W. Booters Meet B.C.

Harvard's women's soccer team stages its annual neighborhood rumble with cross-town rival Boston College this afternoon at Ohiri Field.

"I consider them to be our biggest rival outside of the league," Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton said. "They're just across town from us and a lot of our players know their players. It's just one of those games you like to win for pride reasons."

The Eagles are 4-4 on the year and coming off of a hard-fought 1-0 loss to Connecticut.

"They're a good team, but they've been a little bit unlucky this season," Wheaton said. "They've played some very good teams and have lost a number of close games. They're going to be hungry coming in."

Wheaton thinks Boston College's most salient virtue is its athleticism.

"More than anything, they're very athletic," he said. "They are very fast and strong--definitely one of the more athletic teams we will face this year."

In terms of particular strengths and weaknesses, Wheaton said the Eagles resemble the Crimson.

"They're like us in the sense that they have a very solid defense--they have a lot of there top athletes in halfback and fullback positions--and they have a little bit of trouble scoring goals," he said. "Like us, they definitely are working on improving their offensive punch."

Despite losing to Ivy rival Brown Saturday, Harvard (2-2 overall, 1-1 Ivy) is entering today's contest with a bit of momentum. The squad is playing with more tenacity and savvy than it has all season.

"We were in the unusual situation this year where some of our tougher games were at the beginning of the year," Wheaton said. "That was a tough way to start the season and our play showed it--we were a little inhibited, and, generally, not playing real well."

"Now we're getting our act together," Wheaton said. "We're coming together as a team, playing hard, and generally doing the things we need to do to win."

Wheaton said that his team's improvement puts it at exactly the competitive level where it needs to be right now.

"At this point in the year, as a coach, you just hope to be able to say that your team is a little bit better after each game--that's what you use as a measuring stick for success," he said. "If that's the case, then we're doing fine."

"Of course," he added, "If we could get a win against BC before going into the heart of our Ivy schedule, we'd be doing a little bit better."