W. Soccer Garners Big Win Over Penn

Ever had one of those dreams that keeps on recurring?

That oh-so-familiar beginning comes and you know what's going to happen next, and more often than not the ending will be the same.

If you're the Harvard women's soccer team (4-2-2 overall, 2-0-1 Ivy), then the answer would be a resounding "yes." But these aren't figments of the players' imaginations. Rather, they are real-life games.

The finish was a little different Saturday night, however, as the Crimson blanked Pennsylvania (0-3 Ivy), 1-0, at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

The match showed striking similarities to a number of Harvard performances this season, namely its ties against weaker Columbia and Fairfield squads.

The Crimson would control the action of the game and outshoot its opponents by a wide margin, but for one reason or another it looked as if the net were sprayed with ball repellent.

"We dominated the game but couldn't connect," junior fullback Sara Noonan said. "It seems to be our theme this year."

The rest of script would often go as follows: the opponent gets one or two good scoring chances and is able to convert, depriving Harvard of its hard-fought win.

Saturday could have had the same finish except for the stellar play of sophomore goalkeeper Phoebe Cummings, who filled in for freshman net-minder Dana Krein in the second half.

Penn thought it would tie the score for sure late in the game when one of its players had broken through the Harvard defense and came in on Cummings.

Instead of letting the attacker make the first move on her, Cummings charged towards the player and slide-tackled the ball off her foot and out of danger.

"Cummings did a great job," Coach Tim Wheaton said. "It's a team thing--we have a lot of people who can come in and play well."

After outplaying the Quakers for most of the first 45 minutes but coming into the break scoreless, the Crimson finally broke through for the only goal of the game 18:42 into the second half.

Sophomore Rachel Chernikoff brought the ball down the field to the goal line and chipped it to co-captain Beth Morgan.

Morgan then directed the orb to freshman Emily Stauffer, who volleyed it from the outside edge of the six-yard box and by the Quaker keeper to put Harvard on top and allow the team a brief sigh of relief.

"We had control of most of the play," Wheaton said. "But the longer [Penn] was in the game the tougher it was getting."

Penn is a weaker squad than Harvard, but it did have one thing going for it as an equalizer--the astrotruf field.

The Crimson had trouble adjusting to the slick carpet, as many a ball skipped away from the intended targets and out of bounds.

While the Harvard offense had trouble clicking early in the tilt, the defenders didn't have the same problem and were able to stand up to the quick Penn attackers and stymie most scoring chances.

"It was an odd game--we had to acclimate ourselves a little bit," Noonan said. "The ball runs a lot faster, so we had to control it with our feet well."

The victory keeps Harvard in control of its fate in the Ivies, as it remains within one point of first-place Brown.

The two schools will square off in the season finale on November 5.

However, the Crimson can't afford to sleepwalk its way to that game, as struggling arch-rival Yale comes into town this Saturday.

Otherwise, Harvard's sweet Ivy dreams might turn into a real-life nightmare.

"Yale beat us last year," Wheaton said. "It's one of those games that is always a battle. We have to be prepared. Harvard  1 Penn  0