After Difficult Stretch, Women's Soccer Prepares for UNH

Two teams will try this Thursday to right their respective ships as they attempt to regain footing before conference play.

The Harvard women’s soccer team (1-4-1) looks to snap its three-game losing streak and pick up its first victory since its opening match when New Hampshire (2-3-3) visits Cambridge tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

The Crimson will be trying to get back in the win column following consecutive losses to top-25 opponents Connecticut, Virginia, and William & Mary.

Having gone 0-1-1 at home this season in matches with Boston College and Alabama, Harvard will also be seeking its first win of the season at the newly-renamed Jordan Field. Despite the challenging nonconference stretch, the team is confident that it can rebound with a win.

“Our record doesn’t really portray how strong our team is,” junior goalkeeper Lizzie Durack said. “We’ve got a lot of things to improve on, but we’re not worried about the numbers at this point.”

The match on Thursday will serve as another nonconference test for both teams. The Wildcats play two more games before beginning play in the America East, while the Crimson has three more games on its schedule before opening Ivy League play with a match at home against Penn on Sept. 26.

New Hampshire is currently riding a two-game losing streak of its own. The Wildcats fell at home to Temple and Lafayette, and have been shut out four times this season.

Junior goalkeeper Mimi Borkan and the New Hampshire defense conceded four goals in their loss to Temple on Sept. 11.

Last season, Harvard slipped by the Wildcats, 1-0, in a nail-biting double overtime finish. Senior midfielder Brooke Dickens scored the game-winner in the 101st minute. Durack, who came into the game at halftime, made one stop to complete the shutout for Harvard.

The Crimson has scored only one goal over its last three games and has been held scoreless over the last two. Junior forwards Midge Purce and Rachel Garcia have provided a majority of Harvard’s offense during the winless stretch, having generated a combined 15 shots on goal. Purce led the team last year with a team-best 10 goals.

Durack expects an emphasis on ball movement and offense on Thursday night, a sentiment that ninth year head coach Ray Leone echoed.

“We have to move the ball quickly,” Leone said. “That’s the way we play–try and find spaces.”

On Thursday, the Crimson will try to apply the same defensive pressure it did last season against New Hampshire and keep tabs on Wildcat sophomore midfielder/forward Brooke Murphy, who leads New Hampshire with four goals and nine points over the team’s eight games.

Senior forward Caroline Murray has also been a force for the Wildcats, tallying three assists and twelve shots on goal this season.

Harvard has come close to salvaging ties in two of the last three games. Against William & Mary, a potential game-tying shot by junior midfielder Bailey Gary hit the crossbar while a late Connecticut goal lifted Connecticut to a 2-1 victory in Storrs. The recent stretch against three ranked teams, according to Durack, is one of the most difficult—if not the most difficult—stretches that a Crimson women’s soccer team has ever had to play.

“The coaches are really good at getting us to keep things in perspective,” Durack said. “We take the lessons we learned from the previous games and apply them to the next.”

The chance to return home after three road losses, including two in three days, could be just the cure Harvard needs for its recent offensive struggles.

“The matches were exciting,” Leone said, but he emphasized that hitting the reset button would be vital to the team’s success.