Booters To Face UVM In NCAA Opener

Perhaps University of Vermont women's soccer Coach John Carter had access to a crystal ball when, on September 22, he predicted that "we'll meet again."

Because this Saturday, Carter's squad and the Harvard women's soccer team will have a chance to finish what they started on that beautiful September day.

The Catamounts and the Crimson--who battled to a 0-0 draw in both squads' third game of the season--are scheduled for a rematch in this weekend's first round of the 1984 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament.

Game time is set for 1:30 p.m. on Ohiri Field.

In rankings released yesterday morning by the NCAA, Harvard (11-2-1) was seeded fifth and Vermont 12th in a field of 14 teams.

As a result, Harvard earned the home field advantage for the first round.

The Crimson's fifth-place ranking came as a mild disappointment, though, if only because the University of Massachusetts was ranked fourth. Harvard defeated UMass, 1-0, a week ago, and as a result had hoped for the higher seeding and the automatic home field advantage for not only the first round game but also the second.

"It was a longshot for us to be number four," said Crimson Captain Jennifer Greeley, adding that the team was just happy to be included in the tournament.

UMass, which is paired in the same bracket with Harvard, will face 13th-ranked Boston College in Saturday's first round action.

Barring upsets from Vermont and B.C., a Harvard-UMass showdown at Amherst looms on the horizon for the November 10th quarterfinals.

"It would have been nice to have the home field advantage," said Harvard Assistant Coach Laurie Gregg, who noted that before the booters worry about UMass they'll need to dispose of Vermont.

"We have a few things to show them that we didn't show them last time," Gregg said.

UVM, currently 11-2-1, is paced by leading scorer Stefanie Crames, with seven goals and one assist on the season. In goal for Carter's squad is Paula Lamothe, who blanked the Crimson in last month's encounter.

The Cantabs, heading into their final regular season game this afternoon against Yale, have won eight of their last nine games and are gunning to make their first ever trip to the NCAA Final Four, which will be held this year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill November 17-18.

Sophomore Electa the Harvard team when she said yesterday. We all think we have a chance to go a long way in this."

The booters last participated in nationals in 1982, but lost, 2-1, to Missouri-St. Louis in the quarterfinals. That was the first year that the NCAA coordinated post-season women's soccer play.

This year's talented crop of seniors--which includes Deb Field, Joan Elliott, Jennifer Greeley, Kelly Landry, and Inga Larson-were only freshmen in 1981, but formed the core of a squad which that year finished fifth in the AIAW national tournament.

Harvard's highest national finish came in 1980 when the team placed third in the National Invitational Tournament. Meanwhile, in 1979 the booters compiled a 15-1-1 mark and tied for the Eastern championship.

THE NOTEBOOK: Ivy League champion Brown (13-0-1) grabbed the number-one seed in the tournament from the University of North Carolina (21-0-1). Brown's only tie came against eighth-ranked UConn, while UNC was stymied by third-seeded George Mason.