Sometimes a red card can be the greatest boost for the offending soccer team and the worst news for the other side.

Such was the case yesterday afternoon at Ohiri Field.

Playing a man down from midway through the first half on, the No. 3 ranked UConn women's soccer team (14-0-2, 7-0-1 Big East) turned it up a notch against No. 22 Harvard (8-2-1,4-0-0 Ivy) to win 2-0.

With the score knotted at zero in the 23rd minute, Husky senior forward Jennifer Tietjen received a red card for knocking down Harvard junior forward Gina Foster from behind. Foster was on a breakaway when Jennifer Tietjen tripped her. HARVARD  0 UCONN  2

Tietjen's ejection served only to fire up the Huskies. Not only was Harvard unable to score any goals, but UConn went on to score two while playing with only ten players.

"It is always difficult when you play a team that is down a player; everybody on the field feels they've got to put in a little extra to make up for that player," Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton said.

"One player, I don't think, makes that big of a difference," he said. "When they are down a player and up a goal, then you don't feel like you have to push forward."

Harvard opened the game at the mercy of UConn as the Huskies controlled the ball early on. Harvard received possession for the first time in the third minute.

Harvard freshman Colleen Moore turned the momentum around for the Crimson with a shot on goal in the seventh minute and marked the beginning of Harvard's control of the field.

The Crimson continued to dominate the field as senior forward Naomi Miller and co-captain Emily Stauffer had consecutive shots hit the crossbar in the 16th minute.

Harvard controlled the pace until Miller went down in the 22nd minute.

While Miller would return, her injury, coupled with the subsequent red card, turned the tide toward the Huskies' favor.

Connecticut wasted no time in scoring. Five minutes later, Margaret Tietjen, Jennifer's twin sister, dribbled down the left side and booted a cross that somehow managed to find the right side of the Crimson net.

"Before they scored against us, we knew that we could take it to them and we were very offensive minded," junior forward Beth Zotter said. "Once they scored on us, we reverted back to a more defensive mindset."

The score remained at 1-0 going into halftime.