Crimson Notches 3-2 Victory Over Rhode Island

The last time the Harvard women’s soccer team traveled to University of Rhode Island, the Crimson suffered a 3-2 loss in double overtime in 2011. In a Tuesday night showdown three years later, Harvard (3-0-0) reversed that score, dealing the Rams (4-1-1) their first loss of the season.

With the game locked at two, the Crimson entered halftime with little momentum on its side. After jumping out to an early 2-0 lead, Harvard surrendered that advantage by the middle of the first half, allowing URI to dominate possession in the half’s final 20 minutes.

But, players said, the Crimson came out in the second half determined to win.

“We knew that the team that won the first five minutes of the second half was probably going to win the game,” co-captain Meg Casscells-Hamby said. “So we came out and defended hard and just kept the ball and tried to keep our rhythm.”

Eleven minutes into the second half, Casscells-Hamby provided the difference. She poked the ball by Rams senior goalkeeper Reilly Lindsey to record her first goal of the season and give Harvard a 3-2 lead.

The margin stood up. Strong possession and defense throughout the second half prevented URI from taking a shot on goal in the final 30 minutes of the game.

In the battle between undefeated teams, Harvard wasted no time getting on the board. In the third minute of the game, junior midfielder Brooke Dickens headed a corner from senior forward Lauren Urke into the back of the net.

The Crimson built on its early lead when senior midfielder Bethany Kanten powered a shot past Lindsey from 30 yards out. Kanten, a goalkeeper for Harvard for the past three years, made the switch to playing out in the field this season because of injury.

After scoring the first goal of her Crimson career, Kanten said, “It was really great to experience it with my team and to have it happen in a game like tonight against an undefeated team.”

The Rams immediately battled back and seized the momentum after Kanten’s goal. In the 24th minute, URI freshman defender Simone Hansen hit in a bicycle kick off a corner to put the Rams on the board. A little over 30 seconds later, URI’s leading scorer, junior forward Ari Stanton, found the back of the net to even the score, 2-2.

Strong goalkeeping from senior Cheta Emba helped fend off the Rams’ continued offensive attack in the first half. After letting in two goals, the first that the Crimson had let up this season, Emba made two saves late in the half to keep the score even into halftime.

“[Emba] did really well to keep us in it,” Kanten said. “Even after getting scored on, she did really well to stay strong and fight through it to keep us in the game.”

Sophomore goalie Lizzie Durack picked up in the second half where Emba left off. Durack came up with back-to-back saves in the 58th minute to preserve the Crimson’s lead.

Although URI outshot Harvard 11-10 overall, 6-5 in terms of shots on goal, strong play from Emba and Durack kept the Crimson from ever trailing in the game.

With the win, Harvard extended its regular season unbeaten streak to 17 games. The Crimson has not lost a regular season game since Sep. 11, 2013, when the team lost, 2-1, to New Hampshire.

The team then went undefeated in Ivy League play en route to the league title, with the squad’s season ending with a 1-0 loss to the Boston Terriers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

This is the first time the Crimson has won its three opening games since 2005. In its first two contests, Harvard  shut out San Francisco and Providence by a combined score of 3-0 behind two goals from sophomore forward Midge Purce. But, as the players emphasized, much of this team’s success comes from not focusing on long-term records.

“We always just take it game by game,” Kanten said. “Just trying to get better before Ivies start is the most important thing to us.”

—Staff writer Eileen Storey can be reached at eileen.storey@thecrimson.com.