12 Saves by Gomez Help Harvard to 11-0 Victory

Harvard High goalie Antonio Gomez played behind Larry Burcutt last season. But with Burcutt, the Southern Section 2-A Division Player of the Year in 1988, now playing at Stanford, Gomez finally has his opportunity.

And he’s making the most of it.

In a nonleague match Wednesday at Harvard, Gomez recorded 12 saves as the Saracens defeated Loyola, 11-0, for their first shutout since 1988.

“We were playing to keep the goose eggs up there,” Harvard Coach Rich Corso said. “We’ve always had a tradition of good goalkeepers. This is Gomez’s first year starting on the varsity and he’s been doing well.”

Sophomore Jim Toring scored three goals and senior Brian Border added two for Harvard (6-1), ranked fourth in the Southern Section 3-A coaches’ poll.

Loyola (4-4) outshot Harvard, 19-14, including margins of 5-3 in the second and fourth periods. But the shots couldn’t get past Gomez.

“Some of the shots I was able to get two hands on and a couple of others, I was able to block,” said Gomez, a senior who limited Notre Dame and Buena to one and two goals, respectively, in victories earlier this season. “In the fourth period, (Loyola) got some real good shots off.”

Harvard, which had scored on 26 of 40 tries while holding a one-man advantage, converted five of seven such opportunities against Loyola.

“It was a good team effort and we’re starting to come together,” Toring said. “We knew who we had to key on and not let get open shots.”

Mark Townsend provided Harvard with all the offense it would need, scoring two minutes into the match with the Saracens holding a one-man advantage after Loyola driver Pat McKenna was ejected 18 seconds earlier.

“I thought we did what we had to do,” Corso said. “(Loyola) is very one-dimensional and relies on its two-meter man and two drivers. Once our defense took that away, it just exploited their weaknesses.”

Ryan Salceda added another first-period goal to put the Saracens ahead, 2-0, and Brian Border and Toring gave Harvard a 4-0 lead after two periods.

Harvard scored four more goals in the third period. Alan Paul scored after recovering a rebound from a Toring shot at the 5-minute 34-second mark, and 41 seconds later Toring scored on a breakaway.

Border and Jon Krawitz scored to increase the margin to 8-0.