Fans Pack Stands for Women’s Soccer Team's Championship

An energetic and focused women’s soccer team took to the field Saturday, clinching the Ivy League championship with relatives, alumni, students, and fellow athletes filling the stands.

Harvard won the suspenseful game against Columbia 2-1 in double overtime. Onlookers crowded the picnic tables and grass surrounding the field to cheer on the athletes and recognize the team’s seniors in their last game of the regular season.

After Harvard and Columbia scored in the first half, the crowd watched anxiously as the tied game went into the second period of extra time until forward Rachel Garcia ’17 scored the game-winning goal, earning them the Ivy League title and a bid to the NCAA tournament.

By Timothy R. O'Meara

It was a moment of triumph and celebration amid what have been turbulent times for Harvard Athletics. Many students attended the game, cheering on their friends and roommates.

“My roommate is on the team, and we figured it is also a good time to support the women’s team in light of everything, and it’s the Ivy Title,” Liv R. Gundrum ’18, a goalie on the women’s lacrosse team, said.

The victory for the team came days after Harvard cancelled the men's soccer team’s season in light of the discovery that the men’s team had created sexually explicit “scouting reports” for several years, including in 2016. In the documents, members of the men’s team assessed recruits on the women’s soccer team based on their perceived attractiveness and sexual appeal. Six women who were freshmen recruits on the 2012 women’s soccer team responded to the “reports” in a joint op-ed, urging others to combat “this type of behavior.”

The mood in the stands during the game burgeoned with enthusiasm and support. Sarah N. Michieka ’17, wielding a bright poster honoring captain Bailey A. Gary ’17, was among the large number of Harvard students cheering at the game.

“We’re here for Bailey, basically all her friends are going to show up,” Michieka said.

Many athletes’ families came out to support the team at Saturday’s game, including both parents of senior players and those of underclassmen on campus for Freshman Family Weekend. The family of team member Margaret M. Purce ’17, who scored Harvard’s first goal, flew in from Maryland to cheer for her, according to her brother J.P. Purce.

Fellow athletes also came out for the game—members of Harvard-Radcliffe Heavyweight Crew, Track and Field, Squash, Swim and Diving, Women’s Lacrosse, and Women’s Basketball teams cheered the soccer players on from the stands.

Members of the Women's Lacrosse team watching Saturday's soccer game. By Ryosuke Takashima

“I’m a big supporter of the female sports, and I know this is an Ivy League game,” basketball player Sydney E. Skinner ’19 said. Sprinter Ngozi Musa ’19 emphasized the importance of “general support for women athletes” and added that she and Skinner had just come from a women’s field hockey game.

Members of the men’s soccer team were present at the women’s game as well, but declined to comment. The men’s soccer team apologized "for the harm our words and actions have caused women everywhere" in a joint op-ed after their season was cancelled.

Following the team’s victory, a Gatorade-soaked Head Coach Chris Hamblin expressed his pride in the achievement, saying he was “so proud of the group and how they’ve applied themselves.” He added that the team will regroup on Monday to prepare for their first NCAA game.

Meanwhile, Gary said the team was excited by the large number of fans, especially the other athletes present.

“We absolutely love the support. It’s great to see any teams out here, especially women’s teams supporting other teams because I know that sometimes we are lacking in the fans department, but it’s been really awesome, and we’ve felt that support and that momentum from the other teams,” she said.

The time and location of the team’s first NCAA game is not yet known.

—Staff writer Brittany N. Ellis can be reached at brittany.ellis@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @britt_ellis10.