Crimson Nails Yale in Overtime for Second Straight Ivy Win

Harvard sophomore Peyton Johnson buried a penalty kick in the 93rd minute to give the Crimson (6-4, 2-0 Ivy) a 2-1 victory at Yale (4-4-2, 1-1) on Saturday.

After a slow start, Harvard picked it up in the second half to tie the game at one.

The Crimson trailed much of the contest after Bulldog freshman forward Meredith Speck netted a 17th-minute goal to give Yale a 1-0 advantage.

The rookie took a cross from junior midfielder Kristin Forster and ripped a left-footed strike from the top of the box past Harvard freshman goalkeeper Bethany Kanten.

“We didn’t bring what Yale brought in the first half,” Crimson coach Ray Leone said.

The Bulldogs exploited the Harvard defense out wide and controlled the tempo in the first half, out-shooting the visiting team, 4-3.

Despite a few chances, Harvard could not find an equalizer in the frame and went into halftime trailing.

“We were disappointed with how we were playing at that point,” co-captain Melanie Baskind said, “but we came out [for the second half] completely reenergized and ready to go.”

The Crimson was knocking on the door from the start of the second half, as sophomore forward Elizabeth Weisman put a shot on target in the 50th minute that was turned away by Yale goalkeeper Adele Jackson-Gibson, who made five saves on the day.

It wasn’t until the 60th minute when Harvard was finally able to break through the Bulldogs’ defense. Baskind tucked home a one-timer near post on a cross delivered by senior Patricia Yau.

“[Yau] brought it up the side and played a perfect ball across the net, and I just barely got in front of my defender to poke it in,” Baskind said.

Neither team broke the tie in regulation, and the score remained knotted at one as the final whistle blew.

But it was a brief overtime period thanks to Johnson, who ended the contest just over two minutes in.

A 92nd-minute corner kick led to a scramble in the box, and Johnson gained possession on the right side. She fired a shot that struck a Yale defender’s hand, automatically drawing a yellow card and penalty kick.

Johnson calmly stepped up to take the penalty kick and drove the ball just past a diving Jackson-Gibson, who guessed correctly on the play but was unable to get a hand on the ball as it flew inside the left post.

It was a tale of two halves for the Crimson. Harvard’s defense stepped up after allowing an early goal, with Kanten recording two saves.

“We really were defending well in the second half, after being late to everything in the first half,” Leone said.

The Crimson offense out-shot the Bulldogs in the second half, 8-4, while putting home the lone goal.

“The front line was creating havoc,” said Leone, who also credited junior midfielder Aisha Price for keeping the pressure on with her dangerous long throw-ins.

Both teams had chances to go ahead late in regulation. Following Baskind’s equalizer, freshman midfielder Meg Casscells-Hamby had two shots on net and was twice denied by Jackson-Gibson. Yale threatened with a dangerous corner kick in the final minute, followed by a Harvard counterattack in the final 30 seconds.

“It was just an amazing battle in the second half,” Leone said. “It was a game of inches.”

The winning goal was the club’s first penalty kick of the year and Johnson’s second goal in her sophomore campaign.

Baskind, who scored her fifth goal of the season, ties Penn’s Marin McDermott for tops in the Ivy League. She also leads the league with 16 points on the year.

But she is the last to accept credit for the team’s success.

“It really takes a ton of heart and every player on the team to win a game like that,” Baskind said. “It was a great team effort.”