The Bears lost two close home matches last week to Harvard and Penn.The losses drop Brown (8-6-1, 3-2-1 Ivy) to third in the Ivy League behind the first-place Crimson and second-place Quakers.
Harvard 1, Brown 0 (OT)
The Crimson (11-3-2, 6-0-0) defeated Brown Tuesday afternoon in a designated non-conference match-up. Harvard also won the teams’ conference game two weeks ago.
Neither side managed to score until eight minutes into overtime, when Harvard’s Elizabeth Weisman headed in a lob from Erika Garcia.
The Bears had their share of opportunities throughout the match. Back Emily Wingrove ’14 nearly scored in the game’s fifth minute, when she kicked a ball toward the net’s left corner that was saved at the last second by Crimson goalie Cheta Emba.
“We came in knowing we had nothing to lose,” Wingrove said. “We wrote them up too much in the first game and never got comfortable.”
In the second half, Louisa Pitney ’14, Kirsten Belinsky ’15 and Ali Mullin ’14 each had a single shot on goal but were continually repelled by Harvard’s Lizzie Durack.
On defense, Annie Gillen ’15 led the Bears, aiding the goalies by making stops throughout the game and deflecting a Harvard shot away from an empty net.
Wingrove said the team was “very proud” of shutting down Harvard’s freshman sensation Margaret “Midge” Purce, who was a member of the national under-17 women’s soccer team that went to the World Cup in Azerbaijan last year.
“We did a really good job of sticking to our game plan on defense,” Wingrove said. “All of us played smart soccer.”
Amber Bledsoe ’14 made five saves in the first half, while Mary Catherine Barrett ’14 saved two shots, continuing the shutout through the remainder of regulation.
Penn 1, Brown 0
The Ivy League’s two then-second-place teams met Saturday, and the Quakers (11-1-4, 4-1-1) handed a defeat to Brown.
In contrast to the Harvard game, the match’s deciding goal was scored after two minutes, when Penn’s Haley Cooper capitalized on an assist from Brianna Rano.
“When a goal like that happens so quickly, you just really don’t have a choice but to pretend like it didn’t happen,” said captain Mika Siegelman ’14. “If you don’t, the game can turn into a disaster where you make a mistake at every turn.”
Siegelman led the Bears with three shots in the game. Sydney Calas ’17, Kiersten Berg ’14, Jaclyn Alois ’17 and Wingrove each added a shot on goal.
Aside from giving up the opening goal, Bruno’s goalies gave solid performances, with Bledsoe and Barrett earning three and two saves, respectively.
“Our goalies came up huge,” Siegelman said. “They made some incredible saves.”
The Bears complete their conference schedule this Friday against Yale in New Haven, Conn., and then finish the season Sunday with a non-conference game against the Bulldogs.
“The Yale game is as important as any other,” Siegelman said. “It’s not like it doesn’t matter because we’re not in first or second. We want to go out and finish our careers on a high note.”
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