A young but spirited Harvard women's soccer team survived an arctic wind and the first period loss of its top scorer to crush the University of Vermont yesterday.

Harvard emerged from a tightly contested first half with a tenuous 1-0 lead, and then, with the aid of a stiff wind, exploded for three goals and thoroughly dominated the Catamounts in the second half.

Harvard's offensive punch was provided by hustling sophomore forwards Ellen Hart and Sally Kingsberg and senior Sukie McGraw. Hart, the Crimson's second leading scorer, poked in a McGraw feed at 4:10 of the opening stanza and blasted an unassisted shot into the upper right corner of the net midway through the second half to lead the way with goals.

The speedy Kingsberg, who consistently beat Vermont defenders to the ball all afternoon, assisted on a goal by sophomore outside Juliette Brynteson which gave the Crimson a 3-0 lead.

Captain Nancy Levin rifled a long shot off a Vermont defender and into the net late in the game to round out the scoring.

Harvard received a scare early in the game when freshman Susan St. Louis, who had eight of 11 Crimson goals going into the game, pulled a muscle and had to leave the game. But the young team--McGraw is the only starter who is not a freshman or sophomore--responded to the challenge by outmuscling and outhustling the Cats.

The frosty weather that accompanied this weekend's invasion from the north contributed to goalie Irene Kencandes's shutout, her second of the season. Harvard fullbacks Sarah Fischer, Dian Smith and Natalie Roe smothered the potent UVm attack which had chalked up six wins (against only one loss and a tie) prior to yesterday's contest, including a 10-0 shellacking of UNH in their last outing.