Surprisingly, a possible advantage for the women’s soccer team heading into its first conference matchup against Harvard is that the Crimson are the defending Ivy League Champions.
Although it may seem favorable that Harvard is riding a four-game losing streak and has been outscored by its opponents at an astounding 15-5 margin, the Quakers see things differently.
Six games into the season, the Red and Blue have shown an uncanny ability to rise to the level of play of top competition while they have appeared sluggish against weaker foes.
So when the Quakers (3-1-2) square off against Harvard (1-5-1) tomorrow, they will not be considering the recent struggles of their Ivy League counterpart.
“We have motivation because we want to make a run in the league this year,” coach Darren Ambrose said. “To win the league you have to beat the best team.”
Although Harvard enters the game hoping to jump-start its season, the Quakers are coming off of a major high.
In its last game against Big East powerhouse Georgetown, the Quakers found themselves in a 3-0 hole with fifteen minutes left in regulation, but executed an improbable comeback by scoring three goals (all by Jessica Fuccello) in an eight-minute span. Though the game ended in a draw, the Quakers still were satisfied with their effort.
“We have a lot of momentum coming in from Georgetown,” junior midfielder Marisa Schoen said. “We really just want to go out hard and set the tone of play.”
However, the showdown with Georgetown exposed a glaring weakness in defending set pieces that the Quakers will need to fix if they hope to beat Harvard.
All three of the goals scored by Georgetown came following stoppages in play — two off of corner kicks and one on a direct kick from 35 yards out.
“We need to be be much more organized — every player — it’s not just a single person thing,” Ambrose said. “It’s a mentality that we have to switch on and I think we have to be much more disciplined, much more determined when the ball comes into play.”
Yet if the Quakers play to their strength — which Ambrose specified as possessing the ball in the midfield — the offensively weak Crimson should have far fewer restart opportunities in front of goalkeeper Caroline Williams.
“We’ve got some really good technical players but unless you can get a hold of the ball you can’t really use them,” Ambrose said. “We need to do a good job of making Harvard chase us to take some pressure off the defense so we need to generate some possession to create some chances.”
In last season’s meeting, the Quakers prevailed, 2-0, holding Harvard to only two corner kicks compared to Penn’s seven.
Despite that win, the Quakers limped to a 2-3-2 Ivy finish.
So this year they’re getting personal.
“We are all, at least the returning players, disappointed about how we performed last year,” Schoen said. “Being able to come out and win against Harvard sends a message that we are a team to be taken seriously and that we are coming out hard.”
