W. Booters Crush Quakers

The Harvard women's soccer team, hurt by recent losses to Brown and Boston College, sought to revive its season Saturday against Pennsylvania.

And, although the win over the Quakers was expected, the margin of victory was stunning.

The Crimson (3-2-1, 2-1-0 Ivy) danced all over Penn (2-5-0, 0-3-0 Ivy) with a 10-2 victory at Ohiri Field on Saturday.

Co-Captain Robin Johnston and forward Jen Minkus scored three goals each and junior Laurie Uustal added a goal and three assists.

"It's nice to win one like this," Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton said.

More important than the victory, though, was the quality of the Crimson's play.

All the problems that had plagued the team in previous games disappeared.

The offense, which had failed to pressure opposing defenses in the recent past, came alive.

Crisp passes and heads-up hustle by Minkus, Uustal and Johnston left the Quakers' defense gasping.

The Crimson launched an impressive 40 shots on goal while limiting the Penn squad to just 10.

"We were really moving the ball well and finishing our chances," Wheaton said.

The romp was an opportunity to showcase the depth of the Crimson squad.

Junior Nicole Parent scored twice in five minutes on assists from sophomore middie Betsy Miller.

Miller showed terrific speed in breakaway after breakaway. Penn was no match for her quickness down the field.

Sophomores Patty Kornfield and Laura Flynn turned in strong minutes, as did freshman Liz McNamee. Freshman Beth Morgan notched an assist.

The only blemishs on the Crimson's slate came midway through the second half.

With the score 9-0 in Harvard's favor, Quakers forward Liz Risen scored twice in two minutes.

Wheaton was disappointed with the defensive lapse.

"We wanted to play hard for 90 minutes," Wheaton said. "We don't look to give up anything."

Co-Captain Amy Weinstein avenged the Penn strikes by scoring the final goal of the game on an unassisted breakaway.

"We came out to have fun, and look what happened," Johnston said.

Johnston offered an interesting explanation for the strong showing.

"We were a bit more relaxed," she said. "I think our intensity was choking us up a bit."

This new, relaxed attitude could be the key to a successful second half for the Crimson.

The question is whether the team can sustain this new attitude and high level of play through the rest of the season.

Upcoming matches with Ivy powers Yale and Cornell, as well as second-ranked Connecticut, should test the mettle of the rejuvenated Crimson squad.

But the Quakers massacre was definitely a step in the right direction.

"This game was a chance for us to start over," junior middie Sharon Olken said. "We had to stop dwelling on last week's losses [to Brown and Boston College]."

"We changed our point of attack, something we can use against the tougher teams," Miller said.