The old adage is that defense wins championships. At the same time, you can’t win unless you score goals.

That became patently obvious to the Harvard women’s soccer team during the adidas/Hypertherm Tournament this weekend at Dartmouth, where the Crimson (2-3-1) tied Auburn 0-0 before falling to No. 8 Virginia 1-0.

Virginia 1, Harvard 0

On Sunday, Harvard conceded an early goal to Virginia (6-1-1), which made it stand up to win not only the match, but also the tournament title.

The Crimson struggled early against the Cavaliers, falling behind when tournament offensive MVP Lindsay Gusick struck midway through the first half.

But Harvard rallied itself and played spirited soccer in the second half.

“[The second half] was the best soccer that we’ve played all four years I’ve been here,” senior midfielder Katie Westfall said.

But, continuing a trend that had plagued it for the entire tournament, the Crimson was unable to capitalize on its opportunities.

“We created a lot of chances,” said co-captain Katie Hodel, who is also a Crimson editor. “It’s just a matter of putting one or two of them away. We couldn’t finish.”

Harvard focused on ball movement against Virginia, attempting to pass between players rather than simply sending long balls to open space.

“We did a great job of moving the ball out of the back and finding our central midfielders,” Hodel said. “Our forwards also did a great job of combining with our central midfielders.”

Despite its best efforts, the Crimson was ultimately stymied by the tournament’s defensive MVP, Cavalier goalkeeper Anne Abernethy, and the Virginia defense, which extended its shutout streak to 328 minutes.

The game left Harvard with mixed emotions.

“We’re excited that we came back in the second half, but we need to play like that for the whole game,” Hodel said.

Harvard 0, Auburn 0