Women's Cross Country, Soccer at Ivies Today

"We're healthy, we're confident, we're talented. We've beaten the second- and third-seeded teams, and there's no reason we shouldn't win the tournament," Harvard assistant coach Susanna Kaplan said yesterday on the eve of the Ivy League women's soccer championship. The tournament kicks off today for the top-seeded Crimson with a 10 a.m. semi-final match-up against Yale.

"We look at winning the Ivies as a Harvard tradition. It's kind of a Harvard trophy," Kaplan added.

Indeed, all indications point to the Crimson's recapturing the title they won in 1978-79 but temporarily loaned to Brown last year.

Health: When you've got your health you've got everything. The squad is in as good shape as it has been all year. Cancellation of Tuesday's game at UMass due to dangerous conditions provided extra time for goalie Janet Judge and midfielder Jeannie Piersak to nurse nagging injuries.

Confidence: What doesn't destroy me makes me stronger. Harvard came out of a recent series of games against nationally top-ranked teams alive and kicking. A poor performance against UConn was followed by a superlative one against Princeton, and co-captain Cat Ferrante, for one, found the contrast invaluable. "Back-to-back games let us know the difference in how it feels to play good and bad. If things go bad, now we know what to change."

No Hands

Talent: There's no substitute for it. Even if the feet on the Crimson bench can't fill the shoes on the field, there's no overlooking the ability of Harvard's starting 11. Striker Kelly Landry broke Sue St. Louis's season scoring record two games ago, and Landry, co-striker Alicia Carrillo, Ferrante et. al. are the first Harvard team with the skills to operate a ball-control offense effectively.

The Crimson doesn't fear this morning's semi-final game with Yale. Although the Bulldogs chalked up a 1-0 win over Cornell yesterday in the tourney's opening round, they have never beaten Harvard in the five-year history of Ivy varsity women's soccer. The Crimson, for better or worse, are looking past Yale to a 7 p.m. championship game against third-seeded Brown or second-seeded host Princeton, slated to meet in the other semi-final.

Kaplan called the Bruin-Tiger contest a toss-up. "Hopefully they'll beat each other into the ground," she said. Princeton beat Brown 4-3 earlier in the season.