Women's Soccer Wins in Extra Time

It took nearly 100 minutes for someone to score Tuesday night in Providence, but with a second overtime looming in the rafters, senior co-captain Elizabeth Weisman delivered for the Harvard women’s soccer team.

For the Crimson (10-3-2, 5-0 Ivy), it was the second time in two weeks facing Brown (8-5-1, 3-1-1). Unlike the 3-1 victory on October 19, yesterday’s matchup did not count toward the conference standings.

This time around, the teams were able to hold each other off until Weisman capitalized, giving Harvard the 1-0 victory in overtime.

“It’s always tough playing a team two times in a row,” senior co-captain Peyton Johnson said. “We had to get creative and try new things and in the end it came down to being incredibly competitive and determined to win a game.”

That determination paid off in overtime with Weisman’s header.

The ball started wide on the right side with junior midfielder Meg Casscells-Hamby who then crossed and passed it over the back line to the far post on the left where Weisman was waiting.

Despite being six inches shorter than her defender, Weisman was able to head the ball into the net, sealing the victory for the Crimson.

“I’m very happy I was able to contribute to the team’s win after a hard fought game,” Weisman said. “My main goal now is to stay in the moment.”

The first half of the game was dry for Harvard’s offense, with only four shots on goal by the Crimson. After the half the offense was able to pick up the pace pressuring the Bears and recording five more opportunities.

“There were some opportunities we missed that we will have to go back and look at on tape,” coach Ray Leone said. “That is something we will work on this week in order to get better for the next game.”

On the defensive side of the ball, Harvard allowed no member of Brown’s offense to take multiple shots. The Bears were unable to get anything going all night recording only four shots.

“They did a great job blocking shots and the goal keeper was excellent,” Leone said. “They were very disciplined… Brown had a lot of opportunities and we just absorbed them as much as we could. It was a very physical game and I’m proud of the team’s resilience.”

The Crimson split time in net between freshman Lizzie Durack, who was awarded the win, and junior Cheta Emba.

Durack played during the overtime period and saved all three shots that got through to her, while Emba was in goal for the entire first half and was able to stop the lone shot she faced from getting past her.

For Brown, senior MC Barrett let Weisman’s header go by to seal the victory for Harvard.

Senior Amber Bledsoe also played in net for the Bears and was able to stop all five shots on goal she received. Although Weisman scored the lone goal of the match, other members of the Crimson presented offensive threats throughout the game.

Freshmen forwards Margaret Purce, Joan Fleischman, and Karly Zlatic all had two shots on goal, while Cassells-Hamby and junior defender Marie Margolius each added one a piece.

“Brown came prepared today and changed their play to fit our passing lines,” Weisman said. “Over the course of the game we figured out how to play around them and how to get shots on the goal.”

For Harvard, this is the team’s fourth win in a row, and it has not lost a game since September 11. In its last 10 games, the Crimson has scored one goal or less only twice.

During that span, Harvard has held its opponent scoreless five times. Harvard stands atop the Ivy League standings, a full five points ahead of second place Penn.

“I can’t talk enough about the maturity of this team and their ability to take each practice one at a time and with that each game one at time,” Johnson said. “We try to have the mentality that the next game is always the most important team so we will just take it one step at a time.”