PRINCETON, N.J.—As of Saturday night, there are no more perfect teams in Division I women’s soccer.

Harvard freshman Sara Sedgwick, with a firm thrust of her head that propelled a ball deep into an unguarded crack in the Princeton defense, slew the final one, and thereby freed the Crimson players from their season-long curse against ranked opposition.

Harvard (7-5-1, 3-1-1 Ivy) and No. 15 Princeton (12-1, 5-1) battled end-to-end for 104 scoreless minutes under the lights at Lourie-Love field. The 1-0 result could easily have gone in either direction with the number of chances each team had that missed by inches.

The deadlock was finally broken in the second overtime on a corner kick by junior midfielder Katie Westfall. Sedgwick turned a game characterized by near-misses into one defined by a true strike—a bold header into the left corner of the net from several yards out that no one could touch.

Sedgwick was Harvard’s previously untested force in the air, but she was well known to those who had been watching Crimson practices. On the game-winner, she saw she had an angle on Westfall’s serve, called for it, and, with no Princeton defender within a yard of her, drilled the ball up and into the net.

The force from Sedgwick’s blast on one side of the field immediately led to a release of energy on the other end from the Crimson bench, which exploded across field in celebration.

It was a reaction that had been inhibited for weeks by one close defeat after another.

“We were saying the whole game, this was going to ruin their season and make our season,” Sedgwick said. “It’s a huge momentum shift for us.”

On the side opposite the ecstatic Harvard players, there was silence from the stunned Princeton players and the crowd that had risen in their support every time they approached the Harvard net. Losing was a foreign substance they had no experience dealing with—at least not this season.

For Harvard, the victory was its first over a ranked foe this season. The Crimson felt it had played well enough to win against No. 4 Portland and No. 10 Penn State earlier this season, but had no points to show for it. This result was finally different.

“We’ve had close games and the luck just didn’t go [our way], while Princeton’s been in our situation but getting the more positive end of things,” Sedgwick said. “This was a change [for us]. An overdue change, I think.”

The Crimson still needs a Princeton loss or tie against Cornell next Saturday to stay in the Ivy title picture. But regardless of whether it claims the outright league crown or not, Harvard proved the actual distance between the two teams was nothing like the disparity in the teams’ records and national rankings entering the game.

Losing to Harvard was no new experience for Princeton. The Crimson improved to 9-1 versus the Tigers over the past decade, including five straight shutouts at Lourie-Love Field.

Harvard and Princeton were each in control for their fair share of the game, though the Crimson ultimately had the greater share of possession. The Tigers dominated the opening minutes, during which Princeton was one missed touch away from scoring on a corner kick.

Harvard was in control for the near entirety of the second half, but Princeton defended well deep in their zone to stay in the game.