W. Soccer Looks to Avoid Tigers' Trap

The Harvard women's soccer team travels to Princeton tomorrow to take on the Tigers in a huge Ivy League game. At 3-1 in the league, Princeton (9-4 overall) is only one game behind the Crimson, and Harvard needs this win to stay atop the standings.

The game takes on even greater importance because Harvard (8-3-1, 4-0 Ivy) is coming off a tough 2-0 loss Wednesday to the undefeated UConn Huskies, who are ranked No. 3 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll.

Despite outshooting UConn 21-11 and playing up one player because of a first-half red card, the Crimson was unable to capitalize on a number of opportunities and left the field with its first loss in the last nine games. Team members said the loss didn't affect their confidence.

"It was a decent outcome, but what we realized is that we could have done better than decent," junior goalkeeper Anne Browning said. "We definitely had our chances, but we weren't able to capitalize. We got some unlucky breaks, and our play wasn't so pretty to watch at times.

"But I've never doubted that we are one of the best teams in the nation, and that we deserve to play with the best. As time goes on, we'll prove to be the team that reflects our pre-season ranking [as high as No. 6 in some polls]."

Outside of the UConn game, Harvard has been dominant over the last five weeks, winning seven games and tying one while outscoring its opponents an astonishing 16 goals to four. This run left the Crimson in a tie for first place in the Ivy League with No. 8 Dartmouth (10-1-1, 4-0 Ivy). Through these wins, Harvard ran up a streak of 251 minutes without relinquishing a goal.

The Crimson has been led by an array of great players. Senior forward Naomi Miller, the 1997 Ivy League Player of the Year, has five goals and 15 points this season, both team-leading marks.

Co-captain Emily Stauffer, a midfielder, is a two-time All-American and two-time Ivy League Player of the Year, as well as Harvard's career assist leader. She has also collected 15 points on four goals and seven assists.

With a win over Princeton tomorrow, the Crimson would stay undefeated in the Ivy League, and keep pace with Dartmouth, in preparation for their Halloween day show-down here at Ohiri Field which could well decide the Ivy championship.

But first, Harvard needs to get by the Tigers.

"Last year, we had a great game against the Princeton team," Browning said. "But if they win this weekend, they would be tied for league championship if we beat Dartmouth. We can't look beyond this game because this is their whole season."

Princeton is in the midst of its best season in years. Although they have cooled off with losses to Virginia last Saturday and Seton Hall on Wednesday, the Tigers have won six of eight, including six-goal outbursts against Lehigh and Bucknell.

Against Lehigh, sophomore Jennie Platt recorded one of the most impressive scoring bursts in Ivy League soccer history, tallying four goals in 11 minutes. Her second goal, coming only 19 seconds after her first, was the fifth-fastest repeated goal in NCAA history. She is also only the third Princeton player to score four goals in one game.

Other standouts for the Tigers include junior forward Dana DeCore, a second team All-Ivy player last year, who has six goals for the season, and sophomore Tanya Kalivas, who has scored four.

This would be a huge win for the Tigers, as they would move into uncontested second-place in the league, and maintain their outside shot for the Ivy title.

"Last year, we did real well against [Princeton]," junior midfielder Julia Blain said. "They are a great team, but we have a good history against them. We're all excited about playing. Princeton's gotten a lot better, but we have too, and I think our team's improving with every game.

"We are also staying really focused, because, if we don't beat them, the game against Dartmouth won't mean anything. We want to beat them big, so Dartmouth will know what they're up against."

The teams face off at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Princeton's Lourie-Love Field.