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Scoring struggles continued for the Harvard women’s soccer team (0-3-2, 0-0 Ivy) in the second to last weekend of non-conference games.

The Crimson failed to score multiple goals in a 1-2 loss to Monmouth (4-2-0, 0-0 CAA) and a 1-1 tie against crosstown foe Northeastern (1-3-2, 0-0 CAA).

Harvard 1 Monmouth 2

Still short-staffed due to injury, the Harvard women’s soccer team lost by a single score for the third time in four games this season, this time to the Monmouth Hawks. The team has yet to score multiple goals in a single game this season.

An early corner kick had Harvard poised to put pressure on the Hawks early, but a successful defense flipped the momentum of the game.

A sloppy pass by the Crimson on its own side of the pitch was quickly turned into a goal by Monmouth. The Hawks attacked up the right side off of the turnover before a late cross in the box found the foot of senior forward Summer Reime and then the back of the net. This goal gave Monmouth a lead only eight minutes into the match.

The Harvard defense found its back against the wall again only four minutes later. The Hawks took an aggressive approach on a corner kick, lofting it high and into the middle of the box. Senior goalkeeper Rhiannon Stewart punched at the ball to knock it out of the box, but slightly miss-hit the ball. The ball floated only a short distance from the crowd before finding the left foot of Monmouth junior forward Loren Gehret who lofted the ball over the heads of the crowd and finessed the ball into the goal. The Hawks claimed a 2-0 lead early.

The teams exchanged shots, fouls and yellow cards for the remainder of the half but neither squad could find the back of the net as the score held at 2-0. The Crimson came close to cutting the lead but two offsides penalties and two saves by Monmouth kept Harvard off the board.

The Hawks came out of halftime swinging, but Stewart stood tall and saved two shots early. Then, the Crimson went on the offensive. Three Harvard players tried their luck in a four minute span but none could find paydirt.

Finally, sophomore forward Lauren Muniz buried the first goal of the game for the Crimson. A foul by Monmouth allowed Harvard to run a set on a free kick. Freshman midfielder Elsa Santos Lopez curled the ball into the box and Muniz headed it home.

Muniz's goal ended the scoring for the day. The Crimson had a corner kick opportunity late in the game but failed to convert. Harvard controlled the game for the majority of the match but could not overcome the hole dug in the early minutes. Early deficits will continue to be difficult for the Crimson to overcome unless it becomes more efficient at converting opportunities into goals.

Harvard 1 Northeastern 1

Harvard women’s soccer tied their Beantown rivals the Northeastern Huskies this past Sunday. The Crimson continued a pattern from some previous early season games of coming out strong but being unable to maintain early game momentum.

The game took place on a dreary fall Sunday afternoon at Jordan field. The weather included strong frequent rain, high winds, and borderline thunderstorms.

Nonetheless, the Crimson came out full of energy. Havard controlled the majority of possession from the get go. The home team quickly advantaged the ball down the pitch setting up junior striker Ólöf Kristinsdóttir for not one but two shots on goal within the first few minutes of the match.

Both these shots were deflected by the Northeastern’s junior keeper Eliza Teplow, but the Crimson had the momentum with the Huskies defense scrambling to recover. With Northeastern still off balance, Harvard was able to win a corner kick where junior midfielder Susie Long sent the ball down the center of the box directly to the foot of junior forward Jasmine Leshnick and into the goal.

The Crimson took an early lead, less than eight minutes into the game.

From there the Crimson maintained its stride. Throughout the first half the team kept the pedal to the metal, easily moving the ball down the field and into the box, only to have it stopped by the wall that was the Northeastern keeper.

Kristinsdóttir and Leshnick had a combined 5 shots during the first 45 minutes that all seemed close to hitting the mark, without quite getting there, along with notable shots on goal from senior forward Audrey Francois and freshmen midfielder Hannah Eftekhari.

The Crimson went into the locker room with a 1-0 lead, having dominated possession and shots taken throughout the half.

Coming back from half, Harvard kept on shooting with most of the starting forwards and midfielders padding their statlines with shots and shots on goal. Despite this the Crimson was still unable to capitalize on moving the ball successfully down the field as the ball ended up over the goal or in the Teplow’s hands.

At the same time, the Huskies offensive seemed to find their footing a few minutes into the second half, and began redirecting the pressure that their defense had been victim to for most of the game.

Although the Harvard defense was able to deal with a few sets from Huskies, a Huskie counterattack made its way through the Harvard backline and into the Harvard goal by Northeastern sophomore striker to equalize the game and increase the tension.

With this change in momentum, the end of the game ended up feeling more like Havard trying to hang on to the tie than grinding for the first win of the season. Northeastern stayed on the attack sending three shot attempts toward the goal without success.

During this time, the Harvard defensive core and goalkeeper Stewart showed off their experience and talent which the team has come to rely on throughout its two-week old season.

The game ended as a 1-1 between the Boston rivals. The statlines that told the better story of the game though were Harvard’s 16 to 6 shots and 4 to 1 shots-on-goal lead. With this game, the Crimson seemed close to landing its first win, without quite being there.

Next week women’s soccer is set to continue their seven game lineup of home games playing at Jordan Field Thursday at 7pm versus Boston University and Saturday at 7 pm, for their first league game, against Dartmouth.

– Staff Writer Jake Swanson can be reached at jake.swanson@thecrimson.com
– Staff Writer Reed M. Trimble can be reached at reed.trimble@thecrimson.com