“Mainly, our attacking aim is to do ‘two v. ones’ up the pitch and kind of eliminate their defenders one by one, and we’ve got some amazing speed with Sydney, Noel [Painter], and Cat [McDonald] all pushing forward,” Rea said. “I think by overtime, our legs were getting a bit tired, but we kept pushing.”

The second overtime saw only one shot from both teams—Bergman’s winning effort with 1:17 remaining.

“We kept on pushing right to the end; we were really after that goal at the very end, and we put it all out there on the pitch,” Rea said. “At the end, it’s kind of sad when we lose, but we realized we were still getting shots off, and we weren’t letting them walk all over us.”

Hatfield’s start in goal in place of Tassopoulos, a three-year starter and two-time All-Ivy selection, came as something of a surprise, but coach Tjerk van Herwaarden made it clear that the move was simply designed to get the most out of both players.

“Both goalkeepers have done tremendous work the entire preseason,” van Herwaarden said. “Jenn Hatfield has worked extremely hard in the preseason. I’m a firm believer that goalkeepers can push each other, so this is not a decision based on how Cynthia played, because she played a very good game on Saturday.”

Van Herwaarden said that the rotation of the two will not continue the whole season, and he will “make a final decision at some point” as to who will start in goal moving forward.

More pressing for Harvard is its difficulty putting the ball in the back of the net. In nearly 170 minutes of play this year, the Crimson has managed only two goals and, according to van Herwaarden, has lacked the finishing touch in front of goal, something that must be remedied if Harvard is to have success in the Ivy season.

“That’s where we definitely have to improve,” van Herwaarden said. “We have a sustained buildup that works from the 25 to the circle, and getting more effective in the circle is our main focus in the next couple of weeks.”