W. Soccer Eliminated by No. 15 Huskies

STORRS, Conn.—They were living on borrowed time without a thought for tomorrow.

But time ran out for the Harvard women’s soccer team (8-7-2) on Friday when No. 15 UConn (17-6-1) eliminated the Crimson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The 2-1 decision amidst the snowy conditions marked the conclusion of the 2004 season for Harvard, which rode an at-large bid into the field.

Looking to avenge their 1-0 loss to Harvard two weeks ago, the Huskies relied on the leg of senior Jessica Gjertsen, who netted both goals and fired nine of the 11 UConn shots.

In the 33rd minute, she took a pass in the middle from Kathleen Frank. Junior goalkeeper Katie Shields came almost 30 yards off the goal line to challenge Gjertsen, but was unable to make a play on the ball.

“I’m pretty known for coming off my line,” Shields said. “I expected her to be a little farther than she was. I just mistimed it a little.”

With control of the ball, Gjertsen took one dribble and carefully tapped the ball into the open net.

“I just thought, ‘Don’t kill the ball,’” Gjertsen said.

In the sleet and snow, UConn celebrated the 1-0 lead by making snow angels.

“Warming up, we were slipping all over the place,” co-captain back Liza Barber said of the conditions. “We did a great job of still playing the ball on the ground. It didn’t change the game as much as I thought it would.”

Harvard’s best chances to tie the game came early in the second half. Junior midfielder Maile Tavepholjalern passed the ball to senior forward Emily Colvin, who found herself open inside the box.

Her left-footed shot past the diving goalkeeper skidded across the snowy ground and rolled just inches outside of the far post.

“We’re really good at closing on the far post, so I was thinking that [a teammate] might be there, too,” said Colvin, who had three of Harvard’s seven shots on goal.

Soon after, freshman forward Jamie Greenwald—who spearheaded the Crimson attack for much of the game—broke into the box for a potential 2-on-1 break, but was brought down by her defender.

No penalty was called—a rare occurrence in a game that featured 19 fouls and two yellow cards, one to Barber after a rough tackle.

The Huskies added an insurance goal with less than six minutes to play. Gjertsen beat freshman back Michelle Hull on the right side and held control of the ball. Barber raced over to make the stop, but not before Gjertsen chipped a shot over Shields and into the upper left corner of the goal.

“I was just trying to get it on frame, [not trying to chip it],” Gjertsen said.

Now down by two goals to a UConn team that had not allowed two goals in a game since the opening week of the season, the situation was dire for the Crimson. But Harvard continued to battle.

“I think the thing that has defined our team this year has been our character,” Harvard coach Tim Wheaton said. “Even today, after Connecticut got the second goal, we didn’t quit and we were still convinced we would win the game. A lot of teams would have crumbled, and a lot of teams would have quit. These girls believe in themselves, and they’ve showed it all year long.”

But UConn’s lead ultimately proved to be insurmountable. Colvin pulled the Crimson within one, scoring her final collegiate goal with 1:25 remaining. Colvin took the ball past her defender and fired it towards Husky goalkeeper Megan Jessee, who came off her line to challenge.

The ball squirted past Jessee, and the alert Colvin pulled herself up from the ground and raced through the snow to send the ball into the back of the empty net.

That was all that time would allow, however. Harvard was unable to gain control of the ball in UConn’s defensive end in the final second, and the Crimson’s run was over.

“I’m very proud of our girls,” Wheaton said. “That’s a good UConn team. We wish them well.”

That UConn team improved to 18-6-1 yesterday, upending Colgate 4-0 to advance to the third round, where it will face No. 4 Notre Dame.

—Staff writer Jonathan P. Hay can be reached at hay@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Carrie H. Petri can be reached at cpetri@fas.harvard.edu.