NCAA men

Altchek's pair helps Harvard down Columbia 3-1, take Ivy title.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Saturday, November 4, 2006) -- Senior striker Charles Altchek scored twice in a four-minute span in the second half, powering No. 23 Harvard past Columbia 3-1, clinching the Ivy League championship before 300 Ohiri Field this afternoon.

The Crimson (13-4), which has won eight straight outings, claimed the Ivy title and the E.H. Parkhurst III Men's Soccer Trophy by finishing 6-1 with 18 points in the Ivy to edge Pennsylvania, 5-1-1 with 16 points after downing Princeton today.

"I am just so happy for this team," Harvard coach John Kerr said. "We fell behind early this season with a loss to a very good Penn team, but our kids deserve so much credit for playing one game at a time and putting themselves in position to win a championship."

The Crimson took a 1-0 lead when junior forward Matt Hoff found a top corner of the net with a free kick from just above the penalty area with 9:21 elapsed. The set piece was set up after a Columbia hand-ball.

In the 75th minute, Harvard sophomore defender Michael Giammanco took a ball at midfield and slipped a pass up to sophomore midfieler Michael Fucito, who carried up a sideline, beating a defender to get to the end-line. Fucito sent a low cross to to Altchek, who conversion made it 2-0.

Columbia (7-6-2, 0-5-2) quickly narrowed the deficit to 2-1 a minute later after there was a collision in front of the Harvard net on a long entry pass. Junior goalkeeper Adam Hahn was left hurt on the ground while Lions sophomore defender James Pounder collected the loose ball and scored.

Altchek, the 2005 Ivy League "Player of the Year," responded in short order with his 12th goal of the season. Sophomore midfieldert John Stamatis took a ball at midfield and sent a through pass which Altchek neatly tucked away to make it 3-1 with 11:28 to go.

"The great thing is that none of it matters to Charles or any of the other players," Kerr said. "Every player puts the team first and plays for the team as a whole. This is a special group."

Hahn needed to make only two saves, both in the first half, while his Columbia counterpart, junior Michale Testa, made three saves.

DELAND, Fla. -- Senior midfielder Carlton Hughes found net in a first sudden-death overtime period, sending Gardner-Webb to the Atlantic Sun Conference championship with a 2-1 decision over Stetson before 542 at Stetson Soccer Field.

Consecutive passes from freshman midfielder George Tasedan and sophomore defender Dirk Dittrich set Hughes up in the box and he deposited his third goal of the season into the left former of the net for the 2-1 final with 6:49 elapsed in extra time.

Stetson went ahead 1-0 on junior striker Tanner Wolfe's penalty kick past diving senior goalkeeper Tyler Kettering with 23:35 elapsed. The penalty was awarded after Hatters freshman attacker Griffin Gilstrap's shot hit the arm of a defender in the Bulldogs' box.

GWU equalized seven minutes later. Freshman midfielder Boris Gatzky sent a corner kick to senior defender Jamie Miller in the right side of the box. Miller laced a shot that curled and hit the left post before going in for a 1-1 tie.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Four different players scored for California-Santa Barbara which blanked California-Riverside 4-0 to capture the Big West Conference championship before 1,647 at Harder Stadium.

No. 22 California-Irvine (13-4-3, 6-3-1 in conference) could have wrapped up the title Saturday afternoon, but the Anteaters were defeated 1-0 at California State-Northridge. That left the door open for UCSB (12-7), which score twice in each half to win its fourth league title in six years with a 7-3 record and 21 points, two more than UCI.

While the Gauchos attack was in fine form, they received a bog boost from senior goalkeeper Kyle Reynish in the eight minute with a diving save on UCR midfielder Brandon Plummer.

Six minutes later, UCSB was ahead for good. Sophomore midfielder Eric Avila carried into the middle of the penalty area, drawing the defense to him. With the defense converging, Avila slipped a pass to a streaking senior midfielder Eric Frimpong, who used his first touch to nail a shot just inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.

In the 37th minute, UCSB Santa Barbara made it 2-0 when sophomore midfielder Chris Pontius slid a pass from left-to-right across the top of the box to sophomore forward Nick Perera. Perera, near the middle of the 18-yeard-line, sent an arcing shot just out of the reach of Highlander goalkeeper Charles Alamo into the top right corner of the goal.

Junior midfielder Brennan Tennelle set up Avila for one goal and then scored one himself over an 11-minute period midway through the second half.

Do you have a comment on this story or something to say about soccer in general? Send us a letter.