Crimson Defense Keys Two OT Draw

In a game short on offense, it was the Crimson defense that proved the difference yesterday afternoon at Ohiri Field.

Behind a strong effort from junior keeper Lauren Mann and a little luck off the foot of junior defender Kelli Okuji, Harvard (2-2-1) battled to a 1-1 tie against Big Ten powerhouse Wisconsin (4-2-1).

With the Crimson up 1-0 nearing the end of the first half, the Badgers’ offense came to life, sending a ball into the box that evaded a diving Mann.

Shooting into an open net, Wisconsin looked poised to tie the game just before halftime. But Okuji stepped in front, slid to her right, and deflected the would-be equalizer away from the goal. Captain Nikki Rhodes stepped in to clear the ball away, keeping the Crimson ahead before the break.

Although Wisconsin would knot the game up in the second half, the play effectively salvaged a draw for a Crimson team on the rise.

“I’m just told to stop balls, so that’s what I do,” Okuji said. “All I could think about was ‘I can’t let this girl score.’”

The tie is all the more impressive considering Harvard’s recent schedule of games.

The Crimson has now played four games in just one week, traveling from coast to coast, California to Boston, to complete this grueling stretch. But the Crimson battled through, going 2-1-1 over the week in an effort indicative of the team’s endurance and confidence.

“We’re showing a lot of toughness to go through the stretch that we have had,” Harvard coach Ray Leone said. “It’s unbelievable what we did in the second overtime.”

With the score notched at 1-1 going into the second overtime, the Crimson very well could have crumbled, feeling the fatigue of the last four games. But just the opposite, the team dominated the second extra frame and almost took the game outright.

With two minutes to play in the overtime, sophomore Gina Wideroff played a perfect through-ball to sophomore standout Katherine Sheeleigh. The second-year forward took the pass and ripped a shot upper 90, beating the keeper, only to see the shot deflect off the corner of the post.

“It was a great ball by [Wideroff], she sent it in, and I just got a little unlucky,” Sheeleigh said.

Sheeleigh was looking to add a goal to an assist she had tallied earlier the game. In the 17th minute of play, Sheeleigh once again took a perfect pass off the foot of sophomore Kerry Kartsonis and dribbled in one-on-one with the keeper. She rolled a shot past the netminder, and as it carried across the mouth of the goal, freshman Melanie Baskind flew in to put the ball away.

“You never know what is going to happen, we want to win, we want goals,” Sheeleigh said. “And she came out of nowhere to put it in.”

After dominating the first half, the Crimson came out sluggish in the second, surrendering an astounding five corners in just the first seven minutes of play.

Then only minutes later, Harvard gave the Badgers a sixth attempt on which Wisconsin was finally able to convert.

Off of a perfect cross, a diving Badger forward headed the ball in past a diving Mann. It was the only blemish on the standout keeper’s card on the day.

But after the goal, the Crimson responded, picking up the tempo and eventually regaining control of the ball. And in the end, the team came just inches of a post away from a victory.

“I’m really pleased with the way they responded after the goal,” Leone said. “It was just a good goal, and we responded pretty well.”

—Staff writer Walter E. Howell can be reached at wehowell@fas.harvard.edu.