Rookie Greenwald Scores Twice in Weekend Pair for W. Soccer

A tie isn’t a loss, but after Friday afternoon’s disappointing home opener 1-1 tie against Northeastern (5-1-1), Harvard (2-3-1) had a bone to pick.The unfortunate victim of the rampage was New Hampshire (2-4-2), who the Crimson dominated from start to finish.

HARVARD 3, NEW HAMPSHIRE 0

It took less than seven minutes at Bremner Field for the Crimson to get over Friday afternoon’s draw.

“We need to start scoring early and getting opponents psyched out,” said senior forward Emily Colvin.

Harvard did just that.

Colvin centered the ball to senior forward Alisha Moran, who drilled a low shot off the right goal post. It was the first score for Moran, who led the team in scoring last season.

Ten minutes later, freshman midfielder Jamie Greenwald tallied her second goal in as many games when sophomore back Laura Odorczyk fed her the ball after dribbling up the right side.

“That took UNH out of the game early,” Moran said. “And we were able to just control the ball and the play for the rest of the game.”

For the next 60 minutes of play, the Wildcats battled off the Crimson.

But with less than nine minutes to go, sophomore midfielder Katie Johnston put up a corner kick from the left side and moments later the ball bounced into the goal. The referee ruled it as an own goal.

“It was a mad scramble in front of the net and it ended up going off one of their players,” Moran said.

Junior goalkeeper Katie Shields earned the win with four saves. Junior Maja Agustsdottir played the last 11:46 in the net, but the Harvard defense never let the ball get to her.

UNH goalkeeper Liz MacKay made five saves and allowed the first two goals before Lynn Gugliuzza subbed in for the second half, making four saves and letting in the own goal.

HARVARD 1, NORTHEASTERN 1

Despite more than doubling up the Huskies in the shot column, the Crimson was unable to hold on to an early lead and settled for a frustrating 1-1 tie in its home opener.

Harvard recorded 22 shots in the contest to just 10 for Northeastern, and held a 13-4 shot advantage in the second half alone.

“We’ve outshot teams for years,” said Colvin, who accounted for four Crimson shots. “[But] we need to start showing it on the scoreboard.”

The equalizer for the Huskies came in the 40th minute, when Jesse Haidamaka took a pass at the top of the box and redirected it past Shields, who recorded five saves in the contest.

It was one of only two shots on net for Northeastern in the first half.

Earlier in the game, Harvard took a slim lead when captain back Liza Barber sent a long pass into the box and Greenwald collected the ball and fired into the corner for her first collegiate tally.

Greenwald was hobbled on the play, but stayed in the game.

“I couldn’t celebrate much,” said Greenwald. “A girl body-checked me after the goal.”

While the second half and overtime didn’t feature any goals, they certainly weren’t lacking for scoring opportunities. Just after halftime, junior midfielder Maile Tavepholjalern almost gave the Crimson the lead with an open shot from inside the box, but it sailed wide.

Moran had a great chance after beating her defender later in the half, but her shot was punched over the net by the goalkeeper. She led all players with six shots.

The referee’s whistle also stymied two fantastic Harvard scoring opportunities, as a Crimson player was ruled to be offside on each of the occasions.

“It was really frustrating,” said Greenwald. “I think we played better than they did. We have to put our chances away.”

In overtime, the teams continued to play with tenacity, belying the fact that they had already been battling for 90 minutes.

“We are working really hard on fitness this season,” said Colvin. “We were able to go hard the whole game.”

Harvard’s best chance at a golden goal came when Colvin broke through the defense around midfield, but the defense was able to get back and prevent her from scoring.

The Crimson will be back in action on Wednesday evening when it visits Boston University.

—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.