HARVARD 1, BINGHAMTON 0

In a game that saw the Crimson dominate play and fire over three quarters of the shots, it was a pair of freshman seeing their first collegiate action that rescued Harvard from a frustrating tie.

After 80 minutes of scoreless action, Lau found classmate Erin Wylie with a corner kick, and Wylie’s header provided the winning score for the Crimson.

“Set pieces are our thing this year,” said Odorczyk. “I think we’re really good at corners and free kicks. We have a lot of people who win balls in the box and in the air. We’re really excited whenever we get a set piece because we know we can put it away.”

In addition to Wylie and Lau, backs Nicole Rhodes and Allison Keeley also represented the class of ’09 in the starting lineup in the regular season opener for Harvard.

“We have a smaller team [this year], so the freshmen definitely have a big role,” said senior midfielder Maile Tavepholjalern. “You can see it in our lineup.”

Shields recorded the shutout by saving the only shot on goal that the Bearcats could muster.

HARVARD 5, CAPE BRETON UNIVERSITY 0 (EXHIBITION)

Before beginning the season, the Crimson warmed up by taking on the Capers in an exhibition game.

Harvard scored early and often en route to a five-goal victory.

“It was the first time we actually played with eleven-on-eleven because we have a really small team, so the most we can play at practice is eight-on-eight,” said Odorczyk. “We really needed that before a [regular season] game.”

Freshman back Nicole Rhodes scored two goals for the Crimson, both via headers off corner kicks.

—Staff writer Jonathan P. Hay can be reached at hay@fas.harvard.edu.