W. Soccer Claims Ivy Crown

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--In a match that often looked like a sluggish Crimson shooting drill, Harvard blanked Brown 4-0 in front of a crowd of 200 to capture its fourth Ivy crown in five years.

Senior midfielder Ashley Berman found senior forward Gina Foster in a crowd at the back post on a corner kick, and Foster touched it to freshman forward Beth Totman for a one-timer it from only five yards out to put the Crimson ahead for good in the 11th minute.

Harvard (14-1-1, 7-0 Ivy), which got a bye into the second round of the NCAAs, will next play the winner of Fairfield and Boston University this Sunday at Ohiri Field at 1 p.m. Brown (3-12-2, 0-6-1) now returns to the books and will begin a rebuilding process for next season.

Both teams looked lethargic in warm-ups, as they traded yawns before the 11:00 a.m. kick-off. When the whistle blew, Harvard was caught off-guard by a confusing Brown formation.

While Harvard anticipated that Brown would pack the defensive end against a potent Crimson offense, the Bears decided to leave the midfield thin and send a number of players forward.

"They played a formation that were had never really seen before, where they packed in the defense and pushed a lot of people up high," co-captain Beth Zotter said. "That left the midfield basically empty of Brown players."

The result was early kick-and-run play from the Bears, which had a couple shots in the first ten minutes. Once Harvard realized its match-ups, however, it only took a few minutes to settle the play and move in on the Brown goal.

Pressure on the Bears net was constant and controlled throughout the match. Although Brown tended to get all of its chances off of transition, the Crimson built slowly up the field and often walked the ball into the box, creating a number of dangerous scoring chances that missed the frame.

Totman's goal at 10:31 came off what was the last in a series of corners for the Crimson in a span of only a few minutes.

One goal up, however, the Crimson began to slow the pace and lose challenges that could have been there.

"I don't think we anticipated their energy and fire, because beating Harvard--doing well against us--means so much to them," Zotter said. "First touches were off all over the place, and we lost a couple of balls in the air that we should have had, but that just happens some times. The important thing is that we bounced back and played much better later on."

But the turnaround took some time. For most of the first half, the Crimson walked all over Brown's offensive third, still confused about the most effective approach to Brown's defensive formation.

With only two players in Brown's midfield for most of the game, however, Harvard eventually figured it out.

"Their system left a lot of the midfield open, and if we switched the ball in the midfield we usually found the off-side to be wide-open," Totman said.

The constant horizontal movement paid off in the 45th minute, when midfielder Orly Ripmaster found herself wide open in the center of the field, 25 yards from goal.

Turning towards net, Ripmaster took a couple of touches and struck a high shot to beat jumping goalie Elise Roy.

With a 2-0 halftime lead, Harvard's Ivy championship seemed secure, but Wheaton chose to talk about something else at halftime.

"We were slow all first half and weren't winning balls that were ours," Wheaton said. "We said that we have great pride in ourselves a program, and when we step on the field we show the world how hard we have worked and how much it matters to us. We didn't feel like we'd done that, and it was our goal to do just that in the second half--I think we did it."

Wheaton's words certainly struck a chord with the team, as the Crimson struck in the fifth and sixth minute of the second half to seal the Ivy title.

In the 51st minute, Totman found freshman forward Joey Yenne making a slicing run across the top of the box.

From thirty yards out on the right side, Totman threaded a ball through a couple of Brown defenders and into the box. Yenne received the ball a few yards inside the box, made a touch toward the goal and put it in the left side of the net.

"I just saw the space for her [Yenne] to run into," Totman said. "I just kind of knew she was going of be there. That game we were working well together, so I just played it to space hoping she would get there, and she did. She made a really great run."

Less than a minute later, Harvard was back on top of the Brown defense.

Working the left side, Zotter dribbled down into the corner after getting a pass from midfield that put her behind the defense. Dribbling along the end line, Zotter blooped the ball into the box and found sophomore midfielder Colleen Moore, who put it away.

Although Saturday was senior day at Brown, it was Harvard that gave its seniors the best reward of all.

"Winning the Ivies in your senior year, when you're the leader and there is a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, says a lot," Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton said. "They're an amazing class--five seniors, they all start, four of them in the top-twenty all-time scoring and probably the best defender we've ever had in Jess Larson. No class deserves more to go out of here with three rings."

Among the players, however, the celebration was also a realization that there is still work to be done.

"It was nice, but we kind of look at it like we're starting over," Zotter said. "This is a new season now. It helps with seeding, but eventually we will have to play the good teams. Your past only determines whether you play the best teams early in the NCAAs or later."

Harvard women's soccer has now won seven Ivy League championships, and Saturday's win gave Crimson seniors their third Ancient Eight title of their careers.

With the crop of freshman that Wheaton has at his disposal, it might be the beginning of another long string of Ivy championships.

"For the freshmen, I think it sets a tone and creates some expectations that this is going to be a top soccer program, and that's what they wanted to join," Wheaton said. "So I think the fact that they came in and did so well is a good lesson for them because they learned how much it takes to win like this."

The Crimson now looks ahead to the NCAA playoffs, which culminate in a title match in San Jose, California.

The Crimson is the eighth seed in a bracket that features Dartmouth and UConn, which also has a bye into the second round. Harvard beat UConn 1-0 in the 88th minute in its toughest win of the season. The win propelled the Crimson into the top 10 of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll for the first time this season.

UConn will play the winner of Dartmouth and Colgate. Penn and Princeton are the other Ivy League teams to make the tournament.

In the pairings for the tournament, the top eight teams are divided into regions and seeded, and the rest of the teams are divided up into those eight regions based on geography. Although 16 teams get first-round byes, the seeded teams are guaranteed the weaker second-round opponent.

The top seed of the tournament is Santa Clara, followed by Virginia and Florida.