When an athlete consistently performs at his or her peak level, good things are bound to happen.

Co-captain Beth Zotter's streak of near misses ended at the best possible moment on Saturday afternoon. Her game-winning goal in sudden-death overtime propelled the Harvard women's soccer team (5-1-1, 3-0 Ivy) to a 2-1 victory over up-and-coming Ivy League rival Penn (5-2-1, 2-1).

Eight minutes into the extra period, Zotter took a pass in transition from freshman forward Joey Yenne. Penn's goalie, Katherine Hunt, came too far out of the net, allowing Zotter to pop the ball over her head off of the crossbar and into the back of the net.

"I didn't even think it was going in," Zotter said. "I thought it was going to hit off the crossbar. And then I saw it bounce up and hit off the net. It was an awesome feeling because I just feel like I've sort of been on a dry spell lately."

In the early going, Harvard was clearly the more aggressive team, putting constant pressure on the Quaker defense and creating many scoring opportunities.

In the 10th minute of the contest Yenne received a pass from Zotter, who had penetrated into the Penn box, and boomed a shot just right of the goal.

Then in the 18th minute, senior midfielder Ashley Berman directed a beautiful cross-pass to Zotter from the right corner, who just sailed the shot wide right.

Berman was instrumental throughout the contest, creating many chances for Harvard with her exceptional ball-handling skills. She also succeeded in stopping one of the Quakers' better players, freshman midfielder Heidi Nichols.