Columbia Is First League Test For Ivy Contending W. Soccer

This season for the Harvard women's soccer team is about putting it all together.

Two years ago the team garnered a NCAA birth without winning the Ivy League and then last year the team brought home the league title, but was unable to secure a slot in the tournament. This season could be the chance for the Crimson to put it all together and win both the league title and a NCAA bid.

But despite the automatic bid now guaranteed the Ivy League champion, the Crimson has to pull its game together on the field before the other accolades begin to fall into place.

The Crimson's season opener against UNH, a 2-1 win, left fans on the edge of their seats a bit too long for comfort.

"Against UNH we weren't dynamic," junior midfielder Emily Stauffer said.

The team was planning on working on its consistency and team chemistry in a midweek battle against the University of Hartford. But the Wednesday contest was postponed until the beginning of October due to persistent rain. So where does this leave the team?

It leaves the team with its Ivy league opener today against Columbia coming off a shaky start.

"We would have liked to play Hartford because it would be a good game due to their experience," Stauffer said.

But without the Hartford preparation, the Crimson will attack the Lions with the same goals in mind.

"We're focusing on possession in addition to more dynamic runs toward the goal, creating a greater offensive threat," Stauffer said.

Although Columbia consistently finds itself at the bottom of the Ivy pack, Stauffer emphasizes that there is a lot of spirit in every Ivy contest, especially this year with the automatic bid.

She illustrates the seriousness of every Ivy game by citing the Crimson's experience in the Big Apple the last time around. Two years ago, despite outshooting the Lions 54 to 4, the Crimson only managed to the Columbia, 2-2.

So by putting it all together on the field against Columbia, Harvard has its first opportunity to show the Ivy League that the only fluke in last year's season was that it didn't get an NCAA berth.