The women’s soccer team fell to Harvard 3-1 Sunday afternoon at Soldiers Field in Cambridge, Mass. The loss leaves Bruno (7-3-1, 2-1-1 Ivy) standing third in the Ivy League.
The Crimson (8-3-2, 4-0-0) initially fell behind the Bears, when forward Chloe Cross ’15 scored in the seventh minute. She scored unassisted, knocking the ball into the net from just inside the goal box. Cross leads the squad with five goals this year.
But Brown’s lead failed to last, with Harvard scoring two goals off of set plays. In the 26th minute, the Crimson tied the game when Haley Washburn scored with a header set up by a free kick.
In the 57th minute, Karly Zlatic’s corner kick was saved by Brown goalie Mary Catherine Barrett ’14 but quickly recovered by Alika Keene, who scored to give Harvard the lead. Elizabeth Weisman then gave the Crimson a two-goal advantage by scoring in the 68th minute.
“They’re very good at corner kicks, and today they made us pay,” said Head Coach Phil Pincince. “They were the better team and deserved to win.”
Harvard attempted seven corner kicks in the game, four more than the Bears. The Crimson also outshot Bruno 13-9.
Barrett had her first loss of the year after taking over at halftime for Amber Bledsoe ’14. The two were credited with three saves each.
“It’s definitely a tough loss, but we have to look forward,” said captain Mika Siegelman ’14, who was held to one shot in the game. “No matter what, we have to keep on pushing ourselves.”
The squad, which finished second-to-last in the Ivy League last season with a 1-5-1 record, would have secured first place in the conference had it beaten Harvard. Pincince said his squad “learned some more about being in the big game” Sunday.
“I was ecstatic that we were in this kind of game,” Pincince said. “Eventually, after being in enough of those games, you’ll learn how to win them.”
Siegelman complimented her team’s ability to shut down Harvard’s “very dangerous attacking players.”
“For the most part, we kept them from scoring through the run of play,” Siegelman said. “We couldn’t really get our attack going, but we stopped them on their plays.”
The Bears next play Tuesday night, when they travel to Dartmouth (5-5-3, 2-2).
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