Women's Soccer Cannot Keep Up with Louisville in 3-1 Loss

The Louisville and Harvard women’s soccer teams both entered Sunday’s matchup having built a habit of scoring early in games. In their first five games, the Cardinals had scored a total of three goals inside the first 15 minutes, while the Crimson had scored two goals in the same time frame in its first three games.

With the two teams both clearly able to start fast, there was always bound to be a goal early in their contest.

And on this night, it was Louisville that made the quick breakthrough in front of its home fans at Lynn Stadium. Freshman forward Brooklynn Rivers scored with the Cardinals’ first shot of the game in the 4th minute, and added a second in the 14th minute before Harvard could regroup.

Louisville never relinquished its lead, and went on to win, 3-1, without much drama. The Cardinals (4-1-1, 0-0-0 ACC) look to build another win streak as they continue their homestand against Ball State on Friday. The Crimson (2-2-0, 0-0-0 Ivy), meanwhile, will be tested with three more away games in the span of a week.

Before Rivers tilted the game in favor of Louisville, Harvard looked more likely to take the lead. Senior forward and leading goalscorer Midge Purce hit the crossbar with a long shot right after the kick-off, and junior midfielder Dani Stollar also forced Cardinals senior goalkeeper Taylor Bucklin into a save shortly after.

As the Crimson continued to press, however, Louisville caught its opponents on the counterattack and capitalized. Rivers collected the ball from a long pass into the box, and after holding off Harvard senior defender Bailey Gary, spun left and shot into the far right corner.

“We started off with more energy, and that’s what we wanted to do early in the game,” Crimson coach Chris Hamblin said. “They did well with their first counterattack, but that’s part of the game. The thing I was really disappointed with was how we reacted.”

Harvard seemed to lose its edge on the attack after the early blow, and soon paid for it when Rivers scored again. Once again on the counterattack, Cardinals sophomore forward Jill Vetere found Rivers with a through ball and she placed it into the right corner with an acrobatic left-footed shot.

“I think the biggest thing to take away is not what happened, but how our team reacted after,” said Crimson captain and midfielder Carly Rotatori. “We’ve done a great job so far this season about exhibiting high energy, and that’s what we need to focus on as we continue non-conference play.”

Harvard finally responded with a bit of its own magic in the 33rd minute, through a great solo effort by Purce. After Rotatori cut out a pass, Purce collected the ball near midfield and used her speed to blow by several defenders. From a tight angle on the right, she squeezed a shot past Bucklin to put the Crimson on the scoreboard.

“We need goals to win and Midge has been essential in finishing opportunities for our team to get results and compete in games,” Rotatori said. “I think her consistency extends beyond just the goals she’s scored, though, to her work ethic and commitment.”

A few minutes later, however, Louisville restored its lead through another freshman. Arianna Ferraro capitalized on another fine assist by Vetere to push the score to 3-1. Just as for Rivers, it was Ferraro’s first goal of her collegiate career.

After an eventful first half, both teams settled down in the second as the Cardinals seemed content to sit deep and see the game out. Harvard had trouble breaking down their defense, and though it outshot Louisville after halftime, neither team mustered a single shot on goal in the final 45 minutes.

Purce led all players with four shots, but Rivers’ two goals on two shots proved to be the difference. Bucklin took home the victory for the Cardinals in goal despite saving just one shot, which came in the third minute.

“Credit to them [Louisville], we just couldn’t break down their defense,” Hamblin said. “We knew it would be a physical game and it was a good test for us. Besides responding poorly, we still showed a lot of good things today.”.

—Staff writer George Hu can be reached at yianshenhu@college.harvard.edu.