Forward BETH TOTMAN (11) was one of three Crimson players to have a multi-point game against Brown on Saturday afternoon.

The veterans of the Harvard womens soccer team came into Saturdays game against Brown hoping to prove that last years 2-0 defeat under the lights at Providence was merely a fluke.

Their effort could not have been more convincing.

The Crimsons play was marked by elegant finishes and gutsy defensive decisions in its 4-0 thrashing of the Bears. Browns game was typified by uninspired attacks and reckless backfield fouls.

[Brown is] a good team, but we felt we didnt give our best effort on the field last year, said Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton. We were really focused on doing that today.

Co-captain Caitlin Costello led the Crimson in scoring with two goals, giving her four for the seasonalready eclipsing her junior year total. Fellow starting forwards Beth Totman and Joey Yenne, reunited in Ivy play for the first time since their freshman seasons two years ago, each had multi-point games as well.

Costello led off Harvards scoring in the 13th minute off a corner kick from sophomore forward Katie Westfall. Westfall placed the kick up for grabs over a crowd on the 18-yard line. There Totman and freshman fullback Liza Barber each managed to get a head on the ball to set up Costello, who had room to work deep inside the box. Showing poise and patience in mild traffic, Costello touched the ball to her right for a clear look at the net and then placidly finished.

[Costello] has got a great knack for putting it away, Wheaton said. [Her shots] arent rockets, but theyre just hard enough to beat the keeper. In any sport, someone who can [finish like Costello] is just so valuable.

Yenne set up Harvards second goal by drawing a foul after meandering through the Brown defense on the right corner of the box. On the restart, Westfall permitted Yenne to finish what she started.

Giving nothing away on her approach, Westfall caught the Brown defense off guard by placing a flat pass square through the box. There Yenne met the ball, turned on it, and then drilled it into the left corner of the net past Brown senior goalkeeper Mary Jo Markle.

The Westfall-to-Yenne free kick combination was so flawlessly executed that it looked like it had been practiced to the point of perfection, but it was not so.

That [goal] was sweet, Wheaton said. Its not a specific play that we worked on, but we put players like Katie on the ball because they have great vision and great understanding of the different options, and she found one.

Once Harvard went up 2-0, instead of falling apart as in its 5-4 opening loss to Colorado College, the Crimson stepped up, kept the ball out of its end, and eliminated the few careless scoring opportunities it had allowed early on.

Junior midfielder Orly Ripmaster set up the game-breaking third Crimson goal early in the second half by sending a long through ball to Yenne, who touched the ball to Costello just inside the box. Costello had just enough space to dribble through a pair of defenders and finish.

Its easy [to score] when youve got good teammates around you, playing you easy balls, Costello said. They do all the hard work for me.

Just 31 seconds later, the Crimson scored for a fourth time. Costello and Yenne rushed at will through the bewildered Brown defense after spoiling the Bear kickoff. Costello set up Yenne for a shot which was stopped by Brown second-half goalkeeper, sophomore Sarah Gervais, but the ball bounced right towards Totman, who tapped it into the net for the finish.