“It could have been even higher,” Moran said. “We outplayed them. I don’t think 2-0 says enough of our dominance in the game.”
Despite being outshot 5-8, the Crimson held on for the shutout. Junior goalkeeper Maja Agustsdottir kept the Patriots out with five saves in her first appearance of the season.
PENN STATE 1, HARVARD 0
For 80 minutes it appeared that the Crimson players might be able to avoid the same frustration that they felt after their season opening loss to Portland.
But about 10 minutes later, it was deja vu.
Nittany Lions’ forward Tiffany Weimer beat her defender and tallied a goal in the 81st minute to hand Harvard its second consecutive one-goal defeat to start the season.
The Crimson once again had trouble creating scoring chances against a top-10 opponent, as Penn State outshot Harvard 11-2 in the first half and 21-8 in the game.
For the most part, Shields was up to the task in goal, tallying 10 saves for the Crimson in the loss. She was named to the All-tournament team along with freshman back Michelle Hull.
PORTLAND 3, HARVARD 2
In its first game of the season, Harvard battled highly-touted Portland to a standstill over the first 36 minutes of action.
But Pilot freshman Natalie Budge scored two goals less than a minute apart to give Portland what would prove to be an insurmountable lead.
The Crimson did not submit without a fight. Sedgwick converted a pass from captain back Liza Barber in the 54th minute to reduce the margin to just a single goal.
Unfortunately for Harvard, an upset ultimately proved to be just out of its reach. A Pilot goal in the 75th minute gave Portland a two goal edge, and although Colvin tallied for the Crimson just three minutes later on an assist from sophomore midfielder Katie Johnston, it was too little, too late.
“If we had had some more time, we definitely could have pulled through with another goal and brought it into overtime,” Moran said.
Shields made eight saves in net for Harvard, allowing the Crimson to stay in the contest despite being outshot 24-5.
—Staff writer Carrie H. Petri can be reached at cpetri@fas.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Jonathan P. Hay can be reached at hay@fas.harvard.edu.