To win a soccer match demands certain essentials ingredients. Confidence. Skill. Strategy. Teamwork.

None of these attributes, however, will deliver victories without the addition of one key requirement--the cornerstone of every win.

Goals. HARVARD  0 UCONN  5

The women's soccer team was cruelly reminded of this yesterday, unable to score en route to a 5-0 loss to nationally ranked UConn (11-1-0) in a contest dominated completely by the opposition.

Earlier this week, Harvard (5-3-2) was looking forward to taking on the Huskies, eager to prove that it was capable of competing against its powerful nemesis.

The team looked to build on the confidence and momentum it had gained through its successful showing at the George Mason/Umbro Classic. The Crimson returned to Cambridge with a tie and a solid win for its effort.

Unfortunately, UConn was quick to destroy these hopes.

Less than 10 minutes into the match UConn's Jen Carlson netted the first goal of the game. Though it proved to be enough for the victory, the Huskies weren't finished.

A mere 23 seconds later, UConn's Carmie Landeen drilled a shot past Harvard goalie Jen Burney to double the Huskies' advantage.

A third score by the opposition at 31:51 destroyed any hope of a Crimson comeback. Tallying a further two goals in the second half, UConn cruised easily to victory.

Such a dramatic loss was unexpected. In a 3-1 win over No. 14 Maryland this past weekend, it seemed that Harvard had finally conquered the scoring woes that had plagued the team earlier in the season.

Yesterday, however, it seemed that old ghosts had come back to haunt the Crimson.

"We didn't play like we're capable of playing," said junior Naomi Miller. "We didn't create opportunities for ourselves. We didn't find people who were open and we didn't give them playable balls so that they could score."

Indeed, the Crimson managed only four shots on goal in 90 minutes of play, as opposed to the 17 shots taken by the Huskies.

"They didn't have to play much defense," said sophomore Beth Zotter. "They had incredible caliber players, and after they scored we were mentally psyched out. We weren't willing to raise the level of the game."

The Huskies' early goals bore an eerie resemblance to a similar performance by the team during last year's contest. In that game, however, Harvard battled back, though eventually losing to UConn 2-1.

Unfortunately, yesterday the Crimson proved unable to regain momentum after the early set-back.

"They scored pretty early," said Miller, "and it seemed as though after they scored we got scared and backed off. We stepped off of our tackles and let them come at us instead of pressuring them. Unfortunately, we made it easy for them."

To take it easy on a team like UConn is a decidedly deadly move.

"It was really disappointing," Zotter said. "We expected to come out strong against UConn, but we played scared and gave them too much space."

Harvard will be forced to regroup quickly, however, as they look to face Cornell this weekend in an important Ivy League match.

"Usually we tend to rebound quickly from bad games," Zotter said. "Hopefully we'll be able to put this out of our minds and come out strong."

If the team is able to regain the confidence and momentum they proved themselves capable of last weekend, they should be strong contenders for a victory.

After all, it only takes one goal to win a game. UCONN, 5-0 at Storrs, Conn. Harvard  0  0  -  0 UConn  3  2  -  5

Scoring

UConn--Carlson (Barnes) 9:50.

UConn--Landeen (Molinaro) 10:13.

UConn--Whalen (Landeen) 31:51.

UConn--Barnes (Whalen) 52:38.

UConn--M. Tietjen (J. Tietjen) 58:55.

Saves: Har--Burney 3, Browning 2;

UConn--Traw 0, Harold 1.