With the goal and the readjustment of the Demon Deacons’ lead back to four, the Crimson could feel the game slipping through its hands.
“It was sort of like, ‘You know, we don’t have anything to lose at this point and we’re just going to leave it all out on the field,’” Gannon said.
“I have a lot of pride at the way that we did that. There wasn’t a second of that game that we weren’t trying and that we weren’t going for it, and that takes a lot of character,” she added.
Wake tallied another pair of goals at 56:19 and 58:00 to forge the final margin of 7-1.
Wake Forest outshot Harvard 23-2, and goalies Kristina Gagliardi and Merilee Robbins didn’t have to make a single save in the contest.
On the year, the Demon Deacons have averaged better than 23 shots per game.
“We got caught a little bit flat so they got some balls all the way from their backfield up to their forwards, and we were trying to force them to go outside to their back,” Harvard coach Sue Caples said. “And we did do that a lot...it was just a matter of being able to put pressure on them and play 2-on-2 at the sidelines. We just didn’t always get there quite quick enough or put on a strong enough tackle. Wake Forest moves the ball very, very well.”
It was Wake’s ninth straight NCAA Tournament win and 38th consecutive over a non-conference opponent.
Harvard, which won the Ivy title for the first time since 1991 and ended Princeton’s 10-year reign as League champs, suffered its fourth NCAA first-round loss in program history.
“We built a great team and had a great run at the end,” Caples said. “We battled hard, we exceeded our expectations. Right now, moments after the game it’s hard to really take it all in. I think this season in general is one that will require a lot of reflection.”
The seniors on the team closed out their careers in Crimson in bittersweet fashion.
“I’m very happy to have played such a good team,” Maasdorp said. “Just to have made the tournament, and then play against such a good team, I’m very happy. The toughest part was that the score was so high, but I wasn’t trying to pay attention to it.”
“I couldn’t be happier,” Gannon added.
—Staff writer J. Patrick Coyne can be reached at coyne@fas.harvard.edu.