Women's Soccer's Struggling Offense To Face Down Bulldogs

When the Harvard women’s soccer team plays host to Yale tomorrow, all eyes will be on the struggling Crimson offense, since it has produced just eight goals in as many games this season.

It’s certainly not for lack of trying.

Harvard (2-4-2, 0-1-0 Ivy) has fired 97 shots in those eight games, but is finding the back of the net on just 8.2 percent of those goal attempts, ranking the Crimson seventh in the Ivy League. Among other Ivy teams, Harvard leads only Cornell in shooting percentage.

The Bulldogs (5-3-0, 0-1-0)—ranked No. 3 by NSCAA in the New England—by comparison enter the game boasting a shooting percentage of 11.4 percent and have scored 12 goals in their eight games.

“I wish it could be just bad luck,” junior forward Sara Sedgwick said of her team’s scoring woes. “We’ve been working on building that scorer’s mentality, which is to put the ball in the net no matter what.”

Each of the Crimson’s four losses this season has been by just a single goal. Harvard dropped two decisions to then-top-10 teams on its opening weekend before losing a 1-0 game to William & Mary the following week.

While frustrating, none of those losses were as detrimental to the Crimson’s postseason hopes as the team’s recent 1-0 conference loss at Penn on Sunday. Although Harvard held a 13-8 shot advantage, it was unable to capitalize on any of its opportunities.

“We obviously have to work on finishing,” sophomore midfielder Katie Johnston said. “We need to make sure that next time we dominate a team, we come away with awin.”

If it’s any solace to the Crimson, it could be worse. While Harvard lost by just a single goal to a team that it outplayed, Yale was crushed by Princeton 3-0. At the time, the Bulldogs were ranked 23rd in the nation, while the Tigers were 17th.

“[Yale] just had a tough loss to Princeton, so we’re definitely looking to beat them,” junior goalkeeper Katie Shields said. “We have to come out with the attitude that we’re going to win. We’ll focus on finishing the ball and not giving up goals.”

Now that both find their Ivy League records blemished with a loss, the Crimson and Yale squads each face the daunting task of being perfect in the rest of their conference matches in order to have a chance at a share of the Ivy title.

Last season, Dartmouth took the conference crown with a 6-0-1 league record. The Crimson tied for fourth with a 2-2-3 record, while the Bulldogs tied for sixth with a 2-4-1 record.

“Every [Ivy] game from now on is a must-win,” said Sedgwick. “One of our goals is definitely to win the Ivy League title.”

Tomorrow’s match is also special for Harvard because it is Youth Day. At the event last season, each child in attendance was given a team photo and was treated to an autograph session with the Crimson players at the conclusion of the game.

“I think it’s a big recruiting weekend,” senior forward Emily Colvin said. “Hopefully we’ll have a lot of fans and a lot of support.”

Fans and support are both things that Harvard has largely done without this season, as tomorrow’s contest will mark just the second home match thus far for the Crimson. By comparison, Harvard had already played five contests at home at the eight-game mark of the 2003 season.

The Crimson was 4-3-2 at Ohiri Field last year, as compared to a 2-2-3 record away from home.

While the first month of the season has clearly been a frustrating one, a bright spot for the Crimson has to be the play of its freshmen. The class of 2008 has made some impressive contributions, and it boasts multiple players who have been in the starting lineup since the opening game, filling many holes for Harvard.

Freshman forward Jamie Greenwald is tied for the team lead with two goals, while classmate Megan Merritt has seen extensive playing time as a starting midfielder. On defense, freshman Michelle Hull has started a stellar campaign, which includes being named to the All-Tournament Team for her efforts in the UConn Adidas Classic.

“It’s fabulous to see freshmen out on the field who aren’t playing like freshmen,” Sedgwick said. “Everyone’s thrilled.”

The Crimson will need strong contributions from its rookie class tomorrow to prevail in the contest tomorrow, which begins at 12 p.m.

“It’s going to be a huge, huge game,” Colvin said.

—Staff writer Jonathan P. Hay can be reached at hay@fas.harvard.edu.