W. Soccer Faces Critical Tilt With Quakers

In a game with significant postseason ramifications, the Harvard women’s soccer team plays its last regular season game this Saturday in an Ivy showdown against Pennsylvania at Ohiri Field.

Harvard (10-4-0, 4-2-0 Ivy) has won two straight while the Quakers (12-1-3, 4-1-1) are unbeaten in their last 10 games.

Penn is tied for second in the Ivies and still has a shot to share the Ivy championship provided that it beats Harvard on Saturday and Princeton loses to Yale. The Quakers played to a 1-1 double overtime tie with the Tigers last Saturday. Because Princeton holds the tiebreaker over the two teams tied for second place—Penn and Dartmouth—it is guaranteed an NCAA berth.

The Crimson is ranked 21st in the nation and second in the Northeast Region standings, thus virtually guaranteed a bid to the NCAAs. A win on Saturday would improve the Crimson’s chances of hosting during the first two rounds of playoff action.

“As we’ve tried to do all season, we’re going to focus on the game immediately ahead of us,” said co-captain Caitlin Costello. “The Ivy League is still as big a deal as ever, and it’s about pride now.”

Penn midfielder Rebecca Weber was chosen as the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for her contributions against Princeton and Lafayette. Weber scored her first collegiate goal on Oct. 31 during the Quakers’ 4-0 victory over Lafayette. Her second goal came against the Tigers, providing Penn its only goal in the 1-1 double overtime tie.

Weber’s classmate forward Katy Cross has 28 points on the year, already setting a new single-season scoring record for Penn. Another freshman sensation, forward Rachelle Snyder, has 23 points.

Sophomore Vanessa Scotto presents a formidable challenge in net for the Crimson. Scotto has nine shutouts this season following the 1-0 blanking of Lafayette and has allowed just four goals in the past 10 games.

Harvard enters play looking to end the season on a three-game winning streak. The Crimson defeated Columbia 2-1 last Saturday on the strength of sophomore midfielder Katie Westfall’s second goal of the season. Earlier in the week, Westfall assisted on junior forward Beth Totman’s winning goal in a 1-0 defeat of Hartford that stopped a season-long three-game losing streak for Harvard.

The Harvard defense has been keeping the Crimson in contention every game, allowing more than one goal only twice this entire season. The Crimson has posted seven shutouts this year, and junior goalkeeper Cheryl Gunther has 17 in her career.

“We’ve feeling really positive and have come together as a team,” said sophomore back Lauren Cozzolino. “Improvements can always be made. We’ve had a good season so far, and we want to finish strong.”

While the Crimson is virtually assured that Saturday’s game is not its last of this season, it feels that a strong finish to the end of the season is important, at least in terms of psyche.

“It’s important for us to play as a team and get the offense scoring goals to get any lost confidence back, and work our way into the NCAAs,” Costello said.