W. Soccer Looks for Ninth Straight

The Harvard women’s soccer team charges into a huge Ivy matchup against the Princeton Tigers this Saturday at Ohiri Field. The Crimson (8-1, 3-0 Ivy) is riding an eight-game winning streak following its decisive 5-1 victory over cross-town rival Boston University on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Tigers (9-1-1, 3-0) have assembled a three-game winning streak of their own, pulling out a 1-0 win over Villanova on Wednesday.

The Crimson has beaten Princeton for eight consecutive seasons. Harvard has won four Ivy titles during that stretch. Last year, the Crimson dealt the Ivy co-champion Tigers their only Ivy loss.

Harvard is now ranked 10th in the nation and first in the northeast region while Princeton is 21st in the nation and fifth in the mid-atlantic region. They are the two remaining undefeated teams in the Ivies.

“They’re very strong, ranked nationally,” said co-captain Caitlin Costello. “Last year they won the league, so if we are going to accomplish our hope of winning the Ivies, Princeton is our biggest obstacle.”

Princeton started the season with a six-game winning streak before a scoreless tie with Cal-Poly and a 2-0 loss to UCLA in the Bruins’ invitational tournament play.

The defense for Princeton has been strong this year, giving us just five goals in 11 games. Senior goalie Catherine Glenn has allowed more than one goal in a game only once, in the UCLA loss.

Against Villanova, the Tigers made junior forward Krista Ariss’s third goal of the season in the 35th minute stand up. For the rest of the game, Princeton successfully battled to keep Villanova off the boards.

Princeton’s Teresa Sherry is the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week on the strength of her three goals against William and Mary and Brown. The sophomore scored twice in the Tigers’ 4-1 victory over the Bears, including the game-winner.

The Princeton offense is running into a Harvard defense that has been dominating competition for the past eight games.

“Our defense has come together and proven that inexperience won’t hold them back,” said junior forward Joey Yenne.

On Wednesday, the Crimson allowed its first goal in the run of play since its season opening 5-4 loss to Colorado College. The only other goal allowed in that stretch was on a penalty kick in the 2-1 double overtime win against Marquette. Junior Cheryl Gunther has played the majority of the minutes in goal this season, making 44 saves and posting a .863 save percentage.

Ensuring that the defense’s efforts are not in vain, the Harvard offense has struck early and often, scoring eight goals in the past two games. On the year, the Crimson has outscored opponents 13 to one in the first half.

Showing balance throughout the lineup, all five of the goals against BU werescored by different players.

“Our offense has been picking it up,” Yenne said. “We’re playing well as a team.”

Yenne scored her fourth goal and added her fifth assist in Wednesday’s victory. Costello’s goal was her seventh on the year, and she leads the team with fifteen points. Also scoring on Wednesday were junior forward Beth Totman, junior midfielder Orly Ripmaster, and co-captain Colleen Moore. Moore’s goal was her first since tearing her ACL against Hartford last season.

“We’re all having fun,” Costello said. “We’ve really gelled in the last few games and started playing as a core, unlike in the past.”

Ripmaster in particular has been hot recently. In the 3-0 victory over Ivy foe Cornell on Oct. 13, she had a goal and two assists. She added anothergoal and assist on Wednesday to bring her team lead for assists to seven.

Ripmaster and Yenne are tied for second in the team points total on the year with 13 each.

While the Princeton game is easily Harvard’s biggest Ivy game of the year, the team is unfazed.

“We know that Ivy League games are always huge battles,” Yenne said, “but we’re confident about our team.”

The face-off with the Tigers begins at noon on Saturday.