W. Soccer Looks to Regroup Out West

Following its surprising 2-0 loss to Brown last Saturday, the Harvard women's soccer team may be down, but it is by no means out.

As shocking as the upset by Brown was, the Crimson (2-2, 1-1 Ivy) still outplayed its opponents for much of the contest, and, with the season still in its early stages, Harvard has plenty of time to get back on track.

One game, after all, does not make an entire season.

Apparently, though, some of the kind folks in Providence have lost sight of that fact. In yesterday's edition of Brown's student newspaper, the Daily Herald, a reporter praised the Brown women's soccer team for "soundly thrashing" the Crimson. That assessment might come as somewhat of a surprise to those who attended the game or even looked at the box score. The Crimson outshot the Bears, 20-10, and earned ten corner kicks compared to the Bears' two.

Then again, the same reporter also proclaimed Brown, which crept into the Top-25 this week, to be "a legitimate powerhouse". Such a description would certainly have been appropriate a decade ago when Brown won nine league championships in a row, but it seems a tad extreme in light of the Bears' woes in more recent years. Even with its win over Harvard on Saturday, Brown still only has two Ivy wins in the past three years.

Given all that, Brown's upset is most likely an indication of a program getting back on its feet.

It perhaps also illustrates the growing parity within the Ivy League this season. Whereas last year, Harvard needed to post a flawless 7-0 Ivy record to claim the league championship, it is highly unlikely that the conference will require perfection of its champion again this year. In fact, through the first two weeks of the Ivy season, Princeton is the only undefeated league squad among those teams that have played at least two games.

Three teams were unbeaten at this point in 1999.

All of this means that the Crimson is still very much in contention for its second consecutive Ivy League title. Harvard has several important league games still to play, including a face-off with the first-place Tigers in October.

But before it returns to Ivy action, the Crimson will first travel out west this weekend to play a pair of games in California. Harvard will play Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles tonight before moving south to face San Diego State on Sunday afternoon.

Harvard, currently ranked No. 5 in the Northeast, will be facing both teams for the first time.

Against LMU (6-2-1), the Crimson will be looking to score early to erase any lingering memories of being whitewashed last week by Brown. Sophomore forward Joey Yenne leads the team in scoring with four goals. Midfielders Orly Ripmaster, Katie Westfall, and Meredith Stewart have also displayed a nose for the net in previous games and should figure into the offensive game plan tonight.

On the other side of the ball, a solid defensive effort by Harvard would go a long way towards bolstering the confidence of sophomore goalkeeper Cheryl Gunther. A stellar performer throughout all of last year, Gunther has been hampered by a knee injury this season and is coming off her first regular season loss as a college player against Brown.

The Crimson might be able to catch the Lions distracted tonight, as LMU might already be looking ahead to its game against No. 5 UCLA on Sunday that is of more consequence to the Lions regionally.

However, LMU has traditionally made it difficult for visiting teams. Since 1997, the Lions have posted an impressive 22-7-4 home record.

LMU is also coming off an emotional high after rallying back from a two-goal deficit to beat Arizona 3-2 in double overtime last weekend.

The Crimson should have a relatively easier time against San Diego State (3-8), which finally snapped a six-game losing streak by downing Long Beach State on Sunday.

Despite being outscored by its opponents so far this season, the Aztecs have, for the most part, matched their competition shot-for-shot. In fact, San Diego State actually outshot Pepperdine 12-11 in a losing effort yesterday.

Midfielder Fay deLeon is the Aztecs' biggest scoring threat, holding the team lead in both goals and assists.

Sunday's tilt with San Diego State will provide Harvard with a final tune-up before it returns home next Wednesday to face Boston College in a rematch of last year's NCAA tournament showdown.