Fall Sports in Brief

The men’s soccer team (10-5-1, 5-2 Ivy) finished third in the Ivies, having reeled off a five-game winning streak in midseason. The booters bounced back from a tough 1-0 loss to Dartmouth to beat Columbia and Penn, both by 1-0 scores, before falling to Brown, 3-0, in the final regular-season game. Had they beaten the Bears, Harvard would have notched its first outright Ivy title since 1996; Brown’s victory allowed them to share the league championship with Princeton. However, on the strength of its superior overall record, Harvard and not Brown won a bid to the NCAA tournament. (Princeton took the Ivy NCAA slot, having defeated Brown, 3-0, during the season. To add even more interest, Harvard beat Princeton, 1-0, in October.) In the NCAA’s first round, Harvard fell to Rutgers, 1-0.

Women’s Soccer

The women booters (11-6, 4-3 Ivy) rolled out a strong, streaky campaign, at one point vanquishing eight straight opponents, including six shutouts—and yielding only two goals over the stretch. Their regular season ended with a 3-1 loss to Penn, placing them fourth in the league, behind Princeton, Penn, and Dartmouth. At the NCAA tournament, the Crimson polished off Hartford, 1-0, in four overtimes, on a "golden goal" by Beth Totman ’03. But in the second round, Connecticut ended Harvard’s season, 1-0.

Field Hockey

The stickwomen (11-6, 5-2 Ivy) had a strong fall, losing only to Princeton (5-2) and Dartmouth (4-2) in the Ancient Eight. The Crimson finished third in the league, behind the same two colleges. Harvard closed out its fall with four wins, including three shutouts.

Women’s Volleyball

The netwomen (10-14, 3-11 Ivy) beat Dartmouth and split their home-and-home series with Yale, but had trouble with other league teams. Outside hitter Erin Denniston ’02 finished the year with 1,474 kills, breaking the Harvard career record of 1,398 set by Elissa Hart ’98.