W. Soccer Faces Tough Weekend

The queen of England will be in Virginia today to watch the football game between Harvard and William and Mary.

But someone had better make sure she knows American football is the sport of choice in these parts, or she might wind up at today's women's soccer match between the two oldest universities in the country.

Indeed, as part of the festivities surrounding William and Mary's 300th anniversary celebration, the Crimson women (1-0-1, 1-0-0 Ivy) make their farthest road trip of the year to play two of their toughest games of the year.

Games with the host Wildcats (4-1-0, seventh-ranked in the latest Adidas/ISSA women's soccer poll) and George Mason (6-0-0, 14th-ranked) on back-to-back days figure to make it an extremely tiring weekend for Harvard.

"Last week was the first time that we've had back-to-back games since I've been here," junior midfielder Genevieve Chelius said in reference to the Crimson's successful opening weekend against Columbia (1-0 win) and Maine (0-0 tie). "It was tiring, but we've stressed conditioning this year to the point where it shouldn't really affect us."

Fatigue or not, this weekend should bring the team closer together. "I'm really excited to be making the trip," senior co-captain Laura Flynn said. "We haven't flown anywhere since my freshman year, and it should be a good bonding experience."

Chelius minimizes the effects travel may have on the Crimson's endurance, a 5 a.m. departure yesterday morning notwithstanding. "All day Friday was spent relaxing and watching the William and MaryGeorge Mason game, and besides, a one-hour plane ride is always better than a two-hour bus ride," she said.

Hopefully for Harvard, such is the case, because both William and Mary and George Mason have explosive offenses that demand nothing less than the freshest defenders to withstand them.

"We know that both teams are going to be very strong," Chelius said. "And Coach [Tim] Wheaton pointed out that William and Mary has always seen us as their natural rivals, so they might give a little extra effort to try and beat us."

"We try not to get very specific in analyzing other teams, but we do know that William and Mary especially is very tough," Flynn said. "But I think we're ready. We had a great week of practice, and it's good to have five days off to focus on the weekend ahead."

That said, Flynn downplays the importance of the weekend relative to the rest of the season. "We got our great opening, winning the Ivy League game that really counts. And it's much better to have these non-conference games before the Ivies, which in my mind are what really matter."

And she also downplays one other item of the weekend's festivities: "I feel pretty sure that the queen won't be watching women's soccer this weekend."