Hopes were high for the young Harvard women’s soccer team following its Ivy opening victory over Penn last Sunday.

But after two consecutive defeats this week, capped by the team’s 1-0 loss to defending league champion Yale on Saturday, the squad seems to have come back down to earth.

“We put together ninety good minutes with the exception of one bad lapse,” captain Laura Odorczyk said. “It’s a disappointment today.”

The Crimson (1-8-1, 1-1-0 Ivy) came out flat against the Bulldogs (5-4-1, 2-0-0 Ivy) from the start of the first half.

And the squad could not hold off the pressure for the entire frame, as Yale scored the game’s only goal just before halftime.

As the half ended, the Bulldogs connected on a series of touch passes through the Crimson half until a through ball beat the defensive line.

Yale forward Andrea Bouchard caught up with the pass and slid the ball by freshman Lauren Mann for a breakaway goal.

“We knew they were very athletic with good team speed,” Harvard coach Erica Walsh said. “We wanted to minimize their attack, but we weren’t able to the entire game.”

Mann was able to rebound after relinquishing that first half goal, producing multiple diving saves to keep Harvard in the game.

The biggest of them came in the 70th minute as Mann made a stunning kick save on a point-blank shot from six feet away.

With the defense locked down, the Crimson offense came out firing in the second half, and the scoring opportunities increased just as steadily as the team’s focus and intensity grew until the end of the game.

In the first two minutes of the half, the squad produced three scoring opportunities on combinations between sophomore Rachel Lau, junior Megan Kerr, and junior co-captain Megan Merritt.

The chances continued to roll, with Harvard out-shooting Yale 11-10. The Crimson then saved its best for its very last.

In the 85th minute, a pinpoint cross found the foot of freshman Christina Hagner on a beautiful back flick from Merritt. Hagner then passed the ball back to Odorczyk, who ripped a one-timer from the top of the box. The ball cascaded off the bottom of the post and came straight down without entering the goal before the Bulldogs punted the ball out.

“I was hoping it was going in,” an exasperated Odorczyk said. “It was tough—we had so many good opportunities.”

But it was too little too late for the young team.

Continuing an unfortunate early-season trend, the Crimson once again fell behind in the first half.

Although the squad picked its play up in the second, team members were left wishing that they could find a more consistent intensity and focus—from the start.

“When we’re down a goal in the second half we come out more intense and more focused,” Odorczyk said. “It’s a blessing and it’s a curse. We want to do that from the beginning.”

The team will help itself by getting healthy.

Freshman Devon Sherman will look to be in the lineup this coming week, and Lizzy Nichols started Saturday for the first time since suffering stress fractures in her face during a collision two weeks ago against St. Mary’s.

However, starting defender and sophomore Allison Keeley will not be back on the team for at least four weeks with a stress fracture.

No matter what the team’s injury situation, the opportunities for success are there, but now, for the Crimson, it’s a matter of finishing.

“We did a lot of what we wanted to do,” Walsh said. “But we weren’t able to put away any counterattack opportunities, which is what we need in the future.”

—Staff writer Walter E. Howell can be reached at wehowell@fas.harvard.edu.