Within the first three minutes, Princeton found itself with multiple scoring chances. A minute into the half, the Tigers sent a cross in front of the goal about eight yards out, which the Harvard defense managed to clear.
Moments later, off of a cross from the right flank, Princeton midfielder Melissa Downey put her foot on an open volley in front of the net, but the shot skipped just over the crossbar. After making several more runs, Downey again put pressure on the Harvard defense with a shot that sailed wide with 35 minutes to go in the half.
The Tiger barrage continued throughout the half. On a dangerous Princeton attack, Kanten came through for the home team, sending a header from striker Jen Hoy over the bar with 33 minutes remaining in the game. Harvard needed to look for ways to slow the Tiger offense.
“We needed to step up our pressure,” Le said. “We needed to try to put them under a bit more.”
With 30:47 to go in the half, Harvard did just that. On a long ball from the defense, Crimson rookie Meg Casscells-Hamby beat her defender and laid the ball across to Baskind from the left for an easy finish, giving Harvard a 2-0 lead.
“What a great choice from Meg,” Leone said. “Someone was in a better position, she delivered the ball perfectly, and it was a great finish.”
Leone wasn’t the only one who appreciated Casscells-Hamby’s assist.
“The cross was textbook—I didn’t have to do anything. If I could switch it in the book, I would,” Baskind said. “That’s her goal.”
Princeton’s pressure continued for the duration of the game, picking up in the last two minutes following a point-blank goal from Hoy assisted by defender Gabrielle Ragazzo.
With only one goal separating the teams, Princeton ramped up its already aggressive play.
“At that point, we were just focused on how we were going to close out the game,” Baskind said.
But Harvard ultimately managed to withstand the Tigers’ final push in the longest two minutes of the game.
The final horn couldn’t have come any sooner for Leone.
“Bend, don’t break, and that’s basically what we did,” Leone said. “We bent like crazy, but we didn’t break ... We just held on.”