Late in the first half, Foster actually beatAhern but was tackled before she could get off aclean shot. Foster got another chance late in thesecond period when she raced past Ahern again, butshe had her shot blocked by a Columbia defenderwho threw her body into the line of fire. Therebound came to Zotter, who dumped the ball backto Foster, but another Foster shot and asubsequent attempt by Stauffer were both stopped.
"Our goal was to not let it get this far intothe game," Zotter said. "We wanted to come out andscore fast, and take charge of the game and makeit not even a question."
Late in the second half it appeared thatovertime would be unnecessary. Miller broke inbehind the Columbia defense and ripped a shot pasta diving Ahern into the lower left corner of thegoal for an apparent 1-0 Harvard lead. But thelinesman lofted the flag above his head indicatingMiller was offside, and the goal was nullified.
"I think we were concentrating too much onelaborate tactics," Miller said. "Before you cando your runs, you have to have the ball. But wewere getting ready to make all the runs and notfocusing on getting the ball first. We jumped tostep two and skipped step one."
The Crimson's defense also turned in a solidperformance, led by Marynick's excellentall-around game. Larson kept the area in front ofBurney clean for most of the afternoon as well.
When Columbia did get shots on goal, however,Burney was up to the task. The senior madenumerous crucial plays, including a charging saveon a shot from the foot of Columbia's Tosh Fordein the game's 54th minute that sent Forde limpingto the sideline.
"We've changed the starting lineup every game,so we're still trying to get the foundation wewant," Marynick said.
Overtime belonged to Harvard. The Lions wereapparently unable to keep up with the Crimson'sattack, as Foster, Berman, co-captain DevonBingham and the rest of the Harvard offensecreated opportunity after opportunity. Harvardoutshot Columbia 27-8 for the game, led byMiller's seven shots and Stauffer's six.
"I think we kind of decided enough is enough,"Wheaton said. "One of the things that happens whenyou have a team that has the talent that this teamdoes, you think, 'Oh, it will just come,' and itdoesn't just come, you have to make it come. Theyjust decided to win it, and they did."
Despite the victory, the players know they arenot yet playing their best.
"We're really excited to go back [today] andpractice because we have some things to work out,"Stauffer said. "We're just looking to improveduring the whole season, and right now we feelthat our game isn't quite gelling."
The game may not have gone as smoothly asplanned, but the final result was the one theCrimson wanted. Harvard has taken the first stepin its quest for a fourth consecutive Ivy Leaguetitle.
"Like coach just said, 'It was ugly, but it'sbetter to win ugly than to lose.' The win's great;we're always happy with a win," Miller said. "Ofcourse it could have been prettier, but we'lldefinitely take a win over a loss or a tie anyday."
ScoringHar--Zotter (Miller, Foster) 102:30.Saves:Har--Burney 3; Col--Ahern 6.