Harvard Women’s Soccer Drops to Fairfield, Draws Kansas State

Harvard women’s soccer fell to 0-2-1 (0-0-0 Ivy) after its first week of play. After losing the season opener to Massachusetts (2-1, 0-0) earlier in the week, the Crimson started the weekend on Friday traveling to Fairfield, C.T. Harvard started off strong, but lost the lead to Fairfield (4-1-0, 0-0-0 MAAC) late in the game, resulting in a 1-2 loss. Three days later on a beautiful Labor Day Monday, Harvard hosted Kansas State (​​4-0-1, 0-0-0) in a physical match that ended in a 0-0 tie.

Harvard 1, Fairfield 2

Starting off strong has become a theme for the Crimson in its inaugural week of play, and the first game of the weekend against the Stags was no exception. Before the conclusion of the third minute, Harvard completed a strong offensive series ending with freshmen midfielder Elsa Santos Lopez placing a dart into the lower lefthand side of the goal, only to have the shot blocked by the finger of the senior goalkeeper Katie Wright.

Fairfield responded with a strong offensive of their own. Less than two minutes after the Crimson’s shot-on-goal, Fairfield moved the ball down the field to set up a clean center and toe the ball in for an early goal. It was senior forward Maddy Theriault, Fairfield's most efficient offensive weapon averaging over a goal a game, who was able to put the Stags on the board in the first six minutes.

Still controlling the possession, the Crimson was now battling from behind. Harvard often was able to set up impressive breakaways and moved the ball efficiently down the sideline. However, these breakaways often occurred without a crosser in position, and without the ball making it into the box.

Another exciting shot on goal attempt came for the Crimson in the twentieth minute when a corner kick was lost in a sea of bodies in the middle of the box. Freshman defender Danika Miller found the ball with a smooth shot-on-goal that looked like it was going in first as it headed towards the goal. Again, the keeper popped it up and it barely rolled over the crossbar.

To close out a hot first half, the Crimson set up another impressive offensive sequence, starting with sophomore forward Lauren Muniz beating her defender down the right side. Muniz crossed to senior forward Aubrey Francois who deflected the ball in the direction of Santos Lopez. It was the third shot on goal by a freshman this half and this time it held true and landed in the top corner of the night. Santos Lopez earned herself her first collegiate goal and tied the game up 1-1 going into the half.

Early in the second half, the Crimson was able to generate a handful of corners and put together a few solid offensive drives that tailed up their shots statline. Senior goalkeeper Rhiannon Stewart had some truly athletic saves in the second half, including one in which she dove across the goal to gracefully block a shot from quarter-field, producing quite the clip for her highlight reel.

During the 71st minute, after seven saves by Stewart, the Stags were able to get one past the Crimson defense, retaking the lead, which they would hold for the game.

Harvard 0 Kansas State 0

Around 500 fans made the trip to Jordan Field to watch the Crimson in its first home matchup of the season. With the first day of class on the horizon, a strong student turnout powered the crowd. While the crowd would rise to its feet multiple times, the opportunity to erupt never came as near misses defined a physical contest.

The physicality of the game was established early as Harvard committed three fouls and the Wildcats added one in the first ten minutes of the game. The two teams would combine for 30 fouls in the 90 minute affair.

Kansas State took the first shot on goal 12 minutes into the game but found Stewart instead of the net. Stewart stood tall for the Crimson, blocking or catching all eight shots on goal by the Wildcats.

Harvard quickly retaliated with the next shot on goal in the 21st minute. Sophomore forward Lauren Munoz was on target for her only shot attempt of the day but could not sneak it past the Kansas State goalkeeper.

The stout Crimson defense turned away two corner kick attempts in two minutes for its biggest defensive stand of the game. Shortly after this stand, both teams began substitutions. But even fresh legs could not bury opportunities for a Harvard team that dominated possession in the first half but left with nothing to show for it.

The physicality of the first 45 minutes of play was only amplified in the next 45 minutes. After an early shot on goal in the 47th minute by Kansas State, the Crimson committed six fouls in the next eight minutes. Though strong opportunities were created, the Wildcats could not find the back of the net as even open net opportunities sailed wide.

In the 66th minute, Harvard created another shot on goal opportunity that was rejected by Kansas State. Six minutes later, the Crimson had another shot rejected but this time resulting in a corner kick. However, Harvard would also fail to capitalize on this opportunity.

The Crimson would create no more opportunities. The Wildcats had several opportunities at the end of the match to break the tie, but Harvard’s defense continued to make stands including denying four corner kick opportunities and a free kick from a favorable position in front of the net at the buzzer. Stewart would hold on to this final save and kick the ball into the stands to kill the last seconds off of the clock.

Possession was a tale of two halves with the Crimson controlling the first half and the Wildcats controlling the second. Ultimately the physicality of the game allowed defense to reign supreme as both teams would bend but not break.

Next up, Harvard women’s soccer returns to Jordan Field twice this week. Starting on Thursday, the Crimson will host the Monmouth Hawks (3-2-0, 0-0 CAA) at 6 pm, followed up by the Northeastern Huskies (1-2-1, 0,0 CAA) on Sunday at 1:00pm.

– Staff Writer Jake Swanson can be reached at jake.swanson@thecrimson.com
– Staff Writer Reed M. Trimble can be reached at reed.trimble@thecrimson.com