Women's Soccer Moves Closer to .500 with Win

Clinching its second victory of the season, the Harvard women’s soccer team (2-3-1) topped Rhode Island (4-5), 2-0, at Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium on Friday evening.

Freshman forward Midge Purce pocketed the Crimson’s two goals in the match, bringing her season and career total to four. Purce’s first goal came unassisted in the eighth minute of the contest when the freshman snagged a lost ball and took it past two defenders, getting off a hard shot on the ground.

“I think we did a good job of playing our game from the very beginning,” co-captain midfielder Peyton Johnson. “I think we did a lot of things really well. I think we’re a lot more dynamic in our attack than we’ve been in the past and I think you can attribute that to more games played together and people getting more used to each other’s strengths and how they can help each other. I think our attack was definitely more unpredictable.”

Harvard tallied 11 shots on goal throughout the match, while URI registered just one shot on goal, with most attempts hitting off frame. The ball came dangerously close to the Crimson goal line in the final two minutes, but sophomore defender Emily Mosbacher kicked it out of bounds as it was rolling across an empty goal.

“We’ve been moving people around on the back line trying to see who works well with whom, and we’ve kind of figured it out,” co-captain Lizzy Weisman said. “[The defense] was very strong as they are in every game. We’ve been doing a lot of video and showing them when they need to step and when they need to drop and covering for whom, and they’ve finally clicked. They played really well.”

Utilizing the versatility of its players, the Crimson constantly changes up its formation, a practice very much at play in the Rhode Island match. Johnson, usually a midfielder, played left back in the contest.

“I think that this season our goal as a team has been not to be a one-formation team or be one-position players,” Johnson said. “We have the team mission in mind. What goes along with that is people being very flexible and that allows us to change things on the fly, and people can play more than one position. We’re very lucky in that we’re not only deep, but also very versatile. Everyone’s been awesome about stepping up to the plate wherever their name goes up on the formation chart. It’s been a really nice change of pace for us.”

Other standouts on the defensive line on Friday included freshman Bailey Gary, sophomore Alika Keene, and junior Erika Garcia.

“Our back line is a little bit more experienced than it has been the past few years,” Johnson said. “I think Erika Garcia has especially been an incredible leader of the back line. She’s got a full year under her belt of playing defense after switching from forward. Now she’s really got the communication down, and she just really gets it. She’s made it easy for people to play next to her because she commands a lot of respect on the field.”

Up 1-0 heading into the second frame, the Crimson netted its second and final goal in the 53rd minute. Weisman centered the ball to Purce who rocketed it toward the goal, where the ball nailed the crossbar and bounced in to lengthen Harvard’s lead.

“It was the game where we finally felt like we connected,” Weisman said. “Everyone from the beginning of the game was relaxed…we all just kind of took a breath and focused, and I think that showed in the game.”

Two goalkeepers saw action in the contest, with junior Bethany Kanten earning the start and playing the first frame. The win was her first of the season. Freshman Lizzie Durack was in goal for the final 45 and registered a save.

“I think it starts with our goalkeepers,” Johnson said. “We’ve got the goalkeeping core of three excellent, excellent goalkeepers…we’ve been super supportive of each other on the back line, and it starts with them.”

The Crimson’s next home game will be Friday against UPenn, marking the start of Ivy League play.

“I think this weekend we cared a lot about URI,” Johnson said. “But we have that goal in mind, which is Penn. We know it’s going to be a really good test to start the Ivy Leagues off, but we’re incredibly grateful that we’re playing them first…We’re excited to keep working out the kinks and getting even better so we can bring everything we’ve got come Friday."