What can you say about a team that remains undefeated a quarter of the way into the season, has allowed only one goal in four games and appears to have improved over last year's championship squad?
Winning means never having to say you're sorry.
The love story between Harvard and women's soccer continued yesterday when the booters stood up Smith, 5-0 at Soldiers Field.
Sophomore Cat Ferrante was the heroine of this literal motion picture as she scored three times--once with her head, once off a Smith defenseman, and once with her foot.
Ferrante's first goal came at 40:12 in the first half when she, like any good Harvard student used her head and knocked in a Sara Fischer cross that was so beautiful she must have borrowed it from the Pope.
A Star
On the first play of the second half, Ferrante released a long shot from the right side of the field which dribbled past the charging Smith goalie and deflected off a Smith defensman into the open net.
At 9:02 in the second half Ferrante completed her hat trick when she converted a Sue St. Louis pass, raising her hands above her hand in triumph while the Smith goalie lay sprawled in the mud.
The scoring machine tandem of St. Louis and Julie Brynteson continued to roll, connecting once in each half to further humiliate the Smith squad.
Less than eight minutes into the game, St. Louis got a breakaway, only to be tripped up from behind by a Smith player.
Divine Retribution
But divine retribution was in the air along with the rain-threatening clouds and on the next play, St. Louis headed a Brynteson airball into the Smith net for a clean score at 7:51.
The next time St. Louis had a breakaway with half a minute left to play in the first half, her plan was not interrupted and she faked her way by a lone Smith defender and unleashed a bullet into the right side of the goal.
"We were playing our kind of game more than in the other games this season," tri-captain Brynteson said after the match. "The middle of the goal wasn't very cluttered so if you crossed it in front, it wasn't blocked," she added.
While just two players accounted for the five Crimson goals, practically every member of the team got some playing time and displayed impressive skills and speed on their way to outshooting Smith, 52-9.
"People showed a lot of mobility in the game," Harvard coach Bob Scalise said yesterday. "They were really working for the ball--making nice passes and switching fields. Also they have been working on heading so it was good to get some head balls."
Freshman Jeanne Piersiak made some pretty fakes and shots--both in a vertical and a horizontal position--despite a pulled muscle in her right thigh.
Also on the injured list is tri-captain Ellen Hart who sprained her left foot last Tuesday while practicing slide tackles. While Hart said her "spirits were great," she was less than enthusiastic about when she would be starting again.
The Crimson booters travel to Brown on Monday where they expect to be up against some tough competition.
"This game was a boost for us and will help us for the Brown game--we can do this against anyone," Brynteson said.
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