After being eliminated from Ivy League title contention last weekend, the Harvard women’s soccer team didn’t have much to play for heading into its final conference matchup of the 2010 season.

But judging by the way the Crimson players stormed the field in celebration when the final whistle sounded, it certainly did not seem that way.

With a winning season at stake and a tough opponent in town, Harvard (8-7-1, 4-3 Ivy) felt like it had a lot to prove Saturday afternoon in its Senior Day contest against Columbia (9-5-3, 3-3-1) at Ohiri Field.

And the Crimson didn’t leave disappointed, coming away with a 2-0 win—and its fourth shutout of the season—against the Lions, a team that entered the contest one point ahead of Harvard in the conference standings.

“Playing against Columbia, they’re always a really great team, so we wanted to do our best, [and] we wanted to make a statement—and I think we did that,” senior Kerry Kartsonis said. “I think everyone—midfield, defense, forwards—just clicked. It was a great way to go out.”

After getting an early gift from its visitors thanks to a Lion own goal in the 10th minute, the Crimson held firm defensively for the remainder of the contest, limiting the visitors to just two shots on goal. In the 80th minute, co-captain Katherine Sheeleigh put the game out of reach with a late strike for her ninth goal of the season.

“The kid has done so much for this program,” said Harvard coach Ray Leone of Sheeleigh, who will finish her collegiate career fifth on the Crimson’s all-time scoring list. “It was great for her to go out like that.”

But until Sheeleigh’s late score, it didn’t look like either team’s offense was going to find the back of the net.

Defensively, Harvard focused its attention on stopping Columbia junior Ashlin Yahr, a 5’9” attacker who entered the matchup tied for second in the Ivy League with seven scores on the season.

But the Crimson shut down the attacker, limiting Yahr to zero shot attempts in 90 minutes of play, marking just the third time this season the junior was held without a shot.

“Both teams were kind of focusing on the attackers,” Leone said. “They were marking us, [and] we were marking them. I thought we did a pretty good job defensively.”

Harvard attempted to get past the Lion defense in the early going but was unable to connect on its runs. Soon enough, though, Columbia’s defense was there to help out.

In the 10th minute of play, sophomore Alexandra Conigliaro sent a cross into the box for Sheeleigh, who was cutting to the goal. Before Sheeleigh could get a foot on the cross, a Lion defender raced to the ball and attempted to boot it away. But instead of sending it out of harm’s way, the defender kicked the ball into the back of her own net, giving the Crimson a 1-0 lead.

Columbia had its best opportunity to even the score just minutes later when a Lion attacker fired a header from a deep cross that ricocheted off the post.

Late in the first half, Columbia had another scoring chance, when Chelsea Ryan collected a rebound in front of the goal. Ryan fired a shot at the goal, but the attempt sailed over the crossbar.

The home team tried to pad its lead with less than 11 minutes to play in the opening frame, as Conigliaro took a give-and-go from junior Melanie Baskind and fired a shot from several yards out. But Conigliaro’s attempt sailed over the cage, and Harvard went into the break clinging to a 1-0 lead.

The Harvard defense had one more scare with 20 minutes to play in the second, when Lion Natalie Melo received a cross five yards in front of the goal. Melo controlled the pass and turned to fire at the goal, but Kartsonis swooped in at the last second to deflect the ball out of bounds.

“I just saw the ball going out to someone, so I just ran out and got it,” Kartsonis said. “I don’t think too much when I’m playing.”

Ten minutes later, Sheeleigh gave the Crimson some breathing room.

In the 80th minute, Baskind sent a lead pass to Sheeleigh as she cut toward the goal. Columbia goalie Lindsay Danielson charged to the ball, but Sheeleigh got to it first and finished the score to put Harvard up, 2-0.

“Mel played me a perfect ball into the box,” Sheeleigh said. “It felt really good to slip it home.”

When the final whistle blew, the Harvard bench rushed onto the field to celebrate with the Crimson’s six seniors, who were on the pitch together for the final minute of play.

“This game was really just for the seniors,” Leone said. “I’m really proud of the performance they had today.”

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