Sophomore KATIE WESTFALL (8) tumbles as freshman LIZA BARBER (6) rushes forward.

NEWTON, Mass.—The Harvard women’s soccer team has known for quite some time now that it was one of the top 20 teams in the country.

On Tuesday, the Crimson finally received the national ranking to prove it. And against Boston College yesterday, Harvard (6-1, 2-0 Ivy) backed it up on the field.

Crimson co-captain Caitlin Costello scored her sixth goal of the season as No. 11 Harvard blanked the Eagles 1-0 yesterday at the Newton Campus Soccer Field.

The victory snapped B.C.’s three-game winning streak, which included a major upset of then-No. 9 UConn last Sunday.

After being stymied at every turn in the first half, the Eagles (4-6-1) rallied in the waning stages of yesterday’s game. B.C. came within inches of tying the match as a shot by Eagles defender Rebecca Brooke clanged off the post in the 57th minute. But the young Crimson defense ultimately held its ground and junior goalkeeper Cheryl Gunther made five key saves as Harvard held on.

“With B.C., we knew the longer they hung around in the game, the harder it was going to be for us,” Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton said. “They came in with so much confidence. We knew we had to come out hard from the beginning.”

With the win, Harvard solidified its hold on the No. 1 ranking in the Northeast. The Crimson ascended to the region’s top spot Tuesday in the wake of UConn’s 2-0 loss to B.C.

Nationally, the Crimson owns its highest ranking since October of last year.

“We felt we were underranked early in the season,” Wheaton said. “But even when we weren’t ranked, we felt we were a top-20 team.”

Harvard has now won three games in a row, including two over ranked opponents. Since dropping its season opener to Colorado College 5-4, Harvard has outscored its opponents 11-1.

The Crimson needed only one goal yesterday and it came in the 29th minute as sophomore wing Caitlin Fisher sailed a picture-perfect pass into the box, where Costello headed it home.

“[Fisher] sent over a beautiful, beautiful cross,” Costello said. “I just got a good head on it, I guess.”

Fisher was everywhere at once yesterday. The sophomore dynamo has been asked to drop back to help out on defense more this fall, but with her speed and athleticism, she still manages to figure into the offense.

The entire Harvard team ran circles around the Eagles early in the game yesterday. In the first half, B.C. managed just three shots on net, as Harvard’s backline, led by sophomore Katie Hodel, won a series of 50-50 balls to keep the Crimson pushing forward.

Harvard outshot B.C. 17-9 in the game.