Saturday 9-29 Action:

Harvard at Lehigh:

For the second time in this young College Football season, the Crimson fell victim to their opponents’ last-second heroics, this time falling to Lehigh by a score of 20-13. Harvard entered the game without their feature back, Cheng Ho, who was unavailable because of injuries suffered in last week’s win over Brown.

Lehigh scored first when Brannan Thomas returned a punt 54 yards for a touchdown after Harvard went three-and-out on their opening drive. On their next possession, O’Hagan took the offense downfield where Patrick Long hit on a 27-yard field goal to make it 7-3. On their next possession, Sedale Threatt moved Lehigh’s offense to Harvard’s 12 where Jason Leo hit a 30-yarder to put the Mountain Hawks back up by a touchdown. Moving into the second quarter, Leo hit a 40-yarder to make the score 13-3. After the teams exchanged possessions, Harvard got the ball back in great field position with time winding down in the half. O’Hagan hit Jason Miller for 22 yards bring the ball to Lehigh’s 14 but the drive stalled and Long hit a short field goal to bring Harvard to within a touchdown with nine seconds remaining.

On Harvard’s second possession in the second half, O’Hagan was hurt while running the ball. He cracked heads with a Lehigh defender and was through for the afternoon. Chris Pizzotti came in and couldn’t move the offense. Threatt then hit Sekou Yansane on a 45-yard pass play to the Harvard 11 before Josh Pastore’s fumble at the 8 was recovered by Carl Ehrlich. On 3rd and 9 at their own 5, Pizzotti hit Matt Luft for 23. After having moved the ball to the 37, Pizzotti hit Matt Legace for 22, then found Luft once more, this time for a 37-yard touchdown pass to tie the score at 13. The drive went 96 yards in eight plays, pretty impressive stuff.

As the game moved into the fourth quarter, Pizzotti engineered another drive that stalled after a penalty at Lehigh’s 32. Long’s 49-yard try went wide left. Harvard’s defense then forced Lehigh to punt deep in Harvard territory. Starting a their own 4-yard line with about eight minutes remaining, Pizzotti methodically moved the offense down the field, chewing up clock-time. The drive ran out of steam at Lehigh’s 9, where Long had a chip shot that would’ve put Harvard up with a minute and change left. Long’s kick was blocked, and the ball rolled to the 35 where the Mountain Hawks took over. Threatt threw three incompletions and the Crimson regained possession at their own 17 with 48 seconds left. Pizzotti came out firing, hitting Mazza for 27 out to midfield. Looking to get the ball into field goal range, Pizzotti went back to pass, was sacked by Paul Bode and fumbled the ball. Bode picked up the fumble and went rumblin’, bumblin’ and stumblin’ into the end zone for the winning touchdown. But the Crimson wouldn’t quit. Getting the ball back with 26 seconds remaining, Pizzotti hit Mazza for 25. He then hit Cook on a desperation pass to Lehigh’s 30, but Cook fumbled, Lehigh recovered and the game ended. The only silver lining is the team remains undefeated in the Ivy, where things pick up again next Saturday when the team travels to Ithaca to meet the Big Red.


Wrexham & Piacenza:

By the time sunset had arrived in New England, Roscoe was dancing on the tables at the local pub, delirious with joy at the news that both of his European squads were victorious, both 1-nil.

The Racecourse Ground celebrated its 200th birthday in grand style as the Dragons downed Lincoln City Imps on Marc Williams’ goal in the 51st. Earlier in the week, the Dragons brought back midfielder Robbie Garrett on loan from Stoke City until December 29th. Since he’s now getting first-team minutes in Wrexham, he hopes to stay for the full year. The match started in physical style as there were a number of fouls in the first few minutes. LC’s goalkeeper, Alan Marriott, snared Richard Hope’s header in the eighth. Matt Crowell’s freekick in the 11th went wide, and in the 15th, Marc Williams’ header from Crowell’s free kick also went wide.

In the 17th, LC’s Adie Moses fouled Marc Williams and the referee awarded a penalty kick. Neil Roberts got the call and Marriott turned aside Roberts’ kick to the left. LC’s Louis Dodds was carded in the 30th for a rough foul, as the Dragons kept up the attack throughout the rest of the half. Dodds went off on an injury in the 37th, replaced by Frecklington. Moments later, LC’s Mark Stallard was carded for “unsporting behaviour”.

LC continued their aggressive play from the get-go in the second half. Dragons maintained the pressure on offense and it paid off on Marc Williams’ goal in the 51st. LC’s Gary Croft was carded in the 56th for being a bad sport, and was sent off just five minutes later for his second card of the match, causing the Imps to play a man down. As the game wound toward full-time, Wrexham’s Neil Taylor went off with an injury and was replaced by Done (82). Josh Johnson came on for Neil Roberts in the 88th. Garrett was booked during stoppage time, but that was the only blemish on an otherwise beautiful day of football in Wales. With the victory, Dragons have lifted themselves from the bottom of the pit at 2-5-0, but face a very tough opponent on the 2nd against third-place Chesterfield.

Meanwhile in the 7° giornata of Italia Serie B play, Piacenza defeated Spezia 1-nil on Michele Anaclerio’s goal in stoppage time (94) at Leonardo Garilli on Saturday afternoon. The team had been in tough straits emotionally due to the poor start, and things didn’t look too promising with the one-game suspensions of Abbate and Patrascu. Hopefully, Anaclerio’s dramatic goal will be a tremendous boost to the squad’s confidence. After seven matches, biancorossi moved to a record of 2-5-0, and also a little closer into the middle of the pack. Their next match comes on Saturday the 6th at cellar-dweller US Avellino.

MLS/Revoultion:

On Saturday night, Revs played host to Colorado Rapids, who are managed by their former gaffer, Fernando Clavijo. Twellman was out of the lineup with a groin strain suffered the week before, so the offense was challenged to step up in his stead, and they did so on the strength of Khano Smith’s goal in the 88th that slipped past Rapids’ goalkeep Bouna Coundoul. Revs had much the better of play throughout, and it appeared as if they’d have to settle for the one point when Smith took a pass from Shalrie Joseph, came down the left flank and as a tackle was about to be made near the box, quickly slipped the ball into the low left corner of the net. It was a case of “slight of foot”, as Coundoul appeared to be partially screened by the defense and the strike was subtle and deft. With DC United’s tie in Chicago, Revs pulled to within four points of the division lead in MLS East with a record of 14-6-7, 49 pt. There are only four regular-season matches remaining. The Revs have a busy week, starting on Wednesday night in Dallas where the face the home team in the finals of the US Open Cup tournament. Revs have yet to win any silver in their history and a Cup victory would be a big boost as the season heads into the final month. They return to MLS action next Saturday night in Chicago, who have certainly played better with the addition of Cuauhtemoc Blanco to the lineup (four goals in 11 matches).

This is also another big week for soccer fans worldwide as the second matchday in UEFA Champions League will be on the 2nd and 3rd. Roscoe will also be keeping a close eye on all the matches.