W. Soccer Keeps the Shutouts Coming at B.C.

NEWTON, Mass.—The Harvard women’s soccer team has known for quite some time now that it was one of the top 20 teams in the country.

On Tuesday, the Crimson finally received the national ranking to prove it. And against Boston College yesterday, Harvard (6-1, 2-0 Ivy) backed it up on the field.

Crimson co-captain Caitlin Costello scored her sixth goal of the season as No. 11 Harvard blanked the Eagles 1-0 yesterday at the Newton Campus Soccer Field.

The victory snapped B.C.’s three-game winning streak, which included a major upset of then-No. 9 UConn last Sunday.

After being stymied at every turn in the first half, the Eagles (4-6-1) rallied in the waning stages of yesterday’s game. B.C. came within inches of tying the match as a shot by Eagles defender Rebecca Brooke clanged off the post in the 57th minute. But the young Crimson defense ultimately held its ground and junior goalkeeper Cheryl Gunther made five key saves as Harvard held on.

“With B.C., we knew the longer they hung around in the game, the harder it was going to be for us,” Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton said. “They came in with so much confidence. We knew we had to come out hard from the beginning.”

With the win, Harvard solidified its hold on the No. 1 ranking in the Northeast. The Crimson ascended to the region’s top spot Tuesday in the wake of UConn’s 2-0 loss to B.C.

Nationally, the Crimson owns its highest ranking since October of last year.

“We felt we were underranked early in the season,” Wheaton said. “But even when we weren’t ranked, we felt we were a top-20 team.”

Harvard has now won three games in a row, including two over ranked opponents. Since dropping its season opener to Colorado College 5-4, Harvard has outscored its opponents 11-1.

The Crimson needed only one goal yesterday and it came in the 29th minute as sophomore wing Caitlin Fisher sailed a picture-perfect pass into the box, where Costello headed it home.

“[Fisher] sent over a beautiful, beautiful cross,” Costello said. “I just got a good head on it, I guess.”

Fisher was everywhere at once yesterday. The sophomore dynamo has been asked to drop back to help out on defense more this fall, but with her speed and athleticism, she still manages to figure into the offense.

The entire Harvard team ran circles around the Eagles early in the game yesterday. In the first half, B.C. managed just three shots on net, as Harvard’s backline, led by sophomore Katie Hodel, won a series of 50-50 balls to keep the Crimson pushing forward.

Harvard outshot B.C. 17-9 in the game.

After coming out with visible intensity against UConn three days before, the Eagles failed to make any significant advance across the midfield stripe versus Harvard.

Some fine saves by B.C. goalie Elyse Meredith—including a sprawling stop of Costello at point-blank range—was all that prevented Harvard from breaking the game wide open.

“The biggest thing for us was our defense, and not just our defenders, but our team defense,” Wheaton said. “We were able to applypressure all over the field and it made a big difference for us.”

Despite going relatively untested in the first half, Gunther responded well when B.C. made a charge late in the game. Gunther—who received Ivy Player of the Week honors last week—now has five shutouts in seven games. After playing through injuries last year, she appears to have regained her form from 1999, when she had the third-best goals-against average in the nation.

“She’s one of the best goalies I’ve seen,” Wheaton said. “She stays in there and makes the big plays. We’re just so proud of her.”

All season long, Gunther has praised the defense in front of her, calling it one of the best she’s played alongside. The Crimson backs did not disappoint yesterday.

Freshman Liza Barber snuffed out several scoring opportunities singlehandedly, intercepting B.C. passes through the box and outleaping Eagles players for headers.

Despite being one of Harvard’s youngest players, Barber has been a steadying influence in the back over the course of the past six games.

“She’s one of the better players I’ve seen, period,” Wheaton said. “She’s on the very, very short list of the best defenders we’ve ever had. I don’t think there’s any limit to what she can accomplish.”

Barber was not alone in frustrating the Eagles’ offense. When B.C.’s Katherine Halloran made a breakaway bid with 17 minutes left to play,.sophomore Lauren Cozzolino made a crucial slide-tackle stop to end the threat.

“As young as they are, they’ve jelled,” Costello said of the Harvard backs. “They’ve come together great. It’s because of them that we’re winning games.”

Harvard next sees action Saturday when it travels to Cornell. The Crimson has not lost to the Big Red since 1993.