Women's Soccer To Face Ivy Rival Lions

This coming Saturday, the Harvard women’s soccer team will square off against Columbia in the last game of the regular season, in which the Crimson looks to extend its win streak against the Lions to five.

When Harvard (8-5-3, 2-3-1 Ivy) meets Columbia (6-8-1, 2-3-1 Ivy) at Soldiers Field, the game will hold special meaning for its six seniors, Alexandra Conigliaro, Alicia Johnson, Alexandra Millet, Aisha Price, as well as Catherine E. Coppinger and Taryn I. Kurcz, who are both Crimson sports executives. The group will be honored with a ceremony for Senior Day, which will look to recognize their contributions over the past four years. The veteran group was part of the teams that won Ivy League titles in both 2009 and 2011.

“It’s been an up and down season but the seniors have really been a great guiding influence, especially to our younger players,” junior co-captain Peyton Johnson said.

While the Crimson is no longer in Ivy title contention after recent losses to conference leaders Princeton and Dartmouth, the team stands right in the middle of the Ancient Eight, tied with the Lions for third place. The two teams have identical league records, while Harvard holds an edge in overall wins.

“Something to really fight for is ending [the regular season] on a win,” Johnson said.

When the two teams squared off last November, the Crimson topped Columbia, 1-0. The lone goal was scored by sophomore midfielder Lauren Urke and was assisted by sophomore midfielder Meg Casscells-Hamby. The pair led the team in shots, with four each. Lions goalkeeper Lillian Klein was left to scramble for four saves, while her offense pressured sophomore goalkeeper Bethany Kanten for two saves.

Casscells-Hamby has led the team in scoring this year. The sophomore has had six goals in the 14 games in which she has played. She also leads in points, nabbing 15, and has totaled 52 shots. Casscells-Hamby is trailed by junior forward Elizabeth Weisman, who has scored five goals over 42 shots for Harvard, and accumulated 11 points.

This year, Columbia arrives in Cambridge not having won an Ivy game since defeating Brown on Sept 29. Since then, the Lions have faltered against Penn, the Tigers, as well as the Big Green and most recently had a 1-1 double overtime battle against Yale. Columbia’s other conference win came against Cornell.

This season, the Lions have attempted 162 shots as a team, with 74 of those coming on on-goal attempts and 16 making it into the net. Junior midfielders Beverly Leon and Coleen Rizzo have brought the offensive power and the duo leads the team in goals with six each. Leon has attempted 30 shots while Rizzo trails closely with 28.

Sophomore goalkeeper Grace Redmon has netted a save percentage of .812 this year, seizing 69 shots during the course of the year.

“Columbia’s going to be a really good team,” Kanten said. “They’ve been doing really well this season and scoring lots of goals. I think we’re just going to have to be prepared for that and stay focused even though we know it’s our last game.”

The Crimson is fresh off a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Dartmouth last weekend. The game saw Big Green forward Tasha Wilkins fire off two goals on Kanten, who had seven saves for the game and attempted the only shot on goal for Harvard. Kanten’s season average is 3.6 saves per game.

The sophomore prepares to close out her season with a save percentage of .752 over 58 saves.

“We were disappointed that we didn’t come out strong and make Dartmouth respond to us,” Johnson said. “I think we’re going to try to practice that mindset of coming out and initiating the game against Columbia. That’s how we hope to be moving forward.”

As the Crimson is out of contention for the title, and thus will not be likely to make the NCAA tournament, this may be the last time that the seniors suit up in Crimson.

“We love our seniors so much,” Kanten said. “It’s going to be a big day for us be able to celebrate that, to play for them, to show them how much we care about them, and how much they mean to us by playing hard and getting a win for them on their Senior Day.”