Tight Scrapes for W. Booters

With eight freshmen on the Harvard women's soccer team, the Crimson's immediate goal in its season opener against Columbia Saturday at Ohiri Field was to play solidly for 90 minutes.

A 1-0 victory over the hapless Lions (0-2-0, 0-1-0 Ivy) and a 0-0 overtime draw yesterday at Maine was a satisfying start, according to Coach Tim Wheaton.

"We were most effective when we played quickly and simply," Wheaton said. "[The games] gave us some stuff to work on."

The Crimson (1-0-1, 1-0-0 Ivy) dominated the action from the beginning against Columbia, controlling the ball in the Lion's end for the first four minutes of the game.

Nine Corners, One Goal

By the time the first half ended, Harvard held a 1-0 lead powered by 17 shots and nine corner kicks to Columbia's two shots and zero corners.

"The kids were excited," Wheaton said. "I was happy to see a lot of opportunities."

The Crimson even held a wide margin in the dubious category of fouls committed, amassing 26 infractions to three for the Lions over the entire game.

Yet, it was the first Columbia foul that set up the lone goal of the game.

A handball in the Columbia defensive zone gave junior Elizabeth Eynon a penalty kick. But the Lion goalie got enough of her hands on the ball to deflect it over the net.

Instead of losing its momentum from the missed opportunity, the Crimson kept the pressure on the Lions and scored off the ensuing corner kick.

Freshman Dana Tenser set up sophomore Katherine DeLellis, who passed the ball to the wide-open co-captain Martha Schneider.

The ball found itself firmly in the lower left-half portion of the Lion net a split-second later, giving Harvard a 1-0 lead 13 minutes into the game.

In the second half the Crimson displayed some of its inexperience, turning the ball over several times.

Donahoe Sharp

Despite facing only six Columbia shots in the contest, senior goalkeeper Brooke Donahoe remained sharp throughout to seal the win for Harvard.

Donahoe was one of the main reasons the Crimson was able to manage a tie against a more athletic Maine team yesterday, as she stopped 14 Black Bear shots.

The Crimson banged a couple of balls off the posts against Maine as it had also done against Columbia and learned the painful lesson that the metal up in the Northeast is not conducive to goal-scoring.

The Crimson struggled for the first part of the game, but Maine also found the goalposts to be difficult foes.

"Maine took us out of our rhythm for a while," Wheaton said, "but we battled hard and fought for the ball near the end."

Freshman defender Cara James had a strong debut weekend, making several big plays on both sides of the field.

"It felt really good to play," James said. "We had some miscommunication, but our lapses were covered."