Slipping and sliding in the Ohiri Field mud, the Harvard women's soccer team fell to the University of Massachusetts yesterday, 4-1. Despite several strong scoring opportunities, the Crimson (3-6-1 overall, 2-1 lvy) only broke though once.

"It was pretty frustrating," junior goalkeeper Beth Reilly said. "We seemed to be playing very well, but that's typical against UMass. We controlled the game in terms of possession of the ball, but UMass took advantage of their opportunities. They had probably seven good scoring opportunities, and they capitalized on four of them."

The nationally-ranked Minutewomen jumped on Harvard early, scoring five minutes into the first half. Reilly got in front of a blast by UMass forward Kathryn Woodside, but could not control the rebound. A follow-up shot by a sliding Susan Gaudette squirted just under the outstretched arms of the diving Harvard netminder.

Two minutes later, Woodside converted a goal of her own off a cross by junior midfielder Robin Runstein, nailing a header past Reilly.

Two goals in the hole with only seven minutes gone by, the Crimson woke up quickly.

Junior stopper Tara Weinstock turned up the pressure first, cranking a shot from 10 yards out that Minutewomen goalie Mary Curtis lunged to deflect. A UMass defender cleared, but Crimson striker Robin Johnston tracked the loose ball down, lofting a shot over Curtis's head toward the far corner of the net. But Curtis leaped back to snag the attempt, landing just short of the goal line.

Minutes later, junior midfielder Chris Biggs snapped a header just wide of the UMass cage. But Harvard could not get on the board before intermission.

"The UMass offense was relentless," said senior Co-Captain Jen Gifford, who missed her ninth straight game with a knee injury. "They were good in the air."

The Crimson's lone tally came in the middle of the second half, closing the UMass margin to 2-1. Junior halfback Sue Carls passed to Weinstock on the left wing. Weinstock dumped the ball off to Johnston at the top of the penalty box. Johnston cut around the defender and blasted the ball into the upper right corner of the net for her sixth goal of the season, breaking a personal seven-game scoring drought.

"When we were playing to feet, we were generating good offense," Weinstock said. "We just have to keep the intensity up."

The Crimson contined to play UMass tough, but late in the second half Gaudette rung up another tally for the Minutewomen on a breakaway. A few minutes later, Minutewomen forward Kim Eynard found herself open in front of the net and finished off the rainy afternoon's scoring.

"It was tough because of the weather," Gifford said. "We had some good moments--our passing was good. But we weren't getting enough shots off. We weren't creating enough opportunities."

Scoring is still the Crimson's pressing problem although Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton has to be happy to see Johnston putting the ball in the net again. But Johnston wasn't thinking about scoring--she was thinking about winning.

"We had a lot of good ideas," Johnston said. "They just weren't executed precisely."

Crawling Back to the Ivy

After several weeks of top-ten competition, the Crimson can breathe a sigh of relief with their return to Ivy League play. Harvard will try to remain in the Ivy League race against Dartmouth this Friday at Ohiri Field, a contest Weinstock called "huge."

"We're going to have to put this game behind us," Reilly said. "A win would have been nice, but we can't help looking forward to Friday. That's our priority."

Johnston added, "If the right things happen, it could mean a lot toward an Ivy League title.