Sato, W. Soccer Go Wide To Beat Penn 2-1

The Harvard women’s soccer team plays with three central midfielders, including senior former All-American Katie Westfall and talented sophomore Maile Tavepholjalern, generally relying on them to direct its offense.

But facing a Penn team that hadn’t lost in ten games dating back to last season and features a host of big, athletic central players, the Crimson took an entirely different tact, taking the ball outside and attacking from the wings en route to a 2-1 win in its Ivy opener.

“One of our goals this season is to try to swing it around and have one forward wide so that we can use that space on opposite sides,” senior striker Alisa Sato said.

“We like to get the ball into the middle of the midfield and then pop it out wide,” Harvard coach Tim Wheaton added. “When we did that, we were effective. Both goals came from us getting the ball out wide in the attacking third and then going at them.”

Sato and junior forward Alisha Moran each scored for the Crimson (3-3-1, 1-0 Ivy) and assisted on the other’s tally.

Moran had the game-winner just two minutes into the second half, when she finished after Sato cut in from the left side and slipped the ball to her.

“When I get the ball on the outside, it opens up space for me so I can take on a player—the right back here,” Sato said. “It just opens up holes in the middle if you open up the field.”

Sato’s goal came in the 12th minute. She took a long ball from Moran over the top of the Quaker defense and toe-poked it past the goalkeeper.

Scoring so early in each half allowed Harvard to keep the pressure on Penn (3-1-2).

“That sets the tone,” Wheaton said. “The timing of goals makes a big difference. Getting one early let us relax a little bit and play a little more comfortable.

“Then getting one early in the second half, again, we felt like, ‘O.K. We can do this. We’re in control of it,’ so it was good timing.”

The Crimson had success all game working the ball down the sidelines.

Early on, senior back Lauren Cozzolino and Sato combined with help from Westfall and Tavepholjalern to generate several dangerous attacks down the right flank, while junior forward Emily Colvin, Moran and co-captain left back Caitlin Fisher worked on the opposite wing.

In the eighth minute, Colvin hustled to take the ball off a Penn defender and win a corner. Westfall took the corner and Sato hit a full volley, but sent it right at the keeper.

Sato had another chance just two minutes later when Westfall took a ball to the right away from pressure and slid it to Moran, but Sato’s shot was just wide left.

In the 18th minute, Colvin sent a left-footed blast from the top of the box wide right.

Harvard effectively contained Penn junior Katy Cross, the Quakers’ all-time leading scorer and the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, for most of the game.

Cross broke free momentarily in the 17th minute and ran through much of the Crimson defense, but junior back Liza Barber stepped up to stick her.

In the 32nd minute, though, Cross found some space on the left side, got to the end line and found Samantha Spencer in front for the equalizer.

Harvard nearly took the lead back just two minutes later as Westfall looked dangerous in the box, stepping over the ball and taking it to the right before finding sophomore forward Ayo Adigun, but Adigun’s shot got caught between a defender’s legs.

In the second half, the Crimson had several chances to tack on an insurance tally, including in the 51st minute, when it couldn’t capitalize on a ball bouncing free in the Penn box.

In the 63rd minute, Harvard had perhaps its best combination of the day, as Fisher found Sato checking on the left side. Sato sent it to Colvin, who brought it to the corner. There, she sent a cross to Moran, who headed it and won a corner that led to a shot from Tavepholjalern that a Quaker defender had to head off the line.

Penn didn’t make it easy for the Crimson to hang on to its lead. Fisher had to make a 70-yard tracking run in the 68th minute to break up a Quaker attack, and sophomore goalkeeper Katie Shields stoned a Cross one-touch from inside the 12 three minutes later.

The win puts Harvard in a good position entering what promises to be a hotly-contested conference season.

“The Ivy League is tight—really, really tight,” Wheaton said. “Any time [we play] we want to play good soccer, but in the Ivy League, a win’s a win’s a win, so we’re happy to get a W.”

—Staff writer Alan G. Ginsberg can be reached at aginsber@fas.harvard.edu.