Harbus

Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: Sports

The HBS Soccer Club Opens the Season Strong

The Harvard Business School Soccer club begins its 29th season on a positive note, fielding two competitive teams across the EC and RC classes. Despite the ample acreage of grass on the Harvard University campus, the HBS Soccer Club has not been able to secure a weekly practice site on campus. Realizing that they have no pull with university administrators, the two teams have taken their practices to the streets of Cambridge for the time being, practicing across the river at Hoyt Field, which is a city subsidized park with no soccer goals and a poor drainage system.

Both teams have team have overcome this hurdle and opened the fall season Icy Hot, with the Crimson team sprinting out of the gates to an undefeated start in league play and reaching the final four of the Yale MBA World Cup. With league victories over Tufts (3-1), Harvard Law School (2-0) and Babson (3-0), the team went unbeaten in group play at the annual Yale MBA Cup, with convincing victories over University of North Carolina, Yale School of Management and Carnegie Mellon.

The Crimson team showed flashes of brilliance with great team play and a potent offense that yielded 11 goals in the first 4 games of the tournament at Yale. The midfield was been able to control the pace of the game with Jay Davis (OC), Derek Brown (NA), Erik Snyder (NC), Bryan Batista (OH) Adam Flake (NC) able to distribute the ball effectively to goal scorers, Andrew Crawford (OF) and Jamie Parker (NA). The team has had the luxury of being able to rotate two former college keepers in Charles Huang (NJ) and Marshall Tyler (OI) which has complemented the stingy defense of Kevin Yttre (OD) and marking backs Hadi Moussa (OH) and Garrett Smith (OD) shutting down the opponents. Outside midfielders, Ali Palmer (OG) and Sheldon Wong (OC) have been able to stretch opposing defenses and beat opposing midfielders to create a number of exciting opportunities from the left and right wings. Andrew Ferrer (ND), Paul Attia (OG) and Carles Cros Segura (NC) also made key contributions in shutting down opposing offenses.

The Crimson team will test its ability to travel and play in a hostile environment when it travels to Los Angeles, where it will compete in the annual UCLA Cup over Veterans Day weekend. Vodrazka de Miranda (OH), who was recently seen celebrating his 30th birthday at Gypsy, is expected to make his return to the lineup after being hobbled by an injury against Harvard Law School.

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