Notorious G.I.Z.

In the 82nd minute of the Harvard women's soccer team's 2-0 loss to No. 3 and unbeaten Connecticut yesterday, Harvard co-captain Emily Stauffer sent a cross into the UConn box.

Junior midfielder Julia Blain took the touch, but she struck the ball poorly, and her shot rolled harmlessly wide of the net.

On the sideline, a dejected Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton dropped his head and muttered, "Some days it's just not meant to happen."

Wheaton's comment expressed the overwhelming sentiment generated by yesterday's match. It simply was not Harvard's day. But for 20 minutes in the first half, it appeared that it would be.

After UConn controlled the ball for the initial three minutes of action, Harvard gained its first possession and wrested control of the match from the Huskies. Over the next 20 minutes, Harvard riddled the UConn goal, taking no less than seven quality shots.

During the stretch, it was difficult to discern whether it was the Huskies or the Crimson that had an undefeated record. Harvard, the No. 22 team in the nation, was playing in its typical disciplined, organized, relentless style.

But in the game's 23rd minute, a strange sequence of events changed the tone of the match. Harvard junior forward Gina Foster was on a break when UConn senior midfielder Jennifer Tietjen tripped her from behind at the top of the 18-yard box. In a questionable decision, the referee issued Tietjen a red card, automatically ejecting her from the game.

Eighteen seconds later, Harvard senior forward and leading scorer Naomi Miller was injured while winning a ball in midair. Miller left the game and did not return in the first half.

Although having one more player on the pitch than UConn, Harvard all but fell apart. The Huskies, however, elevated their level of play considerably. Miller returned in the second half, and Harvard mounted a series of attacks late in the match, but never again did the Crimson play the style of soccer that characterized its eight-game unbeaten streak.

That streak was snapped in yesterday's loss, but it was broken more because of what Harvard did than because of what UConn did.

Harvard was 7-0-1 in its eight matches prior to yesterday, the lone blemish a 1-1 tie against Boston University. In those seven victories, Harvard used accurate passing and patience to create numerous scoring chances and to capitalize on enough of those to win.

In its one tie, the Crimson shied away from this system and achieved a less-than-desirable result against a mediocre B.U. squad. The same phenomenon occurred yesterday. The difference in final score is only a reflection of the difference in talent level between the Terriers and the Huskies.

But B.U. visited Ohiri Field three weeks and five games ago. So why did Harvard revert to an ineffective approach now, when it seemed that had been left in the past? Who knows?

Maybe it was because of Miller's departure, although Harvard has enough weapons to pick up the slack when anyone goes down. Perhaps the Crimson grew complacent due to its man advantage.

Whatever the reason, Harvard faltered against an opponent it could not afford to falter against.

UConn deserves some credit. The Huskies clogged the middle of the field effectively, preventing the Crimson from making good passes or strong runs. And most of the breaks went UConn's way as well.

In the 11th minute of play, Stauffer fired a shot on goal that sailed over the crossbar by inches. Five minutes later, another rocket off Stauffer's boot hit the crossbar and rebounded to Miller, whose chip over UConn goalkeeper Anne-Elisabeth Eskerud also struck the crossbar. That's pretty bad luck.

On the other end of the field, UConn's first tally nearly defined good fortune. The Huskies' Margaret Tietjen--twin sister of ejected Jennifer--avenged her sister's plight in the 28th minute when her cross from the endline sailed over the Harvard crossbar and miraculously struck the side of the net inside the far post.

One sister accidentally scores less than five minutes after the other was ejected. Eerie. The Fates must have been against the Crimson.

If Harvard's players can take some comfort from the loss, it is that they were not overmatched--they contributed to their own demise. When the Crimson played in the manner it is capable of and usually does, it dictated the course of the game--a game against the No. 3 team in the nation.

As Harvard junior forward Beth Zotter put it: "We're all happy that we're mad that we lost."

What Harvard needs to do is continue to play ball-control soccer and start its run from its defense. When the Crimson does that for a full 90 minutes, it is able to create better spacing for the attack to make well-executed plays.

The truth is that the Huskies did nothing to prevent the Crimson from playing as it did against George Mason, Northeastern, Cornell or any other opponent--Harvard actually outshot UConn, 21-11.

If nothing else, the Crimson proved that it can hang with any team in the country.

The question is: How does Harvard achieve its goal of consistently playing its disciplined style and avoid lapses? I don't have the answer.

Harvard needs to figure that out on its own.