harvard offsides gave the Minutemen possession near centerfield. With 10 players in the offensive third, goalie Shane Curran-Hays played the ball into the 18-yard box, but the Crimson defense was eventually able to clear for the win.

Harvard outshot UMass 12-to-7 for the game while both teams had three corner kicks. The match was physical with four yellow cards being issued and a total of 48 fouls called (29 on UMass).

Curran-Hays took the loss making four saves on the day. Austin Harms earned his second win of the season with one save.