Dominating Crimson Eeks Out Tie

Blaaaah. Get the mouthwash. Again.

As if one peck on the ol' brother's cheek wasn't enough this month, the members of Harvard women's soccer team once again put in very solid performances only to leave the field with a bittersweet taste in their mouths.

After 90 minutes of regulation play and a 30-minute overtime period at Ohiri Field yesterday afternoon, the Crimson (4-5-2 overall, 2-1-1 Ivy) and New Hampshire called it a game with the score notched at 2-2.

Last Saturday at home, Harvard tied league-rival Cornell, 1-1.

"We played very, very well," Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton said yesterday, repeating his post-game mantra as-of-late. "If we hadn't give them some fluke goals, we would have won. I was happy with our play."

"In the past we would have been really happy with this tie," he added. "New Hampshire was on today. But this year, especially after the tie to Cornell and the all the close games we've lost, we needed a win."

What makes the tie all the more painful is the fact that Harvard had New Hampshire on the ropes all afternoon. The Crimson outshot the Wildcats 11-9 and had seven corner-kick opportunities as opposed to New Hampshire's three. In addition, Harvard was able to control the ball for most of the game, something the Crimson have had trouble doing all season.

"We did the best job we've done all season at controlling the ball and generating shot opportunities," Wheaton said. "We were looking very good offensively, which was very encouraging."

New Hampshire struck first as star forward Denise Lee scored during a terrible defensive lapse by the Crimson with 4:35 left in the first half.

Then, after the break, Harvard retaliated. Junior forward Libby Eynon dribbled down the sideline and dumped the ball off in the middle to senior forward Laurie Uustal. Rushing the crease, Uustal kicked it past sprawled goalie Molly Kirchner to tie the game with 21:31 left in regulation play.

It was Eynon's first assist and Uustal's second goal on the season.

But Lee struck again with 17:40 left, giving the Wildcats the lead and what looked for a time like the win.

Unwilling to yield, however, Harvard controlled the offensive side for the rest of the contest. The effort bore fruit when Eynon came through again for the Crimson with a second assist with 5:15 left.

After battling down the field, Eynon found forward Katie DeLellis at the front of the goal, where the freshman notched the score with her third goal of the season.

Wheaton cited three juniors--Eynon, Laura Flynn, and Martha Schneider--as the stand-out players in the game for the Crimson.

"Laura played a great game all-around, and Libby had some key passes for us," he said. "Martha was put into a new position [marking back] and did an excellent job."

"But really everyone played a good game," he said. "We'll just have to put this one behind us and get ready for Yale on Tuesday."

The tie put the Wildcats' record at 3-8-1 on the season.