Dartmouth Cripples W. Soccer Ivy Title Hopes

HANOVER, N.H.--Just 10 days ago, the No. 11 Harvard women's soccer team had won its eighth game in a row at Princeton and regained a share of first place in the Ivy race.

Yesterday at No. 21 Dartmouth (11-4, 4-1 Ivy), Harvard (10-5, 4-2 Ivy) watched its Ivy title hopes all but disappear with a 2-0 loss. It was the Crimson's third consecutive shutout defeat, making the lengthy win streak seem ever so distant.

"We knew coming in that we were playing the three top teams in our region and one of the top teams in the country all in a row," Coach Tim Wheaton said. "And the reality is you can play great and still lose."

Just as in the 1-0 loss to No. 7 Penn State last Sunday, Harvard fell behind after allowing a direct kick just outside the 18. This time, 38 minutes into the game, it was a hand-ball penalty that gave Jessica Post, Dartmouth's leading scorer, 10 yards of open space to work with in front of the net.

Post's shot was lobbed high over the Crimson wall and aimed for the right corner of the net. Sophomore keeper Cheryl Gunther had a chance at the descending ball, but it deflected up off her hands and back into the net.

Harvard responded to the goal in the worst way possible--it summarily gave up another two minutes later. The Crimson allowed the Big Green to get numbers on the attack. Post served the ball up to forward Katie Price, who easily headed the ball into the Harvard net. Gunther had no chance.

It was Gunther's sure hands that had kept the Crimson in the game up until the Big Green scoring flurry. Gunther had already faced five dangerous corner kicks in the half before allowing the goal. On the first, she grabbed hold of a loose ball that two Dartmouth players had touched. On the second, she fought through traffic and punched the ball well out of harm's way.

The numbing cold, the strong wind into the near sideline and the snow flurries that frequented the first half all had a major effect on the pace of play. Hard-struck balls that normally would have bounced out-of-bounds stopped short in playable territory. Clears which seemed destined for the halfway line fell yards short. The slow playing surface gave both teams better control at short range.

As in its previous two losses, Harvard had the definite advantage in the opening minutes before falling flat. Sophomore forward Joey Yenne's pass to junior Colleen Moore put the Crimson deep into Big Green territory and ultimately earned Harvard two corner kicks in the first five minutes.

But as the game progressed into the first half, Harvard's passing became more out-of-sync, fewer Crimson players were able to step up to the ball and Dartmouth attackers found themselves with more open space with which to work.

Dartmouth keeper Kristen Luckenbill--the 1998 Ivy Player of the Year and a pre-season All-American--played near flawlessly in goal to earn the shutout. Although the Crimson never sent any particularly tricky shots her way in the first half, she stopped every one cold.

In the second half, the Crimson had better chances. With 20 minutes left, Yenne, after maneuvering around in the box, got the ball to freshman midfielder Katie Westfall left of the arc. Westfall fired the ball the opposite way through traffic and crossed Luckenbill up, but the keeper's rightward dive was still enough to make the save.

Ten minutes later, Yenne set up Westfall again, but Westfall, running full force at the ball, sent it over the net and then fell down in exasperation.

The best chance came with just under three minutes remaining. Yenne, deep on the right side of the field, crossed the ball to Westfall. She just missed getting a head on the ball, but Luckenbill was down and beaten on the play, and junior forward Caitlin Costello had a play on the loose ball. Costello, like Westfall before her, put too much on her shot and fell over, leaving a heap of three exhausted players in front of the net and the ball behind it.

"I'm not unhappy at all with how we played," Wheaton said. "They scored a great goal and we gave up an unfortunate free kick goal. We had tons of chances and outshot them. We had two sitters inside that we didn't hit, and that happens. I would like to have finished a little more, but it just didn't drop and that's the nature of the game sometimes."

With the victory, Harvard was all but mathematically eliminated from the Ivy title race. Barring any major upsets, the winner of next week's Brown-Dartmouth showdown will end up sharing the title with Princeton. Any scenario with the Crimson still maintaining the share of the title involves Princeton losing to Penn and the Brown-Dartmouth winner losing to a lower-tier Ivy team.

The Crimson's losses this week will greatly damage its hopes for a first round bye in the NCAA Tournament, although a win on Tuesday at once-highly touted Hartford, who is coming off a win against Dartmouth, would greatly help its seeding.

"We just keep on playing," Wheaton said. "We've got a big battle ahead of us. I think you just saw the top teams in the region play each other."

Although the Crimson's second Ivy loss guarantees its worst Ivy record since 1993, Harvard can affirm itself with a solid finish against Hartford and Columbia and a strong run in the NCAA tournament.