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W. Soccer Escapes Princeton With Win

All of this made for a frustrating day for Harvard. That is, until Gudeman's score.

"I think a lot of times we go in with the expectation that we're going to win or we know we can win," Gudeman said. "But what happens is we just don't finish and when it comes down to the last 15 minutes, we kind of realize that we need to get in there and score."

While the offense had its troubles putting the ball into the net, the defense saw to it that Princeton's scoring chances were few and far between.

The Tiger's good opportunities were limited to one wide-angled shot in the first half that clanked off the cross-bar and one shot from point-blank range that Tiger Emily Senecal drilled to the right of an open net with six minutes left.

Besides those two chances, the Crimson defense followed through with its aggressive style, keeping the ball out of its penalty area and pushing the action upfield.

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"We have a pretty strong defensive system to counterbalance any attack that [Princeton] might have," said freshman defender Jessica Henderson, who spearheaded the backfield Saturday. "We usually take care of things in the midfield."

Harvard will certainly take the win, and the sign of a good soccer team is when it gets the victory without playing to its potential. The Crimson was bogged down with careless mental errors; it had a half-dozen offsides and three illegal throw-ins, to go along with numerous bad shots.

But the only stat that matters is the final score, and the Crimson remained one point behind first-place Brown, who crushed Pennsylvania, 6-1, on Friday.

"We have been working hard in practice, and the goal was just a symbol," Henderson said. "We haven't had a lot of luck this season, but we deserved to win." >Harvard  1 Princeton  0

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