W. Soccer Notebook

Despite controlling the tempo and momentum throughout its second round NCAA Tournament match versus Boston College yesterday afternoon, the No. 7 Harvard women's soccer team was unable to break through and it watched its amazing season come to a disappointing end with a 1-0 loss at Ohiri Field.

Even with an overwhelming advantage in shots on goal of 23-11, the Crimson (14-2-1, 7-0 Ivy) was unable to overcome a late first half score by Eagle senior forward Mary Guarino and made an improbable exit from the postseason tournament as the No. 8 seed in a field of 48.

The loss marked the end of the college careers of Crimson seniors Julia Blain, Ashley Berman, Jessica Larson, Gina Foster, and Beth Zotter.

Although this group has formed the core of the women's soccer team for the past 4 years, they were never able to reach farther than the quarterfinals of the NCAA since a sophomore year loss to eventual champion North Carolina 1-0 in 1997.

However, this year's team was just the third Ivy League squad to ever amass a 7-0 mark in the women's soccer division since its inception in 1991. It owned the nation's third-longest unbeaten string this year at 13 games, and was one of the stingiest defensive teams in the country, allowing a national-low eight goals during the regular season.

Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton and his returning squad for next year have a lot to look forward to as they will continue to gel, but they will sorely miss the senior leadership that has carried them throughout the year.

"[This game] was an unfortunate way to end one of the best seasons this program has ever had," Wheaton said.

The Experience Factor

Five freshman players received significant playing time throughout the course of the year for the Crimson. As a result, one of the potential problems Harvard faced was whether the young team was mentally ready to play a hungry Eagle squad that was looking for redemption after a 4-0 loss in October to the Crimson.

With a full roster, the Crimson was a spectacular 14-0-1 in the regular season and trailed in only one contest during that span--for only 30 minutes of game time. Harvard's only loss of the season came against New Hampshire on September 15, and was marked by the absence of all of the team's freshmen, who, due to Harvard University policy, were not allowed to leave campus during orientation week.

As a result, the freshmen had never faced much adversity, let alone defeat going into the most important match of their collegiate careers.

Freshman goalkeeper Cheryl Gunther, who had the second lowest goals against average in the nation through the regular season, was unable to stop a laser shot on goal by Guarino with just one minute left in the first half as Boston College earned a 1-0 lead going into halftime.

Although it trailed at the half, the Crimson remained confident going into the final 45 minutes, as it had outplayed the Eagles up to that point.

"That goal made us a little bit angry," Wheaton said. "We felt that we had the ability to score, and in the second half we thought that it would come for us."

Yet as the time left in the match slowly dwindled down, the Crimson's attack became more and more frantic and unorganized. The Eagles kept their midfield back for most of the second half, often frustrating the young Crimson front line with 7 or 8 defenders as it attempted to equalize.

Finding Holes in the Crimson Attack

The first 20 minutes of the first half were completely dominated by Harvard. However, its sometimes overzealous offensive attack afforded Boston College a successful way to counter-strike.

The Eagle defenders began clearing the ball to midfield to its forwards, creating two-on-two and three-on-three breakaways for themselves on several occasions.

Guarino almost scored just minutes before her actual goal on a similar play.

"I think they felt they were the better team," B.C. Coach Alison Foley said. "But I feel that we had the first most dangerous chance [in the match]. After that, we knew we could play with them for the rest of the game."

Guarino collected a pass from sophomore teammate Rachel Parri at the 43:45 mark and ripped a blast that squirted through Gunther's hands and into the Crimson net to give the Eagles the decisive score.

"We were just trying to work around their system with a quick counter-attack, and I was just lucky that it went in," Guarino said.

This one goal cushion allowed Boston College to play a very conservative defensive strategy in the second half.

The Crimson was never able to penetrate through this firewall of defenders in the second half despite spending the majority of the 45 minutes in Eagle territory.

Unable to Capitalize

Even though Boston College frustrated Harvard with its midfielder- heavy defense, the Crimson still managed to create many chances throughout the match.

With just under four minutes left in the first half, Berman used a juke move and a quick first step to rocket the ball towards the Eagle net. It easily beat junior goalkeeper Courtney Schaeffer, but went over the crossbar by just inches.

"I would say that it was just about two inches over," Berman said. "When I kicked it I thought it was going in, but it just didn't happen."

The Crimson's best chance in the second half came off the foot of junior midfielder Meredith Stewart.

Similar to Berman's near miss, Stewart's strike off a free-kick sailed just over the Eagle crossbar after beating Schaeffer.

Freshmen forwards Beth Totman and Joey Yenne each had chances inside the B.C. goalbox, but were unable to net the equalizer for Harvard.

"We were just unlucky today," Wheaton said. "We created the opportunities but didn't finish."

With the loss, one of the more memorable and successful campaigns in Harvard soccer history reached an abrupt end.

And despite facing the loss of its crucial senior leadership, Harvard is confident that its strong base of underclassmen will help carry the success that it enjoyed this season into future years.