W. Soccer Battles Injury Bug, Ties B.U. 1-1

After ending the University of Pennsylvania’s ten-game unbeaten streak on Saturday, the Harvard women’s soccer team tried to play the role of spoiler again yesterday against a Boston University team that had won four straight.

But beginning the game shorthanded didn’t help, and several key injuries during the game only made things worse.

Nonetheless, after two intense overtimes, the exhausted Crimson (3-3-2, 1-0 Ivy) walked away with a hard-fought 1-1 tie.

Junior Alisha Moran scored Harvard’s lone goal in the 63rd minute, dazzling the crowd by dribbling down the throat of the BU defense and poking the ball into the side of the net for her team-leading fifth goal.

The Terriers (5-3-2) had pulled ahead in the 44th minute when Meghann Cook delivered the ball in the box to Susan Marschall, who took the pass and delivered a rocket just past the outstretched arms of sophomore goalkeeper Katie Shields.

The Crimson started the game without senior midfielder Katie Westfall, who was sidelined with a leg bruise she suffered against Penn.

Then, in the 23rd minute, junior forward Emily Colvin twisted her ankle, putting her out for the rest of the half.

Seven minutes later, co-captain left back Caitlin Fisher went down with a sprained ankle, leaving Harvard without three players who normally spearhead its offense.

Colvin returned for the second half, but freshman midfielder Katie Johnston—who had started in place of Westfall and showed flashes of brilliance with nifty ball-handling—had her afternoon ended by a shoulder injury eight minutes into overtime. Johnston had been slow to get up following collisions several times during the game.

Despite the injuries, the Crimson built momentum throughout the second half, consistently keeping the ball on the BU half of the field.

In the 76th minute, Johnston hit the crossbar with a shot—the second time Harvard had caught the woodwork on the day. Colvin put a shot off the post in the ninth minute.

With three minutes remaining in regulation, Colvin took a ball behind the defense and maneuvered around the Terrier goalie, but couldn’t convert the shot from a difficult angle.

BU almost took the lead late in the second half on a direct kick, but Shields made a skillful save in the air, nearly falling backwards into her goal before regaining her balance.

Late in the second overtime, the Terriers created another tense moment for Harvard when Cook slid in the box and redirected a shot into the net. But as the BU bench cheered and began to rush the field, the referee called the goal back due to offsides.

Just a minute before, the constant pressure the Crimson had been applying throughout the game almost paid off as another run by Moran led to an opportunity for Colvin. Colvin’s shot ricocheted off the hands of diving BU goalie Jessica Clinton, and sophomore Rebecca Mildrew’s rebound chance on an empty net sailed over the goal.

Colvin said there was no specific strategy that accounted for the offense’s awakening.

“We just knew we had to pick our passes,” she said.

Harvard coach Tim Wheaton also noticed a difference after halftime, when the Crimson began to work the ball inside and outside as it effectively advanced it up the field.

Early in the game, Wheaton had repeatedly urged his team to attack with combination play in the midfield.

“We were just knocking around balls in the first half,” Wheaton said. “[In the second half], we began playing the way we know how.”

Immediately after the game, Wheaton was unsure of the extent of his players’ injuries.

“It is too early to tell,” he said. “We are always going to err on the side of being cautious.”

However, Wheaton did note that Westfall is planning to return this Saturday, when the Crimson travels to New Haven to play Yale.