W. Soccer Bloodies Big Red, 5-0

ITHACA, N.Y.--The Harvard women's soccer team quickly dispelled any fears of a letdown on Saturday.

The No. 17 Crimson (7-1-1, 4-0 Ivy)--coming off of a huge 1-0 upset over No. 9 BYU Oct. 4--jumped all over Cornell (4-3-1, 1-3), dominating the game from start to finish, en route to a 5-0 rout of the Big Red.

"We were able to come off a great win over the No. 9 team in the country and to be able to hold up against a tough team," said freshman midfielder Orly Ripmaster, who scored two goals. "It was important to play a good game, and we didn't have a letdown."

"It was a great win for us," senior midfielder Ashley Berman said. "We played really well, many different people scored goals, and everyone got to play."

Leading the way for the Crimson on the afternoon was Ripmaster, who netted the first two goals of her Harvard career.

"[Orly's goals] were great," Coach Tim Wheaton said. "She was awesome today and has been doing a great job."

The Crimson came out of the box smoking. Harvard controlled the ball from the outset and got on the board early when senior midfielder Julia Blain put away her fourth goal of the season just 6:43 into the match to give Harvard a 1-0 lead.

Senior back Gina Foster took control of a loose ball from about 40 yards out and sent a pass to freshman forward Beth Totman. Totman dribbled the ball upfield past two Big Red defenders and sent a beautiful cross that found its way to a wide-open Blain in front of the goal.

"On my goal I actually didn't really do that much," Blain said. "It was a great ball; Totman just laid it up in front of the goal and I was there to redirect it."

"Blain made a really great play on her goal," Berman said. "It was a far post run, and she had to cover a lot of ground on a ball hit pretty hard."

Blain's goal ended a draught in first-half scoring for the Crimson. Harvard had failed to score in the first 45 minutes in six consecutive contests.

"We looked at the stats before the game and realized we hadn't scored a first-half goal since the second game of the season," Wheaton said. "We really made it a goal to come early and finish."

In addition to ending Harvard's early scoring dry spell, Blain's score sparked a Crimson onslaught that would continue throughout the game.

Totman, who has shined in only her first year as a starter, led Harvard's aggressive attack. Time and again, she wove her way through the Cornell backfield with relative ease, creating numerous scoring chances.

Just a few minutes after the score Totman led several charges on the Big Red goal. Near the 10-minute mark, she sent a pass across the box that co-captain Beth Zotter lifted just over the crossbar, and a minute later sent a shot of her own barely wide left.

"Beth Totman is just an awesome player," Ripmaster said. "She is a phenom. She works all of the time both on the ball and off the ball. She just works so hard. She is the greatest player."

With 12 minutes left in the half, Wheaton--as he has done often throughout the year--took his starting front line of Zotter, Totman and freshman Joey Yenne out of the game to rest before the break. The substitutes--junior forward Ashley Mattison and sophomore forwards Colleen Moore and Caitlin Costello--picked up where their teammates left off.

Just over a minute after the substitution, Moore took control of the ball and sprinted upfield, where she dished off to Mattison. Mattison then advanced deep into the Big Red zone, sending a cross just past the outstretched arms of junior goalkeeper Meghan Cauzillo to freshman midfielder Bryce Weed, who calmly sent the ball into the back of the net to give Harvard a 2-0 lead.

It took less than two minutes for the Crimson to strike again, as Ripmaster followed with an impressive goal off her own, scoring off of a corner kick of the foot of junior midfielder Meredith Stewart to give Harvard a 3-0 lead going into the half.

"Meredith Stewart kicked the corner, and basically it was just a volley that came out of the air and I chested it down," Ripmaster said. "I didn't want to let it hit the ground or else it would bounce up in some weird angle, so I just got my body over it and hit it out of the air and into the goal."

"[Ripmaster] hits the ball a ton," Wheaton added. "The first goal she hit was a difficult ball to her and she buried it."

Just over 11 minutes into the half the Crimson added its fourth goal on the day, as Ripmaster netted her second score on the day.

Totman penetrated the right side of the Cornell defense with some fancy dribbling, and sent a shot off the crossbar. Yenne collected the ball, but had it knocked out of her possession by a Big Red defender. Ripmaster, however, was the first player to the loose ball and sent the ball into the net for the unassisted goal.

"It was great to see Orly get her first two goals today," Blain said. "She has been playing very well and has worked really hard."

The Crimson finished off the scoring for the day just 1:30 later. Totman sent a nifty pass into the box to a streaking Yenne. Yenne pushed toward the goal, but was taken down by a Cornell defender. Berman netted the ensuing penalty kick with a drive into the lower right corner of the goal, giving the Crimson its 5-0 victory.

Aside from the obvious success of the Harvard offense, the Crimson once again came through with a stellar defensive performance, tallying its third shutout of the season, and its second in as many games.

Harvard has only allowed six goals in nine games this season, and has allowed no more than one goal in any individual game. Co-captain sweeper Jess Larson and freshman goalkeeper Cheryl Gunther have led the stellar Crimson defense the entire season, and Saturday proved to be no exception.

Larson thwarted any and all Cornell advances into the Harvard box. Gunther, meanwhile, made a leaping save knocking a Big Red shot on goal over the crossbar on its best opportunity on the day. Gunther only needed to make one save on the match.

"Again Larson led us on the field back there, and Gunther played well," Wheaton said. "She didn't have to do much today in goal, but made knocked that one ball over the top [of the crossbar] for a tough save."

With the win Harvard improved its Ivy League record to a perfect 4-0, and further established itself as the team to beat in the league.

"We are the favorites for the Ivy championship," Ripmaster said. "We are confident that we can clinch the Ivy League title this year."

"We still have some of our biggest games left," Ripmaster said. "Princeton is just awesome and Dartmouth has been having a rough season starting out, so their whole season will be trying to beat us."

Up next for Harvard, however is an away contest tomorrow against a very strong Boston College team. The match is just one of two matches against national powers in the near future.

"We have two difficult non-league games coming up," Ripmaster said. "We play the only two teams in our region that are ranked ahead of us in the country. We have B.C. and [No. 11] UConn later this month, so we feel that this is a key part of our schedule coming up."