Despite Impressive Wins, W. Soccer Misses NCAA Bid

For anyone who saw the emotional outpourings that accompanied the Harvard women’s soccer team’s victories this year, it was a shock to see the season end in silence.

Every Crimson team since 1995 had competed in the NCAA tournament, but instead this year’s team watched in agony as 64 other teams were named on the selection show.

Coach Tim Wheaton broke the stunned silence that followed and assured his players that they still belonged to one of the top 64 teams in the country. A No. 4 Northeast regional ranking at the season’s end indicated that plenty of opposing coaches agreed.

“None of us expected it to be over today at all,” said co-captain striker Caitlin Butler after the team had departed.

Although Harvard (8-7-1, 4-2-1 Ivy) did not rise any higher than No. 23 in the national rankings, it did make noise at the national level. The Crimson was the first team to beat Princeton—the last undefeated team in Division I. Against NCAA semifinalist Penn State, Harvard led at halftime before falling 2-1. Versus eventual national champion Portland, Harvard fell 2-1 despite controlling play for much of the second half.

Yet the committee did not give any credit for close defeats. All seven Crimson losses came against NCAA-qualifying or nationally-ranked teams. Five were by a single goal.

Harvard’s wins against NCAA qualifiers Princeton and Central Connecticut were not enough for an at-large bid. And a 1-0 loss to Dartmouth and a 3-2 loss to Yale killed Harvard’s Ivy title chances.

“We feel like we won the games we should have, mostly, and had some opportunities to win some others we didn’t take advantage of,” Wheaton said.

The Harvard season had its share of thrilling overtime heroics—in particular senior forward Beth Totman’s strike against Boston College and freshman Sara Sedgwick’s valiant header against Princeton.

Although such moments were too few and far between, Wheaton was pleased with the season relative to a year ago. For him, winning was not the first priority.

“The turnaround that they’ve made in terms of the important things—effort, playing as a team, representing the school well—has been huge,” he said.

Harvard was well-represented in Ivy honors. Juniors midfielder Katie Westfall and back Caitlin Fisher were the squad’s two first-team All-Ivy representatives for the second straight year. Seniors Totman and leading scorer Joey Yenne made the second team, as did sophomore back Liza Barber.

The freshmen goalkeeping duo of Katie Shields and Maja Augustdottir earned honorable mention selections. They filled the void created after three-year starter Cheryl Gunther quit the team during the summer.

Gunther was one of eight freshmen who helped carry the team to a No. 7 national ranking and an undefeated Ivy season in 1999. But injuries plagued the class a year later, when Yenne and Orly Ripmaster were the only sophomores able to play near full strength. The team placed fourth in the Ivies but made an NCAA run to the Round of 16.

In 2001, the team finished fourth in the Ivies again and bowed out in the NCAA second round, with dissent coloring the offseason after the disappointing finish. Ripmaster—a three-year starter but a vocal critic of Wheaton—was not invited back last summer. She opted to play lacrosse at Harvard and finish her soccer career at Colorado.

Yenne, the most consistent performer among the seniors, finishes her career fifth on Harvard’s all-time list in goals and points and third all-time in assists. The other four seniors—Butler, Totman, Bryce Weed and Katie Urbanic—all contributed readily this season despite serious injuries that had plagued them earlier in their careers. Among them, Totman will get one more chance as she finishes out her eligibility at Boston College.

Wheaton praised the seniors for setting a good example in the twilight of their Harvard careers.

“Our senior leadership has been incredible,” Wheaton said. “They deserved a little better than this to end their careers, but it doesn’t change the contributions they’ve made to our program.”

—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at deremer@post.harvard.edu.

W. SOCCER

RECORD 8-7-1 (4-2-1 Ivy, 3rd place)

COACH Tim Wheaton

CAPTAINS Caitlin Butler, Katie Hodel

HIGHLIGHTS Ivy champ Princeton, the nation’s last undefeated Division I team, falls to Harvard in double overtime. Crimson suffers narrow one-goal defeats to national semifinalist Penn State and NCAA champion Portland.