Women Booters Blank UVM

The Harvard women's soccer team made up for some lost time on Saturday. The women booters ended their scoring drought and two-game winless streak with a vengeance, as they romped over Vermont, 5-0, Saturday at the Business School Field.

The Crimson finally attacked the goal with the determination and finesse that made it so successful last year. In their two previous games, the booters seemed at a loss once they got the ball in front of the net, but Saturday they not only took good first shots, but, more importantly, they went after the rebounds.

"We've been working on finishing off our plays" said Alicia Carillo, who scored three of the Harvard tallies. "We were more determined today. In the other two games we would watch the goalie fumble the ball, but this time we went after it. That extra step was the difference."

Carillo's first goal is a perfect example of the difference a second shot can make. With Harvard up, 1-0--thanks to Laura Mayer's goal in the opening minutes of play--and less than 10 minutes left in the first half, Kelly Landry performed some more of her offensive magic. The sophomore striker left two Vermont defenders standing in the dust, bringing the ball to the left hand corner of the goal and walloping the ball at Vermont netminder Kiki Sirop.

Sirop leapt on the ball, but could not control it Carillo alertly jumped on the ball and put it into the empty net.

The Crimson looked even better in the second half, as the ball rarely crossed the midfield line into the Harvard end. When it did, the Vermont attackers were greeted by Debbie Field, Jeanne Piersak, and freshman Meave O'Marah, all of whom did an excellent job containing the UVM offense.

Carillo continued her scoring rampage, notching two goals in less than a minute. Her first came at the 39 35 mark when she booted the ball over Sirop's head from the right hand corner. Her third tally, 25 seconds later, looked like a replay of her first, as she leapt on at bound and knocked it in before Sirop got a chance to get her hands on it.

Harvard will put its new-found offense to the test on Thursday when B.U. comes to Cambridge.