Women Booters Trip Elis, 2-0

It seemed so fitting.

As the darkness closed in on Soldiers Field the Crimson seniors closed out their varsity careers and the Harvard women's soccer team closed out its very successful season with a 2-0 sleepwalk past Yale yesterday afternoon.

The win gives the Crimson a final season record of 14-7--not quite so sparking as last seasons 15-1-1 finish, but one that included two wins and a loss in this past weekend's national tournament in Colorado Springs, in which the Crimson finished third.

Yesterday's game marked the second time this season that Harvard's battle against Yale was somewhat of an anti-climax. In the Ivy tournament, the Crimson cruised to a 3-0 win over the Elis after falling to Brown in the semifinals only an hour before.

This time the team returned from the nationals, flying high after Sunday's 5-3 win over the University of North Carolina, but dead tired after flying high from Denver to Atlanta to Baltimore to Boston and not arriving in Cambridge until five o'clock yesterday morning.

Following a little bit of sleep and the exams some team members had to take yesterday, the Crimson booters made their way onto the field to fight Yale as well as the mistakes of the schedule maker. But neither could end the Crimson's season on a sour note.

Right On

The game opened with an immediate, if somewhat sluggish Harvard press deep into the Yale zone. Before the Elis gained control of the ball, Crimson co-captain Sue St. Louis, playing her last game in a Harvard uniform, placed a perfect crossing pass in front of freshman striker Joan Elliott, who directed the ball into the net and sent Yale goalie Angie Harris sprawling at 4:54.

Harvard kept the ball in the Yale end for most of the half, but failed to convert on several good scoring opportunities.

Yale threatened only once before intermission. Eli Striker Elizabeth Rapaport streaked up the field on the wing, past the Crimson defense, to within 20 yards of the net. She let a hard shot fly, but Crimson keeper Janet Judge came up with a fine save.

The second half went along pretty much like the first, with Harvard never really in danger of giving up a goal, keeping the ball on the offensive.

Kerry Bryan, also playing in her last game for Harvard, went out in style, scoring the Crimson's second goal on a beautiful chip shot from well outside the top of the penalty area that soared over Harris's head and into the net at 31:50.

From then on, the team tried to get the game over as fast as possible.

What Time Is It?

Crimson coach Bob Scalise kept manager Lisa Glenn busy, asking how much time was left every 30 seconds. St. Louis left the game with 11 minutes to go and a big smile on her face, but perhaps a few tears in the corners of her eyes. Fellow senior and co-captain Gia Johnson, a standout performer in the midfield all season long, came out with four minutes to go, amid the cheers of her teammates.

And the Crimson bench joined in with Glenn in counting down the last ten seconds of the game--and of a season that will take a long time to forget.

THE NOTEBOOK: Wendy Sonnabend, Cecile Scoon and Tricia Welch also closed out their Harvard careers in yesterday's game. Senior Sara Fischer concluded her Crimson soccer days over the weekend, as she remained in Colorado Springs, her home town, for a few extra days....Ann Diamond returned to the Crimson nets for the second half of yesterday's game, after yielding her position to Judge in Saturday's tournament game with Cortland State because she was so cold.

PRO RESULTS

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Oakland 19, Seattle 17

NHL

N.Y. Islanders 2, Minnesota 1