Ivy Leaders Clash In New Haven

The Harvard-Yale rivalry is about excellence. For all of their differences, the two schools share a commitment to being the best they can be and compete to be the best there is.

Perhaps a perfect example of this shared excellence comes from the two schools’ women’s soccer programs, which will meet again in New Haven at three today after their Oct. 3 match-up was postponed due to lightning. Harvard (6-5-1, 3-0 Ivy) and Yale (8-4, 3-0 ivy) are the only Ivy teams still unbeaten in league play.

“Their entire team is excellent,” Crimson Coach Ray Leone said of Yale. “They have great senior leadership and excellent forwards.”

Today’s game could eventually determine the Ivy title, which is Harvard’s only shot at making the NCAA tournament.

“It’s really going to come down to attitude and what we’re willing to bring to the table and what we’re willing to put on the line,” senior co-captain Lizzy Nichols said. “It’s going to come down to our need to win the game.”

That may be especially true given the similarities betweens the teams.

“We’re both kind of mirror images of each other,” Leone said.

For starters, both the Crimson and the Bulldogs withstood serious threats to their league record this weekend, as neither was able to finish off its Ivy opponent in regulation time. In Harvard’s win against Brown, junior Katherine Sheeleigh notched the only goal of the game at the 93rd minute to give the Crimson a win.

“We didn’t play our best,” Nichols said of the Brown game. “We know we have to play our absolute best [against Yale].”

Against Cornell last Saturday, Yale freshman Kristen Forster scored her first career goal seven seconds into overtime to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 win, over a Big Red squad that Harvard bested 2-0 on Oct. 10.

The Crimson also holds an edge against the teams’ only other shared opponent thus far, Holy Cross. Harvard beat the Crusaders 2-0 in September, two weeks before Holy Cross took a three-point advantage against Yale winning 4-1.

“Anything can happen on any given day,” junior co-captain Gina Wideroff said. “[That game is] not really a good indicator of how Yale is.”

But on Oct. 3, when both teams took the field before unfavorable weather prevented play, the Crimson and Bulldogs defended and attacked evenly.

The score remained 0-0 as both teams left the field.

“I don’t think either team played the best that we could,” Nichols said. “We both had a lot to bring in that second half.”

Leading the charge for both teams will be a strong contingent of forwards.

“They have a very strong attacking presence,” Nichols said. “Their attitude, in my opinion, is what wins them games. Their front three are very strong and very fast forwards.”

Becky Brown paces the Yale offense with 10 goals and four assists, but the Bulldogs have 11 players who have scored this season.

While Harvard doesn’t have any player with Brown’s numbers, it does have a more balanced attack.

“Our forwards do a really good job of pressuring our opponent’s defense,” Wideroff said. “It’s definitely an advantage.”

Sheeleigh leads the team in scoring with six goals and one assist. Nichols and classmate Christina Hagner are tied for second with two goals apiece. Setting them up has been sophomore Melanie Baskind, with one goal and five assists, and freshman Alexandra Conigliaro has four assists so far in her rookie season.

“It’s kind of funny, we’ve been joking about it,” Nichols said. “The strengths of the teams are very similar.”

Thanks to the postponement earlier this month, both teams have had more than a simple scouting report to help them prepare for today’s game. For the Crimson, dissatisfied with its first half, the rematch should prove more advantageous.

“We have gotten that [poor half] out of our system,” Nichols said. “It helps knowing what to expect. Obviously things change in two weeks. We’ve changed a lot too, but we have seen their strengths. It’s a lot about knowing what they have and preparing our response.”