CHESTNUT HILL--The soccer wasn't pretty, and, for the Harvard women's soccer team, the result wasn't either.

Harvard lost to Boston College (4-4-0) yesterday, 3-1, dropping the Crimson to 2-2-1 overall, 1-1-0 Ivy.

While the game was closer than the score indicated, neither team was happy with the way they played.

"It was not a stellar day for us," forward Jen Minkus said.

"We were not reacting to each other on the field," junior midfielder Sharon Olken said. "We just weren't connecting."

"If we had played like this against [second-ranked] Connecticut, we would have been killed," Eagles Coach Terez Bonorden said.

Although the quality of soccer may not have been top-rate, the game was still exciting.

Crimson goalie Brooke Donahoe and Eagles goalie Patricia Cook each had rally-killing saves in the first half.

Eagles star middie Michelle Howland, who scored twice in the game, broke the scoring drought with a header past Donahoe 34 minutes into the game, putting B.C. up 1-0.

But Harvard stepped up its game a notch and knotted the score just seven minutes later.

Junior forward Laurie Uustal passed the ball across the net to Co-Captain Robin Johnston, who ripped the ball past Cook for the score.

The goal was the Crimson's first in 132 minutes of play, a streak extending back to the closing moments of the Columbia game two weeks ago.

In the second half, neither team could mount a consistent offensive attack.

The Eagles scored the winning goal with 15 minutes left to play when speedy B.C. forward Claire Feeney collided with Donahoe near the top of the box on a breakaway.

Donahoe, unable to extricate herself from Feeney's grasp, could only watch as Howland punched the ball into the vacant net.