Women's Soccer Shut Out Twice Over Weekend

You can’t win if you don’t score. That was the story of the weekend for the Harvard women’s soccer team (1-4-1) as the squad traveled to Virginia to take on No. 1 Virginia (6-0-1) on Friday night and No. 25 William & Mary (6-1-1) on Sunday afternoon.

While the Crimson defense kept the two offenses in check for most of the two games, the guests were held scoreless in both games, a 3-0 loss to the Cavaliers and a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Tribe.

“The thing about playing teams the caliber that we’re playing, you can learn something from every team and from every game,” junior co-captain Carly Rotatori said. “These Top 25 teams, even though it’s been a tough schedule, we’ve learned so much as a team.”

WILLIAM & MARY 1, HARVARD 0

Despite outshooting William & Mary, 16-11, with only two of the William & Mary shots coming on net, Harvard suffered a one-goal defeat on Sunday afternoon in Williamsburg, Va. Senior goalkeeper Caroline Casey held the Crimson offense scoreless, stopping all eight Harvard shots she faced.

The Tribe extended its win streak to three, and the team has not lost since falling to Duke on Aug. 30. Senior forward Katie Johnston scored the game’s only goal, giving William & Mary the lead in the 35th minute. It was the fourth goal of the season for Johnston and the team’s 19th on the year.

“William & Mary has been playing really well,” said junior defender and Williamsburg native Marissa Segala. “They just beat [Old Dominion] on Friday.”

While Harvard was able to hinder the potent Tribe offense, it was unable to get on the board for the second consecutive game. The team is averaging 0.5 goals a game and has scored just once in its last four contests. Junior forwards Rachel Garcia and Midge Purce each had two shots on net.

“I think we’ve been very strong defensively,” junior goalkeeper Lizzie Durack said. “I don’t think we’ve conceded many easy goals. What we’re trying to focus on ourselves now is scoring a few more goals.”

VIRGINIA 3, HARVARD 0

Virginia showed why it is the top-ranked team in the country on Friday night in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers jumped out to an early lead and kept the pressure on the Crimson all night long, generating opportunities in the offensive zone and minimizing any Harvard scoring chances.

“You want to win, but playing the No. 1 team in the nation, we held our own,” Rotatori said. “I definitely think we could have moved the ball a little better, but we had so much resolve and work ethic in really working together as a team. Maybe 3-0 doesn’t look that good, but I thought as a team we worked really well together.”

Freshman midfielder Betsy Brandon got Virginia on the board with a goal in the game’s seventh minute. Purce registered the Crimson’s first shot on goal in just the third minute, but it ended up being the only save either of Virginia’s two goaltenders would have to make on the night.

Following a corner kick and two shots, junior forward Morgan Reuther cashed in to put the Cavaliers up 2-0 in the 20th minute. It was one of two goals for Reuther, who has a team-high 11 points and five goals.

Durack was replaced in net after halftime by freshman Danielle Etzel. The Cavaliers also pulled starter Jessie Ferrari in favor of junior Morgan Stearns.

Etzel stopped two of the three shots she faced in her first taste of collegiate action. The Crimson did a better job of slowing down the Virginia attack, as the Cavaliers only registered five shots in the second half after an 11-shot barrage in the game’s first 45 minutes. But Reuther picked up her second goal of the night in the game’s final minute when her try from eight yards away was out of the reach of Etzel.

“At halftime, we realized we were getting stretched too comfortably in the midfield,” Rotatori said. “Even though we had good pressure on the ball, they were able to get around us in two or three passes. We switched formations and went into a five in the midfield, and I think that really helped in limiting their shots and their chances.”

Virginia is averaging nearly four goals a game and has outscored its opponents, 26-4, on the season. The last time Harvard faced the nation’s top-ranked team was last November when Harvard fell to UCLA, 7-0, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Crimson finished the game with five shots, with Purce’s being the only one on goal. Harvard is 0-7-1 against ACC teams—Boston College and now Virginia—during coach Ray Leone’s tenure. The Crimson’s last win against an ACC opponent came in 1997 when Harvard beat Maryland, 3-1.

—Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at sgleason@college.harvard.edu.