Johnson Delivers Late Victory on Senior Day

As the clock neared zero and the Harvard women's soccer team remained in a 1-1 deadlock with visiting Dartmouth, overtime seemed almost inevitable. But with just 12 seconds remaining in regulation, sophomore midfielder Peyton Johnson took a free kick from 28 yards out and buried it in the top left corner of the net, delivering the Crimson a 2-1 victory on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Soldiers Field Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium.

The Big Green (3-11, 1-4 Ivy) opened up the scoring nine minutes into the game with a strike from center back Aurelia Solomon. From 25 yards out, Solomon picked out the top right corner and bent the ball past freshman goalkeeper Bethany Kanten.

It took until the end of the first half for the Crimson (11-4-1, 5-0-1) to respond. A cross from rookie Erika Garcia found co-captain Melanie Baskind in the box, and the senior kicked the ball far post past the diving Dartmouth goalkeeper.

Coming out of the break, Harvard dominated possession. Despite a couple of Big Green counter-attacks, the Crimson had several good looks on goal but could not convert until the final seconds of the match.

The win moves Harvard closer to its third Ivy League championship in four years. If Penn loses to Brown later this afternoon, the Crimson will capture its 10th title and an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.