Harvard Will Rely on Backs To Move Forward

It will be the classic case of the unstoppable force versus the immovable object tomorrow when the Harvard women’s soccer team (6-4-2, 3-1-0 Ivy) travels to Princeton, N.J.

The Crimson will take on the No. 9 Tigers (11-1-0, 4-0-0) in a game that is wrought with Ivy League title implications.

And playing the part of the immovable object in this game will be a Harvard defense that has allowed just nine goals this season—tied for second fewest among Ivy League teams.

Removing the Crimson’s opening-game, 3-2 loss to then-No. 6 Portland from the equation, Harvard has allowed just six goals in its last 11 games and has pitched five shutouts.

Any analysis of the Crimson defense begins in goal, where junior goalkeeper Katie Shields boasts a 0.80 goals against average and a 0.864 save percentage.

“Katie’s like a fourth defender in there,” sophomore back Laura Odorczyk said. “Not only does she save goals, but she doesn’t hesitate to come out and clear the ball.”

Harvard accordingly employs just three backs in front of Shields, led by captain Liza Barber, who was the only returning player to start more than three games at back last season.

In addition to her solid defense, Barber leads all Harvard backs with two assists and seven shots.

“Liza is an exceptional player,” Wheaton said. “She dominates on the air and on the ground.”

Flanking Barber at back are Odorczyk and freshman Michelle Hull. Each of the three players is adept at using their athleticism to create havoc for opposing teams.

“[Their speed] means that we can play with three in the back instead of four,” Wheaton said. “They organize themselves well and get forward well.”

The stinginess of the Crimson defense will surely be tested, however, when it comes up against the unstoppable force of the Princeton offense—an attack that has tallied 31 times this season.

The Tigers are led by forward Esmeralda Negron, who was named Ivy League Player of the Year in 2003 and leads the team with 9 goals and 8 assists this season.

The Princeton defense, however, is no slouch either—the Tigers lead the Ivy League with just four goals allowed this season.

Goalkeeper Madeleine Jackson leads all of Division I with a 0.17 goals against average.

Tomorrow’s game will thus feature two of the hottest teams in the Ivy League.

Princeton has reeled off seven wins in a row, while Harvard’s streak stands at four. The Tigers defeated Columbia last week as the Crimson won a thrilling, 1-0 overtime game at Brown.

“If we come out with the same effort as we did [against Brown], we can definitely beat Princeton,” said freshman midfielder Jamie Greenwald, who scored the winning goal against the Bears. “It’s going to determine who is going to come out as Ivy [League Champions].”

Indeed, this weekend’s game will go a long way towards deciding which team finally takes home the Ancient Eight crown.

Harvard, at 3-1-0 in the league, sits a game behind the 4-0-0 Tigers and a half-game behind 3-0-1 Penn, which handed the Crimson its lone Ivy loss earlier this season.

Should Princeton be victorious, it will remain in control of its destiny, and will all but end the title hopes of Harvard.

Should the Crimson defeat the Tigers, however, and then win its remaining Ivy games against Dartmouth and the Lions, Harvard will guarantee itself at least a share of the title, provided that the Quakers—who travel to Princeton to close out their season—do not also win all of their remaining Ivy League games.

“We have to win this game,” Odorczyk said. “We know that it will set the tone for the rest of the season.”

The Tigers will not be the first top-10 team that the Crimson has played this season, as Harvard suffered losses to the then-No. 6 Pilots and then-No. 4 Penn State in its opening weekend, each time by just a single goal.

The Crimson expects to see better results in its latest test.

“We have three starting freshmen, and at the beginning of the season, we weren’t sure how to play together,” Odorczyk said. “We know how those three play now, so it’s easier for us to feed off each other.”

The three freshmen in question—Hull, Greenwald, and midfielder Megan Merritt—have each seen action in every contest this season.

Merritt was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week last week after recording a hat trick in a 5-1 win over Holy Cross.

But while defeating Princeton is surely a daunting task for Harvard, history is on the Crimson’s side.

Two years ago, the Tigers had not yet suffered a loss or a tie at this point in the season before Harvard defeated Princeton on its own turf thanks to an overtime goal by then-freshman forward Sara Sedgwick.

In addition, the Tigers are 1-7-1 against the Crimson under current head coach Julie Shackford, including 0-4-0 at Princeton’s Lourie-Love Field.

Harvard owns a 22-5-1 record in the all-time series.

“We’re going to beat them like we usually do,” Wheaton said. “We respect them a great deal, but we don’t fear them.”

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