Women's Soccer Fails to Find Net in Fourth Shutout

For the fourth time in five games, the Harvard women’s soccer team was unable to find the back of the net. However, the team points to an uptick in offensive attack as a bright spot as it heads into Ivy play.

Providence freshman forward Casey Estey willed the Friars to a 1-0 win over the Crimson (2-6-1) on Tuesday night at Jordan Field. After coming off the bench, Estey scored the game’s only goal of of a pass dished by senior forward Kathryn Hiller. Estey was the focal point of a Providence (7-3-0) attack that spent much of the game in the Crimson zone.

Harvard was able to generate more scoring chances than in Sunday’s loss at Massachusetts, but still found itself shut out.

“I definitely think this was our best effort thus far,” junior forward Karly Zlatic said. “We put it all out there on the line and I think that really showed. It’s really good going into Ivy League play. We’ve just got to get the goals in the back of the net and we’ll be ready to go.”

A pass from senior forward Kathryn Hiller gave Estey a breakaway in the game’s 48th minute. The Harvard defense gave chase but the first-year lifted it over Harvard freshman goalkeeper Danielle Etzel to give the Friars the only score they would need.

It was the second collegiate goal for the Kensington, N.H. native, who had five shots on the night and generated scoring chances for a Providence offense that had 14 shots for the game.

Etzel was one of several Crimson reserves who saw major minutes for Harvard in what was both teams’ final tuneup before their respective conference schedules begin this weekend. Freshman midfielder Zayne Matulis, sophomore midfielder Caroline Chagares, and sophomore forward Gabby Kaplan each started the game and logged at least 50 minutes of action.

Junior forward Midge Purce, the team’s leading scorer, and senior defender Alika Keene did not play for the Crimson. 22 of the 27 players on the Harvard roster saw action in Tuesday’s game, by far the most players the Crimson has used in a game this season.

The six losses are the most a Harvard team has had to open up Ivy League play since 2006.

“It is definitely different going in with our record being the way it is, but I think that just gives us an edge on every other team and we’ll be ready to go,” Zlatic said.

While the Crimson managed only one shot on goal-a save on a Rachel Garcia shot-Harvard took 13 shots and had six corner kicks on the evening. The team has only scored five goals this season, including just three in its four home contests. Garcia led Harvard with three shots while Kaplan and Zlatic had two apiece.

“We have to score goals,” junior co-captain Carly Rotatori said. “A lot of teams have really strong offenses, really strong defenses, but I think the biggest thing for us is to focus on is the things we can do personally.”

Despite the Friars’ 14 shots and seven corner kicks, the Crimson defense was able to limit Providence to only six shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Lizzie Durack made three first half saves before being replaced at halftime by Etzel.

Rotatori and sophomore midfielder Dani Stollar helped stabilize the defense in the second half while Stollar also helped lead Harvard offensive rushes.

“I think we came out really hard, played really well for the first half,” Rotatori said. “For the second half, we had a lot of scoring opportunities. I think the positive is we played really well, we reached a really high potential. This game showed we can really work hard and get scoring opportunities to win.”

The Friars’ defensive core of junior goalkeeper Kristyn Shea and defenders Hailee Duserick, Allison Mills, and Catherine Zimmerman played all 90 minutes.

Tuesday marked the third time Providence has defeated the Crimson all-time and the first time since 1990.

“I definitely think this will give us a strong backbone coming off such a hard couple of games,” Rotatori said. “We now know how to fight to the last minute, have an endurance in tough situations, being able to fight back when you’re down a goal.”

Harvard faces its first Ancient Eight opponent when it faces Penn on Sept. 26th at home. Led by a pair of goals from Purce, the Crimson defeated the Quakers last season, 3-0.

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