Booters Knot Eagles 4-4 in Overtime; Collision Forces Judge to Leave Game

The Harvard women's soccer team fought Boston College to a 4-4 double overtime tie yesterday afternoon at the Business School field in a contest that resembled a rugby match more than a soccer game.

With bumping and sliding tackles abounding, injuries were inevitable. The most devastating was an unintentional kick to goaltender Janet Judge in the second half which forced her out of the game.

Playing their first real opponent in a long time, the booters had a tough time maintaining their style of finesse and control. The Crimson squandered a 3-0 lead in the first half and 4-3 lead in with less than three minutes left in the second overtime period.

For the first 30 minutes of the contest, Harvard looked like the squad that defeated Cornell 6-0 last Saturday. The booters dominated the play and scored with ease. The first tally came on a Kelly Landers breakaway when she evaded back Karyn Hesse and placed the ball into the lower left hand corner of the net. Inga Larson slammed the ball into the same left hand corner for the Crimson's second goal, and scored again on a breakaway to give the booters a 3-0 edge.

After the third goal, B.C. coach Mike La Vigne then moved Brooks further upfield and at the same time the Eagles' tenacious, physical brand of soccer began wearing Harvard out. Forward Cathy Murphy scored the first goal of her hat trick, catching Judge off balance and slipping the ball into the net.

Then, with just 4 23 left in the first stanza, Mary Russo tallied the Eagles' second goal Russo picked off a Judge punt and slammed it into the Crimson net before the goalkeeper had a chance to get back into position.

Once B C had picked up the momentum, halftime did nothing to slow the Eagles down. The game became more and more physical and the Crimson booters began to tire, letting the Eagles get to the ball first.

Despite the pressure, back Jeane Pjerwak, Kelly Gately, and Debbie Field did an excellent job containing the Eagle strikers and Judge was also outstanding in the net, making one superb save after another.

Trouble

With 25 minutes left in the game, Judge was forced from the game. The Crimson goaltender dove for the ball at the same time that Murphy was attempting to score, but the forward's foot found Judge's mouth instead of the ball.

Rather than let Judge's loss dishearten them, the booters regrouped and finally began playing their brand of finesse soccer. The Eagles did put the ball in the net for the third time, but Harvard dominated the last ten minutes of play, and backup goalie, freshman Chris Lahey did an excellent job in the net.

Harvard continued to dominate into the two overtime periods and finally breaking the tie on a Piersak shot off a corner kick.

But just as they had in the regulation time, the Eagles came right back. Less than a minute after Harvard had scored, and with only 2:12 left in the overtime. Murphy leapt on a rebound that had bounced off of Lahey and slipped the ball into the goal. Lahey argued to no avail that she had been unfairly tied up by Brooks. In the remaining minuted. Harvard had a few more opportunities, but could not convert, leaving the final score at 4-4.