Seasoned With Success

At the beginning of the season, the Harvard women's soccer team knew it was good. Better than good. Better than last year's 15-1-1 Eastern champion team. Certainly one of the top teams in the East, and maybe even the top team once again. The problem was, back then, the booters may have known a little bit too much.

So they cruised into the season, blowing away their first six opponents. The sophmores, juniors and seniors, with no real sense of what it was like to lose, flew along on reputation. The freshmen, a little in awe of it all, hung on for the ride. Four of the first six games were shutouts. In one of them, the offense exploded for seven goals. The Crimson outscored its opponents by 21-2.

A 2-1 overtime win against Brown in Cambridge left the booters unquestionably at the top of the New England polls. Success came awfully easy. Too easy.

Reality struck when the Crimson strolled into Storrs, Conn. to play UConn with more than a little cockiness. They rolled out with a humbling 2-1 defeat in the record books. But maybe it wasn't so humbling. The refs were bad for one thing, right? And it was pretty cold, too.

After a couple of sloppy wins, Princeton taught the booters a 4-1 lesson in New Jersey, but that old stand by, the weather--this time in monsoon form--took most of the blame. Then in the final game before the post-season tournaments, UMass taught the Crimson control, as in passing, and winning, as in 2-0.

In the Ivy tournament, the Crimson sandwiched easy wins over Cornell and Yale around its disappointing semifinal loss to Brown.

Against the Bruins, the team really played like they wanted the win, but in the end, they weren't exactly sure how to get it.

The Crimson showed some real class in the opening round of the Eastern tournament, coming back with a 3-1 shellacking of Brown in Providence, the team's best East coast performance of the year. Somehow they lost the momentum on the drive to Burlington, Vt., for the tournament semifinals. They dominated the play against Cortland State, especially in the second half, but couldn't finish any of the special touches a soccer team needs to score goals and to win. The consolation loss to UMass was a joke, a 1-0 freeze-out that left no smiles in Crimson red.

And then it came down to one question--to go or not to go? The place was Colorado, the event the nationals. Harvard received a tournament bid, but did the team deserve it? The answer, which the team provided with its excellent showing in Colorado Springs, was a definite yes. The booters took third place in the seven-team tourney, with wins over Northern Colorado and North Carolina, falling once again in the semifinals, and once again to Cortland State, the eventual champion.

What this all boils down to is that yes, the Harvard women's soccer team did indeed have a very successful season. Sure there were disappointments, sure there were bad moments. And a record of 14-7 may not shine as bright as 15-1-1, but as Crimson coach Bob Scalise can tell you, there's no question as to which team was better. "If you had video tapes of last year's team and video tapes of this year's team," he said, "I don't think there's any question that you'd want this one on the field."

"It was a very successful season. We were one of the best teams in the East and one of the best in the nation."

Aside from the improved level of play of teams like Brown, Princeton, and UConn, this year's team faced the problem of universal inflated expectations. The record of only four losses in the first three varsity seasons stood out loud and clear.

"People have come to expect an awful lot," Scalise said. "Which is good--great--and I hope they continue to do so. But too many people looked to last year's record."

Next year's team may have this year's accomplishments haunting them. With the loss of this season's seniors, the last remnants of the original varsity squad, next season's booters will have a new look--faster and stronger. They could be even better. The question is, will they know it?

***

Senior Sue St. Louis, plagued most of the season by a quadrecep pull, turned in a subpar performance by her own lofty standards, but still managed to lead the team in scoring with 12 goals and seven assists. A permanent place at Harvard should be found for Laurie Gregg, a visiting junior from Lehigh, who finished second with ten goals and six assists.

Cat Ferrante, with ten goals and three assists, good for third on the team, has a permanent place--at striker next year. An interesting note on Ferrante--she tallied all of her goals in five games, two at the beginning and three at the end. She missed ten games in the middle of the season with a broken foot. Who knows how she or the team might have finished if she hadn't been injured. Freshman Joan Elliott notched eight goals (including four game-winners to lead the team) and added three assists in an excellent debut.

In the goalkeeping department, freshman Ann Diamond saw action in 20 games with a 0.95 goals against average and played in all or part of seven shutouts. Freshman Janet Judge, who moved into a starting role in the national tournament, looks very good for next year. Next has always looked good in Harvard women's soccer. Harvard Women's Soccer Season Statistics Scoring  Goals  Assists  Points Sue St. Louis     12  7  19 Laurie Gregg     10  6  16 Cat Ferrante     10  3  13 Joan Elliott     8  3  11 Laura Meyer     5  5  10 Cecile Scoon     3  2  5 Kelly Gately     2  3  5 Kerry Bryan     1  1  2 Beth Carillo     0  2  2 Gia Johnson     0  2  2 Janet Judge     1  1  2 Ellen Jakovic     1  0  1 Jeannie Piersiak     1  0  1