Women's Soccer Drops Double Overtime Contest to BU

For most of Wednesday night’s game at Soldiers Field it looked as though the Harvard women’s soccer team was going to do exactly what it did last year on October 8—tie Boston University. But it was not to be. Sophomore forward Erica Kosienski kicked a shot over the outstretched hands of Crimson senior goalkeeper Bethany Kanten in the 105th minute to lift the Terriers (7-3-3, 2-0-2 Patriot) to a 2-1 victory over Harvard (6-3-2, 1-0-1 Ivy).

Kanten, playing her first game in goal this season after recovering from an injury, made eleven saves to keep the Crimson in the game.

“Bethany killed it,” junior defender Alika Keene said. “She absolutely went all in, nothing left behind. She crushed it today.”

BU has been a thorn in Harvard’s side in recent years, having eliminated the Crimson from the 2011 and 2013 NCAA Tournaments. Harvard has not defeated the Terriers since 2007.

BU controlled the game in the first half. The Terriers applied continuous pressure on the Crimson’s defense, generating 11 shots, eight of them on goal.  However, Kanten was able to save all eight shots. She made several acrobatic saves including a stop on a breakaway by BU senior forward Taylor Krebs in the 24th minute, to keep the game scoreless.

“That first half was unbelievable,” Harvard coach Ray Leone said. “She hasn’t played in goal in forever and what a performance she gave. I’m really proud of her.”

During the first half, Leone made several substitutions to utilize the Crimson’s depth, especially on defense. Toward the end of the first half, having fresh legs in the game paid off. Harvard gained possession of the ball on the Terriers’ side of midfield and set up a corner kick for junior midfielder Haley Washburn.

After a handful of consecutive shots off the corner, freshman defender Mia Bladin scored her first goal of the season to give the Crimson a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute. This was Harvard’s first goal in three games with the team coming off two scoreless ties against UMass and Yale.

“It was a good goal and we created more chances but we obviously have to do better,” Leone said. “One goal isn’t enough.”

A scary moment came for the Crimson right before halftime when Kosienski barreled into Kanten, drawing a foul. But Kanten bounced back up after the collision and continued to look sharp throughout the rest of the game.

Early in the second half, both teams battled for possession. But BU scored the equalizer on the team’s ninth shot of the game. Junior forward Jenna Fisher connected on a cross from junior back Lauren MacClellan, firing the ball over Kanten’s outstretched arm in the 52nd minute.

With the game locked in a tie, sophomore forward Midge Purce provided a spark off the bench for the Crimson, generating many chances with her speed and ball control. But Purce and the rest of the Harvard offense could not find the back of the net, despite taking seven shots in the half.

In the first overtime, Kanten made four key saves to keep the Crimson locked in a tie. In the 93rd minute, it looked like the Terriers might break through with a flurry of three consecutive shots. After saving the first two shots, Kanten was out of the net when BU’s senior midfielder Jamie Turchi fired off a shot. But Turchi missed wide and Harvard forced the game into double overtime.

As the Crimson battled through its third consecutive double-overtime game and fourth of the season, it appeared as though Harvard had enough to hold on for the draw.

The Terriers’ only shot of the second overtime was Kosienski’s decider. Despite the loss, the improvement on offense and the reemergence of Kanten were positive takeaways from the Crimson’s final nonconference game of the regular season.

“Everyone was throwing their bodies out there,” Keene said. “We were just going a hundred and ten percent. Going into the next game, we’re just going to remember this, remember the feeling that we felt when we were knocking the ball around and finally getting our flow.”