ORONO, Maine – Junior forward Andre Akpan tied the Crimson career assist record and added a goal of his own, as the 29th-ranked Harvard men's soccer team earned a 2-0 shutout victory at Maine Wednesday afternoon.  Akpan now has 26 helpers in his career, placing him in a tie with Will Kohler '97.

Freshman defender Baba Omosegbon also scored for Harvard, while rookie goalkeeper Austin Harms made three saves for his sixth shutout of the fall.

Harvard (10-4) controlled much of the play early, outshooting Maine (5-10-2) in the first half by an 11-1 margin.  The Crimson earned back-to-back corner kicks around the six-minute mark, but the team could not break through the Black Bear defense.  A  John Stamatis shot was blocked and a later attempt by Dillon O'Neill was saved by Maine's Nemanja Kostic.  The Crimson continued to pressure, earning two more corner kicks and five more shots until finally getting on the board at 39:48.

Akpan played the ball into the Maine zone and placed a perfect cross pass to Omosegbon.  The freshman received the pass in front of the net and immediately put it home for his second goal of the year, giving Harvard a 1-0 lead.   

After Harms stopped a shot by Nikola Bogdanovic at 49:15, he quickly played the ball down the field.  Marcel Perl got possession and passed it to Stamatis, who quickly relayed the ball to Akpan.  Moving from the left side of the cage, Akpan booted it into the back of the net to double the Crimson advantage, 2-0.  With the tally, Akpan moved into sole possession of third place on the Crimson's all-time goal list with 33 scores and now sits at 92 points over his career, putting him only two shy of Chris Ohiri '64 for first.

The Crimson almost made it 3-0 moments later, but Tim Linden and Akpan both had attempts blocked.  Maine had a good chance at 62:18 by Jordan Antonucci, but Harms covered up for his third and final save of the day.  The Black Bears managed seven more shots in the half, but none made it on net.  

Harvard controlled the final tally in shots, 20-8, but was outshot, 9-7, in the second half.  The Crimson also dominated in corner kicks, earning eight of nine recorded.  Kostic had six saves in net for Maine.  

Up next, the Crimson will return to Ohiri Field for Senior Day Saturday, Nov. 8.  Seniors Walter Diaz, Michael Fucito, Michael Giammanco, Marcel Perl, Luke Sager and John Stamatis will be honored in a pre-game ceremony before Harvard takes on Columbia at 1:30 p.m.