Radcliffe Soccer Overcomes Smith, 3-1

So you thought St. Louis wouldn't win anything this year, huh? Well, the Cardinals may not have, but Harvard freshman Sue St. Louis did, scoring a hat trick to lead the women's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over Smith yesterday.

St. Louis' three goals gave her five for the season in just two games, and only a string of bad luck prevented her from tallying more. She hit the post twice in the first 25 minutes before beating the seemingly impenetrable framework with a hard ground shot past the outstretched hand of the Smith goalie with 6:30 left in the first half.

Early in the second period St. Louis struck again. Taking a pass from Ellen Hart on the left wing, she out-dueled Smith defender Abbie Ellicott for the ball before turning and ramming a shot worthy of Giorgio Chinaglia into the lower right corner of the net.

Only five minutes later, after Smith's Lisa Rustemeyer had closed the score to 2-1 with a beautiful header, St. Louis completed her hat trick. She beat the Smith goalie to another pass from Hart, with great hustle, then dribbled around her sprawled opponent before drilling a tough angle shot into the empty goal. As Coach Bob Scalise said after the game, Sue St. Louis has a "knack for scoring goals."

As Scalise also emphasized, however, the Radcliffe victory was far from being a one-woman show. Fine support from the Crimson's other forwards, particularly Hart and Suki Magraw, gave St. Louis frequent goal-scoring opportunities in front of the net.

Magraw, despite playing with a minor injury, controlled the ball well under pressure and played with poise throughout the contest.

Center half-back Kathy Batter, one of last year's stars, haunted the Smith booters all day by consistently showing up at the right place at the right time.

Early on, Batter played offensively, taking a couple of long shots to help shake Radcliffe out of a lethargic start. Later, she dropped back when the forwards took control. As Scalise explained after the contest "Kathy reads the game extremely well."

Scalise was also pleased with the play of Sarah Fischer at center fullback. Like Batter, she always seemed in control, never hurrying her play when Smith made one of their infrequent attacks.

This year's Radcliffe varsity soccer team (1-1 so far) is a far cry from the squad that Smith beat 4-1 a year ago. Though the freshman-sophmore dominated team still needs work on fundamentals, as Scalise said, "each time out it gets a little bit better."