Freshman Kerry Kartsonis (shown here in earlier action) scored Harvard’s lone goal, and the first of her career, to give the Crimson a 1-0 win over Fairfield. Harvard’s top four scorers this season are freshmen.

In a game of solid defense and near misses, freshman Kerry Kartsonis scored the lone goal for Harvard (6-3-1, 0-1 Ivy) as it defeated the Fairfield Stags (4-5-1) 1-0 at Ohiri Field yesterday.

“I was just dribbling the ball down the sideline and I noticed I could beat my defender inside,” said an enthusiastic Kartsonis, who now is tied for fourth on the Crimson with three points. “I ended up beating her and another girl and then when I looked up, I saw the keeper was out of position. I picked my shot and luckily it went in.”

The goal, assisted by junior captain Nicole Rhodes, was the first of Kartsonis’s college career.

“I was really excited,” Kartsonis said. “It was my first goal so it meant a lot.”

Kartsonis, who has a goal and an assist on the year, trails three other freshmen for the most points on the team. Katherine Kuzma has four, Gina Wideroff has eight, and Katherine Sheeleigh leads the team with 10 points.

Harvard came out strong from the start in front of a home crowd of 140. In the fourth minute, Sheeleigh received a through ball from junior center midfielder Erin Wylie. Sheeleigh, who has scored five goals this season, placed the ball past the keeper but hit the left post.

The Crimson missed some more prime opportunities as senior captain Megan Merritt and Wylie both missed high in the 28th and 29th minutes, and Sheeleigh missed another chance wide left in the 37th minute. The Stags had seven shots in the half but very few tested sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Mann.

Harvard, which recorded nine shots in the first half, controlled the pace, but seemed a little slow to first-year coach Ray Leone.

“I think we all did ok but we were spent from the Saturday night game,” Leone said.

Last Saturday, the Crimson lost to Ivy League foe Yale 2-1 in overtime.

In the first half yesterday, Wylie controlled the center with strong passing and cutting runs up the field and the defense held tight as the goalkeeper, Mann, was rarely challenged. At halftime, however, Harvard’s efforts seemed to be for nothing as the game was still notched at a scoreless tie.

The Crimson could have been frustrated, but as soon as the second half began, the squad came out on fire. Just two minutes after the break, Kartsonis, playing outside midfield, scored the only goal of the game on a pass from Rhodes.

This season, Harvard has been a second-half team. The Crimson has scored 10 goals in the second half and overtime, while scoring only three in the first half.

“I think it’s a good sign for the conditioning level and the toughness of the team,” Leone said of the team’s second-half success.

The strong second-half start may have been attributed to Leone’s own coaching and halftime speech as well.

“He told us that he looked at the stats and a lot of goals had been scored [on Fairfield] in the first 15 minutes of the half,” Kartsonis recounted. “He just said to keep pressuring hard.”

The game slowed down after the goal and the Crimson missed a couple chances to score off crosses.

The defense held tight and preserved the victory to keep Harvard at an undefeated 4-0 at home.

Goalkeeper Lauren Mann, who has posted an impressive .67 goals against average, has not allowed a goal in these four victories. Her four saves today helped lead the team to its sixth shutout of the season.

“I think our defense played really well today,” said Mann, who leads the Ivy League in saves and shutouts. “I did not have to do much. They have made my life easy all season.”

The Crimson, which has averaged 1.3 goals per game, has won all four games at home by a score of 1-0.