W. Soccer Upsets No. 9 BYU, 1-0

They couldn't have asked for a more perfect ending.

After beating Penn (4-2-1, 2-1 Ivy) on Saturday afternoon in a thrilling 2-1 overtime match, the Harvard women's soccer team capped off the Harvard Invitational with a sensational 1-0 victory against No. 9 BYU (11-2) yesterday afternoon.

Playing on a very soggy and slick Ohiri Field, the Crimson (6-1-1, 3-0) not only extended its unbeaten streak to five games, but also proved what many on the team already believed, that is a team to be reckoned with.

With the match seeming all but destined to go into overtime, freshman forward Beth Totman broke a scoreless tie with just 47 seconds left in regulation with a laser shot directed toward the far right post.

After the Cougars had missed an opportunity to score in Crimson territory just moments before, freshman forward Joey Yenne gained possession of the ball near midfield and spotted a cutting Totman.

After her teammate passed the ball upfield, Totman quickly split two BYU defenders and beat the goalie as her shot went into the upper right portion of the net.

"[Yenne] just passed the ball up the field, and the sweeper on the other side whiffed at the ball and it went under her foot," Totman said. "So I sped up and ran on top of it, beat the last defender, and just kicked it into the right corner of the goal."

Totman's goal capped off a dominating second half for the Crimson. Senior forward Beth Zotter led a consistent offensive attack while teammates Orly Ripmaster and Ashley Berman anchored a strong midfield.

As the Crimson pounded away at the Cougar defense, freshman goalkeeper and Ivy League Rookie of the Week Cheryl Gunther prevented the usually high octane BYU offense from even getting close to scoring.

Gunther was helped greatly by the play of Harvard's MVP for the invitational, co-captain Jessica Larson.

Larson--a perennial All-Ivy defenseman--contained the dangerous and explosive Cougar forward Maren Hendershot throughout the first half until the BYU standout was forced to leave the game with an apparent knee injury just minutes before halftime.

"[Larson] is truly amazing," Totman said. "She totally handled [Hendershot, BYU's] best player."

The loss of Hendershot was a big blow to BYU's offensive attack. Unable to push the ball deep into Crimson territory without her, the Cougars instead played a more conservative style, one which the tenacious Crimson midfield exploited throughout the last half of the game.

Adding to the cold and wet weather was a torn up field that limited the options for both teams.

"The field was a mess," Larson said. "We basically had to stay out of the midfield. There was so much standing water in the middle of the field, that we couldn't make any passes, so we just stayed on the outsides."

The first half of the game was characterized by a back and forth style of attack by both teams.

Harvard was denied an apparent goal with seven minutes remaining in the period. Ripmaster booted a free kick from outside the Cougar box that was headed past the BYU goalkeeper by sophomore forward Colleen Moore. The referee, however, whistled the play dead, contending that Moore had been offsides.

"I didn't have a good angle of the call," Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton said. "But the way it was explained to me by the referee, it didn't sound like an offside."

Although the call went against the Crimson, Wheaton remained confident.

"We knew we were going to score," he said. "It was just a matter of when."

Although the Crimson was denied this opportunity, it continued to press throughout the rest of the game and eventually broke through with Totman's goal with just seconds left in regulation.

"This was a huge win for us," Larson said. "We feel like we haven't been getting any respect, but with this win, we proved that we are as good as a top 15 team. We are a top 15 caliber team."

"We really needed this win," Wheaton added. "We had played a lot of top teams close, but we had to pull one out."

The Crimson does not play again until this Saturday afternoon, when it visits Ithaca to play Ivy League rival Cornell (2-3-1, 0-2 Ivy).

Harvard hopes to not only improve upon its 3-0 Ivy League mark, but also to cement a place for itself among the nation's elite. And with the Crimson hitting its stride, Harvard looks to be a heavy favorite against the Big Red.