Crimson Downs Princeton to Stay in Top Spot

Harvard women's soccer strengthened its hold on the top spot of the Ivy League Saturday night with a crucial home win over Princeton—even though the victory came with anguish in the final minutes of the match.

The Crimson (10-4-1, 4-0-1 Ivy) overcame a final period dominated by the Tigers (5-9-1, 1-4-0) that saw Princeton's Jen Hoy decrease a 2-0 deficit to one with less than three minutes left in the game. Harvard did not give up the equalizer in the final minutes, frustrating the Tigers with possession in the final third of the pitch.

Rookie Mai Le scored the first tally of the game 27 minutes into the first half, chesting down a deflection before hitting a hard volley to the right side of the net.

Princeton came out of the half determined to get the equalizer, dominating possession from the get-go. But on a counterattack set up by a long ball from the defense, rookie Meg Casscells-Hamby used her velocity to run behind the Tiger defense and send in a low cross to a sprinting Melanie Baskind, who put away the easy tap 14 minutes into the second period. The co-captain notched her seventh goal of the season and has 21 points thus far.

Princeton outshot the Crimson in the game, 15-7, but the home team was more efficient in converting its chances. Harvard will host Dartmouth in its penultimate conference game of the campaign next Saturday.