Women’s Soccer To Begin Ivy League Play Against Penn

The Harvard women’s soccer team (5-3-0, 0-0-0 Ivy) is heading into conference play on a hot streak, having won its last three games by a combined margin of 8-2. Unfortunately for the Crimson, however, lining up on the opposite side of the field this Saturday afternoon will be Penn (4-1-1, 0-0-0), the only team in the Ivy League that can lay claim to having even more momentum.

The Quakers have gone unbeaten in their past five games, winning four of them and outscoring opponents by a combined margin of 11-2 over this stretch. They have not beaten the Crimson since 2012, but with confidence riding high after a great start to the season and the support of its home crowd, Penn has a great chance to break the losing streak.

Harvard will also be undertaking its longest road trip of the conference slate when it travels down to Philadelphia, Penn., to face the Quakers. This aspect of the matchup is something the Crimson is prepared for, however, as it has already played four road games this season. The team has gone as far from Cambridge as Louisville, KY, where it faced off against the Cardinals more than two weeks ago. Harvard will bring a 2-2-0 road record into Saturday’s contest, and Penn will counter with a solid 3-1-1 home record.

“We played a variety of opponents from both in and out of the region during our nonconference schedule,” coach Chris Hamblin said. “We played four road games in a row at one point, so we feel that we’re well-prepared to go into any environment and play our game.”

While conference games usually mean seeing familiar faces again, Harvard has a unique challenge this year in preparing for several young upstarts on the Quakers, whose two leading points-scorers are freshmen. Forward Emma Loving has three goals to lead the team in that category, while fellow newcomer and midfielder Emily Sands has contributed two goals and two assists. Despite both playing in their first season at Penn, these two players have demonstrated their abilities to compete at the college level and will try to cause problems for the Crimson defense this weekend.

Despite Penn having key players, the Crimson will not spend too much time changing up its style to negate the effects of these two players. Instead, it will rely on its tried-and-true method of defending Penn as a whole.

“We try to look at teams as a whole, and try to stop their entire attack rather than just a few players in particular,” Hamblin said. “Penn might have some standouts, but we’ll still approach our defensive strategy from a big-picture view.”

Penn’s offensive output has, as a whole, been quite spread out this year, with everyone who stepped onto the field having an impact. Seven different players have found the back of the net, with no one scoring more than Loving. Harvard is well equipped for this challenge, as it has an experienced backline of defenders who can each hold her own.

Team co-captain Bailey Gary, junior Candy Janachowski, and sophomore Alli Wiggins have provided a reliable blanket in defense, each starting all eight games that the Crimson have played in so far. Another junior defender, Marie Becker, has also featured prominently in the back four as it has tried to develop a strong chemistry before heading into conference play.

“We’re a group that really plays for each other,” Gary said. “After playing with each other for so long, we know each others’ tendencies, and we have each others’ backs on the field. ”

The Harvard offense, meanwhile, has a clear leader in senior forward Midge Purce, who has paced the team with seven goals and two assists. After scoring twice against Villanova at home last Sunday, Purce is now in a three-way tie for third on the all-time school goal-scoring list, with Noami Miller ’99 and Emily Stauffer ’99.

Another goal would take Purce into sole possession of third place. Purce already has two career goals against the Quakers, and is part of a senior class that has never lost to them. Penn’s defense will do its best to contain Purce, and change that fact, on Saturday.

“We’re excited to get on the bus down there and face Penn,” Gary said. “Starting the conference schedule is always an interesting transition from the busy nonconference schedule - there are fewer games now but each one is more important - but we feel that we’re ready for it.”

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