Cornell Tie Drops Women's Soccer into Second

The Harvard women’s soccer team entered its Saturday afternoon contest against Cornell having been shut out only once this season, more than a month ago at Boston College. As the matchup with the Big Red drew on, however, the Crimson came face to face with the prospect of laying a goose egg for a second time this season.

No matter how the team attacked the Cornell goal, Big Red sophomore goalkeeper Meghan Kennedy—and on one occasion the crossbar—found a way to keep the ball out of the back of the net.

Harvard senior forward Midge Purce came close in the 74th minute when she smashed a free kick towards the upper left corner of the goal. Kennedy got her fingertips to the shot, however, pushing it off the crossbar and back into play.

Purce’s attacking partner and fellow senior Rachel Garcia pounced on the rebound with only Kennedy between her and the goal, but the forward could only direct a volleyed shot right at the Cornell goalkeeper.

Neither team would have a better chance, and after 110 minutes of play, the matchup between the Crimson and Big Red ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

The draw ended a five-game win streak for Harvard (7-3-1, 2-0-1 Ivy) and dropped the team to second in the conference standings. Of the two other teams who entered the weekend with a 2-0 league record, Columbia won in overtime to claim sole possession of first while Princeton lost and fell to third.

Cornell (3-6-2, 0-2-1), meanwhile, earned its first points in Ivy play this season while also bouncing back from a 5-0 loss to Penn last week.

“[Cornell] came out with a game plan that took us out of our rhythm and frustrated us,” Crimson coach Chris Hamblin said. “We didn’t respond well to what we saw in the first half, but credit to them for playing out the game and earning the draw.”

The first half was certainly difficult for Harvard, as it controlled possession but could only muster three shots. The Big Red defense made sure the ball stayed in middle third of the pitch for the majority of the 45 minutes, as the Crimson had trouble building up attacking movements in the box.

Cornell hardly fared better, launching only two shots in the same time period. Neither team logged a try on target until the 37th minute.

“We didn’t come out with the same kind of energy that we have had in other games,” Hamblin said. “In the long run, that probably hurt us with the overall result.”

After halftime, however, Harvard found its rhythm on offense and came close to scoring on multiple occasions. In addition to Purce’s free kick, the Crimson attack produced several other sequences that forced Kennedy into acrobatic saves. The team launched a total of 10 shots in the second half, four of which landed on target. But none found its way into the back of the net.

While the Harvard offense had trouble all afternoon, the defense kept the Big Red off the board with relative ease. Crimson senior goalkeeper Lizzie Durack had to make a mere two saves in the entirety of the contest, though the second save came on a dangerous one-on-one with Cornell freshman defender Autumn Brown.

“Lizzie was great in goal today, as she’s been all season,” said Crimson co-captain and defender Bailey Gary. “She keeps us going throughout the game, talking to us in the back.”

Harvard was able to put in an impressive defensive performance despite the absence of sophomore defender Alli Wiggins; junior midfielder Dani Stollar filled in nicely in her spot. Together, the back line limited the Big Red to just eight shots in 110 minutes.

“It seems that whoever needs to step in can fit in right away,” Gary said. “It’s nice that we can mix it up in the back and maintain a high standard of play.”

The Crimson now hopes that the offense can return to the level of play that characterized its recent five-game winning streak, during which Harvard scored 11 goals. However, only a few weeks remain in the season to put together on both sides of the field.

–Staff writer George Hu can be reached at yianshenhu@college.harvard.edu.