A late second-half tally by freshman Cat Ferrante lifted the Harvard women's soccer team to a 1-0 win over a scrappy Eli eleven yesterday at chilly Soldiers Field. The booters' final 1978 record stands at 13-1.

Ferrante notched the lone goal after 70 minutes of scoreless play. Crimson forward Ellen Hart looped a 35-yd. boot from midfield that slammed into the Eli's left goalpost and bounded out to Ferrante. With Yale netminder Sarah Colwell out of position from Hart's blast, Ferrante coolly tucked it home from 3 yards out for the eventual game winner.

"It was such a garbage goal," Ferrante said after the win, "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

Prior to the Crimson tally, the name of The Game had been defense. The Harvard backfield played remarkably well given the frigid field conditions. Defenders Stefi Baum, Sally Kingsberg, and Kathy Batter shut down the Yale offense, allowing only four shots in the game and none in the second half.

The Elis, still reeling from their 4-1 loss to Harvard in the Ivy championships, flooded their penalty area with blue-shirted booters. "Sure, they pulled 'em all back," said Crimson mentor Bob Scalise, "but we got the ones we needed."

Neither team dominated play in the first half. Harvard's top scorer Sue St. Louis mounted several drives into the Yale zone. The diesel-powered St. Louis amassed 19 goals and five assists on the season, but couldn't find daylight amidst the maze of eager Elis.

Harvard's best first-half opportunity came on an Eli error. After disarming Crimson co-captain Julie Brynteson, Yale defender Merrill Weyerhauser nudged the ball back to Colwell. The pass slipped through the goalie's hands and sputtered towards the net, but Colwell recovered in time and smothered it at the goalmouth.

The Crimson dominated play in the second stanza. The forward line of Ferrante, Brynteson, and Sara Fischer fired 14 shots on the beleaguered Colwell. Finally, with ten minutes left, Ferrante tallied the go-ahead goal, making it 1-0 Harvard.