Harvard Women’s Soccer Falls 1-0 to Dartmouth in Ivy League Opener in Defensive Battle

Harvard women’s soccer (2-4-2, 0-1-0 Ivy) returned to Jordan Field on Saturday to face off against its first Ivy League opponent: the Dartmouth Big Green (4-2-2, 1-0-0 Ivy). After a long defensive match, the Crimson was bested by its New Hampshire rivals in a 0-1 loss.

The game was set for the first true fall night in Cambridge, with temperatures falling quickly after the 7pm start time. On top of being the Crimson’s Ivy League opener, the game was also Pride Night at Harvard. The rainbow corner flags were whippy as a cold breeze came off the Charles, ready for a defensive showdown.

The first half stayed true to a defensive battle. From the start, neither team was able to maintain possession for long periods of time, culminating in only a total of 7 shots through the first 45 minutes.

The Crimson held an especially strong defensive formation throughout the first half, allowing only one shot on goal, which was saved by senior goalkeeper Rhiannan Stweart. In fact, the Harvard defense line only gave up two shots the first half and four in the second half, showcasing the strong defense that has supported the team throughout their early season.

The Big Green’s defense was impressive but did not show the same rock-solid formation as its Crimson counterparts. The Crimson was able to put together a few impressive drives with junior striker Anna Rayhill taking three shots in the first half and junior forward Jashmine Leshnick’s shots nearly making their way in.

Coming out in the second half the offense started to pick up on both sides. Two minutes in, junior midfielder Írena Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez sent a rocket into the bottom center of the goal which was last second caught by Dartmouth's keeper, junior Ola Goebel. This was followed in succession by two more shots from Crimson, unanswered by Dartmouth.

Another common trend of the second half, was the increasing chippiness of the game. During a ten minute stretch, the 55th to 65th minute, there were 7 fouls between the two teams, five on Dartmouth and two on Harvard. Later in the half, the officials would dish out a pair of yellows, on Gonzalez and Dartmouth’s sophomore forward Emmanuela Frimpomaa. As the night got colder and the offenses became desperate for any advantage.

The chippiness came to a broil just outside the 70th minute mark. First, a foul went Harvard’s way after two-sided pushing right outside the Harvard goalbox. Dartmouth quickly regained possession and drove the ball back into attack. More pushing ensued and the officials awarded the Big Green the ball via a free kick, still near the front of the box. Dartmouth’s sophomore midfielder Sarah Shelburne floated a beautiful placed shot over the Crimson wall, only to have deflected out-of-bounds in an impressive dive by Stewart.

Dartmouth lined up the ensuing corner kick, where a perfectly placed ball was tapped into the goal by junior defender Kate Ryan, in a rather anticlimactic way for such a hard fought defensive battle.

After its goal the Big Green parked the bus and forced the Crimson to go on a heavy offensive, in what was most certainly a night of defense. After twenty minutes of trying to break the Dartmouth defensive formation, the Big Green walked away with the win.

The game ended 0-1 in favor of Dartmouth. Harvard led in both shots and shot-on-goal, an emerging pattern early in the season.

The Crimson returns next Saturday at 1 pm at Jordan Field, where it will clash with its rivals, the Princeton Tigers.

– Staff writer Jake C. Swanson can be reached at jake.swanson@thecrimson.com