October 6th Action:
Talk about an action-packed weekend: Not only were the Sox in the midst of the playoffs, the Bruins starting a new year and the Patriots looking to remain unbeaten, there was also college football and soccer matches as well.

Harvard at Cornell:
The Crimson jumped back into the Ivy League fray with a trip to Ithaca to face the Big Red. All in all, it was a very good afternoon for the visitors as Harvard maintained their unbeaten skein in the Ivies with a 32-15 win. Harvard was without starting quarterback Liam O’Hagan who was injured in last week’s loss at Lehigh. Chris Pizzotti came on and performed admirably in O’Hagan’s stead. The Crimson were also aided considerably by the return of Cheng Ho to the lineup.

Cornell won the toss and elected to defer, so Harvard’s offense got first crack. Starting at their own 11, Pizzotti methodically moved the offense down the field on short passes and runs by Ho. The drive was capped off with a 33-yard strike from Pizzotti to Mazza on 12 plays, 89 yards that ran just over 5 minutes. The extra point failed, so Harvard was up 6-0.

Cornell started their first drive at their own 41, moved the ball into Harvard territory before the drive fizzled out and they were forced to punt. Harvard went three-and-out on their next drive and punted. On the ensuing drive, the Big Red again moved the ball, but Ford was sacked by Hewlett for a nine-yard loss and Steve Williams intercepted Ford’s pass on the next play. After another three-and-out by Harvard, Cornell took over near midfield, but failed to capitalize and were forced to punt as the quarter ended.

Starting at their 29, Pizzotti hit Jason Miller for 17 and Luft for 9, but he was sacked for a loss of 9 and the Crimson had to kick it away. After Cornell’s next possession went nowhere, the Crimson gave it right back when Pizzotti was intercepted by Chi Chi Madu, who returned the ball back to Harvard’s 35. On third and 9, Ford was once again sacked by Hewlett for a loss of 19.

Halfway through the quarter, Cornell set up shop at Harvard’s 36, but turned over the ball again and this time the error did not go unpunished. On first-and-15 from their 41, Mazza hooked up with Mazza for 41 to Cornell’s 18. After getting pushed back by a sack to the 26, Pizzotti and Mazza hooked up again for a touchdown. The point after was good and the Crimson were up 13-0. On Cornell’s next possession, Stephen Liuzza’s fumble at the 20 was gathered in by Andrew Berry who took the ball back to the 9. Mike Cook carried the ball to the house on the next play. Long’s kick was blocked and run back by Colin Nash, and Cornell was credited with a safety, to make the score 19-2. Cornell got the ball right back and wasted no time as Ford hit Bryan Walters for 42 yards and it was a 19-9 game. On Harvard’s next possession, Pizzotti was intercepted by Dario Arezzo at the Crimson 39. Cornell brought the ball to Harvard’s nine where Peter Zell hit a 27-yarder with less than a minute remaining in the half with the score 19-12.

Cornell had no problem moving the football on their opening drive of the second half. Starting at their 24, they moved the ball 56 yards on 14 plays culminating in Zell’s 38-yard field goal. Harvard’s next possession started at their 30. Pizzotti found Mazza out to midfield, then connected on a 51-yard touchdown strike to Luft that put the Crimson up 25-15. The point after was blocked again.

On Cornell’s ensuing possession, Ford took the Big Red offense from their 32 to Harvard’s 6 on 13 plays before Matt Curtis intercepted Long’s pass and returned it to the 12. Sticking to the ground, Harvard was able to move the ball out to the 45 as the third quarter came to a close. After another punt that stuck the Big Red at their 1, Cornell failed to move the ball and Harvard regained possession at Cornell’s 44. Pizzotti found Chris Miller twice, first for 10 then for 8 down to the 24. On second-and-8 from the 22, Pizzotti connected with Matt Lagace at the 5. They had four shots at the end zone but failed to push across the ball! Cornell took over on downs at the 1. After Cornell went three and out, Harvard regained possession at their 38. On the first play from scrimmage Ho ripped off a 19-yard gain. Ho then carried six straight times, finally punching it in from the 3. This time, the point after was good and Harvard was comfortably ahead at 32-15.

Taking over with about five minutes on the clock, Ford desperately tried to move the chains. The drive stalled at their 46 when a fourth-and-6 pass went incomplete. Harvard got the ball back with three-and-half remaining and methodically ran the ball to kill the clock. They moved the ball to Cornell’s 29 before turning the ball over on downs. Ford’s last gasp pass was picked by John Hopkins at the 15 and the game was over.

It was a typical Ivy League game, sometimes sloppy, always hard hitting and neither team quitting until the end. Harvard had a good day offensively racking up 413 yards on the day. Pizzotti was 16-27-284-2TD. Ho and Gino Gordon combined for over 100 yards on the ground and the defense hung tough when called upon. After their final non-league game next week against Lafayette, the Crimson will play it out for the big prize, which would be exceedingly challenging seeing as how Yale has flattened every team they’ve faced this year.

Wrexham at Accrington-Stanley (Fri. 10/5): After Tuesday’s debacle at home, the Dragons traveled east to Lancashire to face A-S at Fraser Eagle. This was a match Wrexham absolutely, positively has to win coming off a humiliating defeat with the locals calling for Carey to be sacked. Neil Roberts’ two goals were all Wrexham needed as they left the pitch 2-nil victors. The squad was buoyed by the return of defenders Pejic and Spender while striker Proctor returned from suspension. Carey also shook up the starting XI by putting Evans, Carvill and Crowell on the bench.

According to reports, Wrexham had an easy time of it, maintaining the balance of control from the opening whistle forward. The Dragons had several chances to score before Neil Roberts tallied in the 37th on a deflection from Llewellyn’s original try. Danny Williams went out at the half and was replaced by Evans. A-S was not able to muster a scoring opportunity until David Brown’s try was picked by Anthony Williams in the Wrexham goal. The Dragons immediately turned the tables and went on the attack, culminated by Roberts taking a pass from Mark Jones and banging it in. A-S attempted to comeback, but this match belonged to the visitors. This was a great win for Wrexham, let’s hope the consistent play continues next Saturday on the road at Macclesfield (tied with Wrexham in the standings with 9 points).

Piacenza at US Avellino (10/6):

FORZA PIACE !!!
There was also great news for biancorossi in the 8° giornata of Serie B play, as they downed US Avellino 1-nil at Comunale Partenio on Saturday. Marco Padalino’s goal in the 75th was the difference maker. According to the messageboard, Roscoe deduced (not being fully conversant in Italian) that Piacenza pretty much carried the day, though there were stretches of mediocre play. With Stamilla, Nef and Miglionico out on injury (as well as Cacia and Ciarrocchi), Felice Secondini put out a starting XI of: Cassano - Abbate, D'Anna, Olivi, Anaclerio - Riccio, Bianco - Padalino, Kharja, Gemiti - Rantier and Padalino. Kharja had a chance early on that was set aside, but Padalino’s goal late put the biancorossi ahead to stay. With the victory, Piacenza is slowly moving their way up the Serie B table at 3-5-0-9 (15th place). Next Sunday, the lads square off against 6th place Bologna (4-1-3-15) at home. It should be a great early season test.


MLS/Revoultion:
The Revs returned to the final stretch of the MLS regular season with a date in Chicago following their US Open Cup triumph earlier in the week against FC Dallas. The Fire are outside looking in at a playoff spot at 8-10-9-33 (5th in MLS East) while New England still trails DC United by five points heading into the match with a record of 14-6-7-49.

Revs had the better of it in the early going. In the 20’s, Revs really started t apply the pressure. Steve Ralston and Khano Smith had shots that were turned away by Matt Pickens in the Chicago goal. In the 22nd, Ralston had a corner that was deflected toward midfield. It appeared as if Chicago really didn’t try to regain possession. Jeff Larentowicz found an opening and found the ball about 25 yards out. His one timer went midway right-corner and Revs were ahead. But New England always seems to struggle with a lead and suffered a defensive letdown. For the balance of the half, Chicago took control. Cuauhtemoc Blanco’s blast from directly in front hit the crossbar, as Chicago kept up the heat. Twellman was carded in the 33rd for “rough play” went he mistimed a sweep kick in the Chicago box and the defender feigned injury. It was a lousy call that enabled Chicago to reassert pressure. Sooner or later, a one-goal lead couldn’t stand. As the match had just entered stoppage time, Chris Rolfe took a pass from Chad Barrett on the left flank and booted it past the diving Reis to equalize.

In the second half, Chicago picked up right where they left off. Rolfe, Barrett and Wanchope made things difficult in the Revs’ zone as virtually the first ten minutes were played in New England’s end. Blanco’s free kick in the 55th was blocked by the wall, but Chicago maintained control.

In the 60th, Barrett put Chicago ahead on a rebound off of Wanchope’s initial try. Wanchope accepted a pass and streaked down the middle of the pitch. James Riley gave chase but let up at the last moment allowing Wanchope a direct shot on Reis. The ball bounced directly back to the completely uncovered Barrett who popped it over Reis. It was about as awful as awful gets.

Over the course of the next ten minutes, New England regained their intensity and began to carry the play. Ralston’s drive in the 61st hit the crossbar. In the 70th, Joseph had a try to the low left that Pickens snared, resulting in a corner. Revs kept up the pressure in Chicago’s end. As the match hit the mid-70’s Nicol sent in Dorman for Thompson and Mansally for Noonan. Their presence did not rejuvenate the attack.

Heaps had a golden opportunity on a deflection in the 88th, but waited a shade too long to pull the trigger and the ball was smothered before reaching the goal. Chicago nearly added another in stoppage time, but a kick from the left just went over the bar. Moments later, the referee whistled full-time and that was that. It simply may have been a case of playing two matches in four days. After going up early, the squad played tired and uninspired. There are two matches remaining in the regular season. Next up, Revs face Columbus Crew in Foxboro on the 13th. Columbus is fighting for a berth in the playoffs, so they will be hungry.