Sophomore Alexandra Conigliaro netted the game-winning goal for Harvard against Yale on a penalty kick.

The Harvard women’s soccer team had a simple motto heading into its second Ivy League contest of the year: “Whatever it takes.”

After losing its Ivy League opener to Penn last weekend, the Crimson knew it needed to come up with a victory—in any way possible—if it wanted to keep its hopes of winning a third straight Ivy League championship alive.

Taking on Yale Saturday afternoon at Ohiri Field, the Crimson managed to keep a league championship within reach, fighting and scrapping its way to a 2-1 victory.

Heading into the 2010 season, few could have predicted that Harvard (4-4-1, 1-1 Ivy) and the Bulldogs (3-6-1, 0-2 Ivy)—last season’s first and second place Ivy League finishers, respectively—would enter the contest winless in conference play and need a win to keep their seasons alive.

“[Both teams knew] their backs were against the wall, and that’s how both teams played,” Crimson coach Ray Leone said. “There was great emotion.”

Harvard managed to come out on top in the gritty contest, relying on scores from co-captain Katherine Sheeleigh and sophomore Alexandra Conigliaro and seven saves from freshman goalie Jessica Wright to earn the win.

“It went really well,” said Conigliaro, who scored her first career goal on a penalty kick in the 57th minute. “I think everybody did everything they could to get the win.”

After Conigliaro’s score gave the Crimson the 2-0 lead, it looked like Harvard may cruise to the easy victory and give Wright her first collegiate shutout.

But the Bulldogs did not go down without a fight. After the team’s first 21 shot attempts were off their mark, Yale managed to find the back of the net on its 22nd, pulling within one goal in the 88th minute.

With less than three minutes on the clock, the Bulldogs scrambled to net the equalizer, but the Crimson’s defense—which had slowed Yale’s offense for the majority of the game—came up big one last time and successfully defended against a corner kick in the final minute to secure the win.

Crucial to Harvard’s defensive strategy was stopping Yale forward Becky Brown, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year. While Brown has been held to just three goals this season, Leone and the Crimson defense were well aware of her scoring prowess after she notched a goal against Harvard in 2009.

“She’s a phenomenal player,” Leone said. “She has just run havoc on us for four years, and I have a lot of respect for her, so we just defend her together. That’s the only thing we can do.”

The strategy paid off, as the forward was held scoreless despite taking a team-high five shots. The Bulldogs found Brown in the box in the early going, but her first shot sailed wide right and her second attempt was deflected by freshman defender Claudia Haeussler.

The Crimson struggled to get a good look at the net in the game’s opening minutes, but the squad earned its first corner kick in the 14th minute and capitalized on the opportunity.

Freshman Peyton Johnson took the corner, crossing it in front of the Yale net to freshman forward Elizabeth Weisman, who then headed the ball high into the air. Sheeleigh connected with the ball before it could hit the ground and fired it past Yale goalie Ayana Sumiyasu to put her team up, 1-0.

The score marked the 27th of Sheeleigh’s career, putting her just one goal behind Joey Yenne ’03 for fifth all-time in Harvard history.

“I can’t say enough about what [Sheeleigh] brings to the team,” Leone said. “She showed it again today.”

The Bulldogs had an opportunity to even the score with five minutes left in the first half after Harvard turned it over in front of its own goal, but a shot from point-blank range sailed wide, preserving the Crimson’s lead heading into the break.

Harvard had a number of opportunities to extend its lead early in the second, but the team could not capitalize.

Conigliaro provided the cushion the Crimson needed in the 57th minute after she was fouled inside the box and awarded a penalty kick.

“[Before I took the shot], I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, I have to score this goal,’” Conigliaro said.

While Conigliaro may have been nervous, she appeared unfazed, booting the ball into the bottom right corner of the cage to put Harvard ahead, 2-0.

The Crimson withstood the late Yale surge—led by Mary Kubiuk, who accounted for the Bulldog’s lone score—to hang on to its first Ancient Eight win of the season.

“We definitely needed this win to give us momentum for the rest of the Ivy League season,” Conigliaro said. “Hopefully this will propel us forward.”

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.