Though morale was high after the game, the Crimson came close to losing one of its key senior leaders in the waning seconds of the match.

URI’s Anthony Ward-Smith received a red card with just 14 seconds remaining for his vicious slide tackle on George.

“He came from behind and scissored my legs,” George said. “I’m glad he didn’t do it harder because that’s how guys break their legs.”

Harvard 0, Vermont 0

Though both the Crimson and the Catamounts (0-2-3) played very strong defensive games, neither side was without near misses.

Harvard’s best scoring chance came when sophomore Brian Charnock was taken down from behind inside the box with 14:06 remaining in the game.

But Vermont goalkeeper David Sullivan guessed correctly on Ara’s penalty kick, and the golden chance was thwarted.

The save was just one of Sullivan’s seven on 18 shots. Junior Conrad Jones was also remarkable in goal, saving five of 16 shots.

“On another day, that could have been a 3-0 win,” Kerr said. “We did hit the crossbar, had a Matt Hoff goal called back and then we a missed penalty.”

The 2003 game was far less satisfactory than last season, when Harvard demolished the Catamounts 4-0.

But this season Vermont came into the game on a high, having tied then-No. 8 North Carolina.

Harvard will look to extend its undefeated start when it hosts Fairfield Wednesday at 3:30.

—Staff writer Evan R. Johnson can be reached at erjohns@fas.harvard.edu.