Seniors across Harvard’s soccer program will be celebrated this weekend when the men’s and women’s sides both play Columbia in their last games at Jordan Field this season. The women’s team will play at 1 p.m. on Saturday while the men’s team will play at 7 p.m. later that day.

The men’s team (3-11, 1-4 Ivy) looks to close out its season on a high note. Having lost its last six games, a span in which it has been outscored 12-2, the Crimson will need to improve its offense. Playing at Jordan Field this weekend could reignite its scoring attack as all the team’s victories this season have come at home. Harvard has a winning record in Cambridge with victories against competitive teams such as Providence (9-6-2) and Yale (6-5-3).

Getting top scorers involved in the offense from the beginning of the game will be integral to a Crimson win this Saturday. Freshman Alfred Perez leads the team in scoring with three goals and has been a crucial part of the offense during Harvard’s victories. He was able to score the lone goal in the Crimson’s 1-0 win over the Bulldogs.

Another key factor in this upset bid will be Harvard’s distribution of the ball. The Crimson has only had eight assists this season and only one assist during conference play. The ball will have to move around more in order to combat the Lions defense, which has only let up 10 goals this season.

Columbia (9-4-1, 4-1) has won its last four games and has momentum coming off a 4-0 thrashing of Hofstra this past Tuesday. Having been a consistently strong team in recent history, a victory this Saturday will make it four straight seasons with at least 10 wins for the Lions.

Stopping Columbia’s potent attack will be critical if Harvard wants to prevent its seventh consecutive loss. The Lions have scored 22 goals and 19 assists this season and are averaging 12.3 shots per game. Keeping their top scorers, Dylan Mott and Kynan Rocks, in check, will be a decisive factor in this game.

With a more fluid offensive game plan and stout defense, Harvard has the potential to give its seniors a spectacular senior night that ends with an upset victory. A win against Columbia puts the Crimson in great position to beat Penn in its last game of the season.

The women’s team also looks to give its seniors a farewell treat. The Crimson (6-7-1, 3-2-1) can finish as high as second in the Ivy League with a win over the Lions.

In order to come out of Saturday with a win, Harvard will have to continue to glean valuable contributions from both its veterans and its underclassmen. Senior Leah Mohammadi leads the team with seven goals and 16 points and has been able to perform under pressure during the team’s tight games. In the Crimson’s 3-2 thriller comeback victory over Brown, the California native showed her poise and experience with a goal and an assist in the second half.

In the last two seasons, this game has gone to extra minutes, with last year’s match ending in a scoreless draw. Mohammadi’s veteran leadership will be of utmost importance during these types of clutch circumstances.

Freshmen Sophie Hirst and Taylor Nielsen have also been key offensive contributors for the Crimson with three goals apiece this season. Hirst has already been selected as Ivy League Player of the Week in her young career. In what looks to be a competitive game, having these underclassmen at their best will be critical to a Crimson victory.

The Lions (8-6-1, 4-2) are fresh off back-to-back Ivy League victories and are looking to continue their momentum in Cambridge as they are also looking to secure the second place spot in the Ancient Eight. Considering they only need a draw to finish second, look for Columbia to try to score early and play a defensive game. The Harvard offense needs to attack aggressively so that the Lions cannot simply play keep away the entire game. Furthermore, the Crimson defense will have to step up to stifle the slew of weapons Columbia has on the offensive weapons, as the Lions have had ten players who have scored this season.

Harvard’s women’s side will certainly contend with a hard-fought game this weekend, but with the talent the team has at its disposal, the Crimson can bring home a second-place finish in the Ivy League in what will be the seniors’ final game of their careers.

As the Harvard men’s basketball team prepares to open its 11th season under Coach Tommy Amaker, a few Crimson alums are making waves in the pros.

Wesley Saunders, Brandyn Curry, and Siyani Chambers, all of whom played under Amaker during Harvard’s 2014 March Madness run into the third round, are working towards replicating their success overseas.

After four years at Cambridge capped by an Ivy League Player of the Year Award as a senior in 2014, Wesley Saunders spent three seasons in the NBA D-League with affiliates of the New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls. This past summer, the 6’6” shooting guard made his way to Italy, signing with Vanoli Cremona. Saunders has immediately become a star for the Italian side, leading the team in minutes (33.3) and steals per game (2.0) while also averaging 16.7 points and 6.3 assists per game.

Saunders’ teammate Brandyn Curry found immediate success upon graduation, signing with SPM Shoeters Den Bosch of the Dutch Basketball League in August of 2014. The 6’1” point guard led his team to a championship in his first season, being named the DBL Playoffs MVP. After making stops in Slovenia and Germany, Curry returned to the DBL with Donar Gronigen, securing the DBL Playoffs MVP once again and also winning the regular season MVP.

Former Ivy League Rookie of the Year Siyani Chambers, remembered at Harvard for helping the Crimson upset New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA tournament in his freshman year, has found a new home with the Gießen 46ers in Germany’s premier basketball league Basketball Bundesliga after spending last season in Austria with the Raiffeisen Flyers Wels. The former Crimson captain averaged 14.9 points, 5.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game in his first professional season in Austria, earning an all-star appearance in the Austrian Bundesliga A.

Harvard Basketball, ranked first in the Ivy League preseason poll, has plenty to look forward to this season both for itself and for its alums, many of whom are thriving overseas.

The Harvard football team added another weapon to its receiving corps this past weekend with Tyler Adams’ impressive performance against Holy Cross, part of a game in which the Crimson emerged victorious with a last-second field goal. Adams, a sophomore wide receiver from Louisville, Ohio, saw very little in-game action prior to last weekend’s contest. Only having one career reception prior to facing the Crusaders (1-6, 0-2 Patriot) — a catch for seven yards against San Diego this year — Adams was looking for a chance to showcase his abilities. With the absence of senior wide receiver Justice Shelton-Mosley, he seized that opportunity.

Adams’ career night began in the second quarter when he caught a 31-yard pass from senior quarterback Tom Stewart. He would go on to finish the half with another catch for ten yards along with a 19-yard run.

However, Adams’s second half performance was what cemented the fate of the game. Harvard’s sole touchdown in the third quarter came from a 28-yard snag by Adams, driving the lead up to 16 going into the fourth.

Holy Cross’ massive comeback in the final quarter of the game put the Crimson (3-2, 1-1 Ivy) in its first deficit all night. Harvard, facing a fourth down in the final drive of the game, desperately needed someone to make a play. With the game on the line, Stewart decided to place his trust in Adams once again. And following the theme of the night, Adams made the catch, moving the chains and keeping the game alive.

But perhaps the biggest play of the game came after the fourth down conversion. Adams’ biggest catch of the night came a play later, as he snagged a 30-yard pass while facing double coverage, drawing a flag for pass interference in the process. The catch set the team in prime field goal position with seconds to go in the game. A play and a couple of timeouts later, junior kicker Jake McIntyre sealed the deal with a 25-yard field goal.

Adams finished the game with seven reception for 84 yards, a receiving touchdown, and 33 rushing yards. His performance on Friday was pivotal in the Crimson’s victory. With a win over the Crusaders, Harvard was able to put an end to its two-game losing streak. The Crimson is hosting Princeton this Saturday at noon, looking to start a winning streak of its own going into the second half of the season. After seizing his chance last week, Adams looks to play a bigger role among a talented group of receivers.

Captain Christina Cornelius and junior hitter Grace Roberts Burbank both had standout performances as Harvard women’s volleyball picked up a weekend sweep, defeating Princeton and Pennto remain undefeated at home. Cornelius had double-digit kills for the seventh time this season and led the team with 12 kills against a vaunted Tigers team that is consistently one of the top contenders in the Ivy League. The Los Angeles, Calif., native only tallied one error en route to a season-high attack percentage of .524. Burbank also had double-digit kills against Princeton after a phenomenal outing against the Quakers in which she had 13 kills.

After suffering three successive losses coming into this past weekend, the Crimson had a strong showing in its past two games, spearheaded by Cornelius and Burbank. A dominant victory against Penn on Friday winning in straight sets (25-19, 25-21, 25-19) had Harvard coming into its game against the Tigers on Saturday confident and motivated for a win. Princeton had yet to lose a conference game and had a strong record of 11-4. However, the underdog Crimson was not intimidated by Princeton’s attacking prowess, and exploited the visitors’ errors throughout the game. After a defensive start, Harvard won the first set and capitalized on Princeton’s errors. During the next two sets, clutch play and strong defense allowed the Crimson to pull away and win in straight sets (25-20, 25-19, 25-23). Harvard’s victory against the Tigers demonstrates that it has the capability to compete with the best in the league and is a promising indicator that the team can close out the season with a strong record.

The leadership and clutch play of Cornelius propelled the Crimson to its dominant performance this weekend. At the end of the game-clinching set against Princeton, Cornelius had three kills and was critical in winning the set and the match. She has had consistently strong games throughout the season and acts as a stabilizing force for the team. Burbank has also been integral to the team’s recent string of success. Without her in the beginning of the season, the team was 2-4, and since her return to the lineup, the team has been 5-3 with six double-digit kill performances from the junior. After a weekend that has changed the momentum of the season, the women’s volleyball team will be a force to reckon for the rest of the Ancient Eight if it keeps up this level of play.

Next week, Harvard will go on the road against Brown and Yale where it will look to build off its stellar games this past weekend.

{image id=1332499 size=fullscreen caption=true align=center}Jillian Wachira’s first career goal could hardly have come at a better time. In a tense, low-scoring game against a strong Yale team, her 29th minute game-winning strike was just enough to ensure victory for Harvard women’s soccer.

The Crimson (4-4-1, 1-0-1 Ivy League) started its three game homestand in style by handing Yale (5-4-1, 0-2-0 Ivy League) its second consecutive loss and bringing their overall record up to .500. Both teams came to Jordan Field determined to come away with a win, and both teams looked capable of emerging victorious throughout the full ninety minutes. Ultimately, however, the combination of Harvard’s stout defending and Wachira’s moment of individual offensive brilliance proved too much for the Bulldogs to handle.

Each team started the game aggressively and forced both keepers to make impressive saves in order to keep the game scoreless. A diving save from Yale’s keeper to deny Murphy Agnew in the 18th minute kept the Crimson off the scoreboard. Finally, 28 minutes into the first half, Jillian Wachira broke the deadlock with a stunning strike from the edge of the 18 yard box.

The freshman defender Wachira made an overlapping run down the left flank, picked up the ball in the midfield from classmate Lara Schenk, and beat two Bulldog defenders before finessing a shot past Yale’s keeper into the top corner at the far post. This goal, the first of her career, would prove the only difference between the two closely matched sides.

Wachira’s contributions were not limited to the attacking end of the pitch, either. Having appeared in all nine games that the Crimson has played so far this season, the Plainsboro, New Jersey native has already become a fixture of one of the Ivy League’s best defensive units. Harvard’s back line never allowed Yale’s attackers to get comfortable, and with significant contributions from senior keeper Danielle Etzel, it came away with its third consecutive clean sheet this season (their fifth overall).

As women’s soccer prepares for the latter half of its season, which includes games against a number of Ivy League rivals, the team will look to Jillian Wachira and its other promising freshmen to maintain their high level of play. If Harvard continues to defend as effectively as it has in recent games, the Crimson will become a nightmare matchup for opposing attackers; if players keep scoring goals like the one Wachira scored on Saturday night, opposing defenses won’t fare much better.

Harvard will look to keep up their winning ways against lowly Cornell (1-7-1, 0-2-0 Ivy League) on Saturday, October 6 at Jordan Field.