Behind Baskind’s Six-Point Effort, Crimson Earns Huge Victory

With its back against the wall and its Ivy League title hopes in jeopardy, the Harvard women’s soccer team made a statement Saturday night.

One loss away from being eliminated from title contention and taking on second-place Princeton on the road, the Crimson (6-6-1, 3-2 Ivy) had its strongest offensive performance of the season, blanking the Tigers (8-6, 3-2), 4-0, at Roberts Stadium.

“They did everything well,” Harvard coach Ray Leone said of his team. “They just did it completely for the whole game. They put two halves together against a great team.”

Junior Melanie Baskind had a career performance in leading the Crimson to victory, netting two goals and two assists for a career-high six points.

Sophomore Alexandra Conigliaro and co-captain Katherine Sheeleigh added one goal apiece, while sophomore goalkeeper AJ Millet anchored the Harvard defense, deflecting all five of the shots she faced.

“[Saturday] was awesome,” Baskind said. “Everyone stepped up big time. It was really exciting to put it together finally.”

Coming off of two consecutive losses, the Crimson was determined to get off to a strong start early in Saturday’s matchup. The squad opened the contest with two early shots on goal, but Princeton goalie Kristin Watson kept the visitors off the board, denying Harvard’s first two attempts.

But on the Crimson’s third shot on goal, Baskind was able to beat Watson. The junior received a pass from Conigliaro behind the defense and fired the ball past the keeper to give her team the 1-0 lead in the 19th minute.

The teams traded shots until late in the first half when Princeton rallied in an attempt to even the score before the break.

Millet came up with a crucial save for Harvard in the final minutes of the period, making a diving stop to preserve her team’s one-goal lead.

“They were really putting the pressure on at the end of the first half,” Baskind said. “AJ stepped up huge...We definitely felt her presence.”

After withstanding the late surge to close out the half, the Crimson broke the game open in the second, notching three goals in less than six minutes midway through the period to seal the victory.

Sheeleigh got the scoring started, hammering home a ball in the 61st minute for her 29th career goal, putting her in sole possession of fifth place on the Crimson’s all-time scoring list.

Baskind followed suit four minutes later with her second goal of the game, finishing a pass from sophomore Aisha Price for her seventh score of the year.

Price found Baskind as she cut up the middle of the field in the 65th minute. Baskind controlled the pass, and then fired a shot from 15 yards out into the net to put Harvard up, 3-0.

“[Baskind] was feeling it,” Leone said. “She had a fantastic night. It was kind of a whole team effort, but Mel had a career night.”

Baskind finished off her night with an assist two minutes later, firing a ball off the goalie that Conigliaro recovered and sent past Watson for the Crimson’s third goal in just 5:22 of play.

“We just got a good flow going and went along with it,” Baskind said. “We were hungry for goals.”

Millet and the rest of the Harvard defense preserved the lead for the remainder of the contest.

The Tigers—who entered the contest averaging 1.29 goals per game—were limited to just five shots on goal over the course of the match. Millet denied each of the attempts, picking up the second shutout of her career, while holding Princeton to zero goals for the fourth time this season.

“The defense was unbelievable,” Baskind said. “I think we’re finally putting it together. We just kind of clicked [on Saturday].”

With the win, the Crimson keeps its hopes of an Ancient Eight championship alive.

With two Ivy games left on its schedule, Harvard currently sits in a tie with Princeton for third place in the conference standings with nine points—one point behind Columbia and Penn, which share the top spot.

“We’ve got to keep that hope alive, and the only way we can do that is by playing well,” Leone said.

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.