Yale Athletics

On Saturday night, the Yale men’s soccer team (2–6–3, 1–1–1 Ivy) traveled to Boston to square off against the Harvard Crimson (3–4–4, 0–2–1 Ivy) under the lights of Jordan Field. Despite a scoreless first half, both teams found the back of the net after halftime and the game finished in a 1-1 tie.

Historically, the Bulldogs have struggled to find their footing against the Crimson, coming up short in three of the last four matchups. Yale last beat Harvard with a 4-0 clean sheet victory in the semi-finals of the inaugural Ivy League Men’s Soccer Tournament played in Philadelphia in 2023.

The Elis sought to replicate that victory on Saturday night. Coming off a two-game winning streak — against Columbia (1–5–3, 0–2–1 Ivy) and the University of New Haven (4–4–3, 2–1 NEC) — the Bulldogs traveled north with momentum on their side. For Harvard, Saturday’s game came on the heels of three straight losses to Princeton (9–1, 3–0 Ivy), Boston University (8–3, 4–1 Patriot League) and Penn (5–2–4. 1–0–2 Ivy).

In the game’s first 45 minutes, the Bulldog offense repeatedly tested Harvard’s goalkeeper while the Eli defense held up a strong front to prevent the Crimson from tallying the first goal. Midfielder Angelo Zhu ’29, forwards Joseph Farouz ’27 and Owen Bull ’28 and defender Sven Meacham ’28 attempted shots but were not able to convert.

In the 39th minute, Harvard’s Nicholas Nyquist sought to give the Crimson a one-goal lead with a shot aimed for the bottom right corner, but Yale goalkeeper Conrad Lee ’26 was quick on his feet and deflected it aside. With the final whistle of the first half, both teams returned to the locker rooms goalless.

Anxious to make a push in the early stages of the second half, Harvard controlled the pace of play, but a strong Yale defense prevented the Crimson from getting into the box.

Then, at the 73rd minute mark, Meacham found a streaking Simon Adjakple ’27 with a beautiful upfield throughball and Adjakple skillfully passed the ball to Zhu through a seam in Harvard’s defense. In a perfectly executed play, Zhu lofted a chip shot over the Harvard goalkeeper to score the first goal of the game. Zhu’s goal, his second of the year, makes him the team leader in goals this season. Meacham leads the team with five assists.

Yet the Crimson refused to let the Bulldogs defeat them on their home turf, equalizing the score five minutes later. With assists from teammates Alexander Castel and Tim Langenbahn, Harvard defender Ethan Veghte tied up the score in the 78th minute.

Neither team was able to take the lead in the remaining 12 minutes. When the final whistle blew, the two squads were locked at one apiece.

The Harvard match was Yale’s third tie of the season, and the Bulldogs will look ahead to next Saturday’s game against Dartmouth in the hopes of adding another tally to their win column.

Dartmouth (2–4–3, 1–2–0 Ivy), ranked No. 6 in the 2025 Ivy League Men’s Soccer Standings —  right behind No. 5 Yale — will enter the matchup against Yale after suffering a road loss at Brown (5–3–2, 1–1–1 Ivy), a home loss to Cornell (7–2–1, 2–1–0 Ivy) and an away victory at Columbia (1–5–3, 0–2–1 Ivy) in their last three games.

In last year’s matchup in Hanover, Dartmouth downed the Bulldogs 4-0.

The Elis will host the Big Green on Saturday at Reese Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.