Sports Features
Field Hockey Advances to NCAA Final Four for First Time in Program History After Pair of 1-0 Victories
“Unreal.” That is how field hockey head coach Tjerk van Herwaarden described how he was feeling after No. 12 Harvard beat No. 2 Michigan on its own turf to clinch a seat among the final four in NCAA Division I.
No. 12 Field Hockey Set to Face No. 6 Louisville in First Round of NCAA Tournament
With just a single loss over the course of 16 games, a perfect 7-0 Ivy League record, and the best team goals-against average in the nation (0.42), the Harvard field hockey team has earned a spot in the 2021 Division I NCAA tournament.
Women’s Basketball Opens Historic Season with Road Loss to Boston College
Harvard women’s basketball returned to the hardwood Tuesday night for the first time in 612 days, and Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith did so for the final season-opener in her illustrious 40-year career. The announcement of Coach Delaney-Smith’s retirement at the end of this 2021-2022 campaign provides an opportunity for the Crimson’s newest influx of talent to write a successful final chapter in her storied run. Although Tuesday night’s 86-60 loss to Boston College did not begin this historic season the way Harvard had hoped it would, optimism remains strong in the program for the season ahead.
Women's Soccer Wins At-Large Bid, Headed to the NCAA Tournament for the First Time Since 2016
Two long days after Harvard completed its regular season with a win at Columbia, the Crimson can finally exhale. On Monday afternoon, Harvard (12-2-1, 5-2-0 Ivy League) learned that it earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where it will join Ancient Eight rivals Brown and Princeton. The Crimson will travel to face Wake Forest (15-5-0, 7-5-0 ACC) in Winston-Salem on Sunday at 1 p.m.
No. 10 Women’s Hockey Defeats No. 7 Boston College, 5-2, Continuing Strong Start
Coming off of a difficult overtime loss to Clarkson on Saturday, the Harvard women’s ice hockey team bounced back with a dominant 5-2 victory over Boston College on Tuesday night at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
Women’s Cross Country Wins Ivy League Heptagonal Championship, Men Place Second Ahead of Regionals
At Princeton’s home course in New Jersey, the Harvard women’s cross country team dominated its way to winning the Ivy League Heptagonal Championship for the first time since 2016. Two top-five finishers and five top-twelve finishers provided the Crimson women with the scoring depth necessary to capture the title. The Harvard men finished just behind Princeton in second, led by an exceptional performance by senior Matthew Pereira, who became the first Harvard individual champion since Kieran Tuntivate ’20 in 2018.
Shouldering the Responsibility: Women’s Volleyball’s Julia Beckmann Captains Her Team Despite Medical Retirement
In July of 2021, senior outside attacker Julia Beckmann was faced with an extremely challenging set of circumstances.
Men's Lacrosse Returns to Field for First Time since March 2020 in Fall Scrimmages
Hired as head coach of the Harvard men’s lacrosse team in 2019, Gerry Byrne has been tasked for the last two years with creating and fostering a team culture during the Covid-19 pandemic. With only four games under his belt due to the truncated 2020 season, Byrne found creative ways to build his unit.
Ivy League Admits Officiating Error, But Princeton Football Remains Victorious over Harvard
The Tigers walked away from the game 6-0, finally emerging with the win after quarterback Cole Smith found wide receiver Jacob Bermilen in the back of the end zone in the fifth overtime period. Meanwhile, Harvard traveled back to Cambridge with a record of 5-1, convinced — rightly, as it turned out based on the Ivy League’s Sunday announcement — that it had won the contest with a quick slant from senior quarterback Jake Smith to junior wide receiver Kym Wimberly in the third overtime.
A Family of Forbes: Siblings Reconnect with Harvard Basketball
While transfer students face the challenge of adjusting to a new environment, McKenzie had a unique advantage. Lavietes Pavilion houses a very familiar face: her brother Mason Forbes, who is a senior on the men’s basketball team and a standout in his own regard.
Men’s Hockey Picked to Finish Third in ECAC Preseason Coaches Poll
After more than 18 months off the ice, the Harvard University men’s hockey team will return as one of the teams to beat in ECAC Hockey this winter.
Football Handles Nationally-Ranked Holy Cross 38-13 to Improve to 3-0
For the first time in the 2021 season, Harvard (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) faced a team ranked higher than it as it traveled to Worcester, Mass., to face No. 24/RV Holy Cross (3-2, 0-0 Patriot League). The Crimson stepped up to the challenge, opening the game strong and pulling away in the fourth quarter with crucial defensive stops on fourth downs to secure a 38-13 victory.
JuCo to the Show: Owen Holt’s Unorthodox Journey to Professional Baseball
Owen Holt took an unorthodox journey to professional baseball, going from Lamar High School in his native Houston to football at Harvard and then dual-enrollment at Harvard and Alvin Community College in Alvin, Texas, where he played baseball. His latest stop? The Cincinnati Reds organization, after he was drafted in 2021.
In Photos: Packed Stands, Historic Milestones, and 1-0 in the Ivy League
In front of a raucous crowd of 20,748 at Harvard Stadium, the Crimson started fast and never looked back. After building a 42-0 halftime lead, Harvard would go on to a 49-17 victory over Brown in its Ivy League opener and first home game since 2019. The Crimson's triumph would also be head coach Tim Murphy's 180th career win, a new Ivy League record that earned the Harvard bench boss a Gatorade shower at the game's end.
Undefeated Women’s Soccer Receives National Recognition ahead of Ivy League Opener
When No.15/23 Harvard entered the Top Drawer national women’s soccer rankings after just three games, more than a few eyebrows may have been raised. The Crimson had not been ranked by either Top Drawer or the United Soccer Coaches poll since November of 2016, when Top Drawer ranked Harvard 24th for one week before dropping the Crimson out of the rankings.
NOTEBOOK: Women’s Soccer Improves to 4-0-1 ahead of Final Pre-Ivy Matches, Best Start since 1996
With just two games separating Harvard from its Ivy League opener against Penn on Sept. 25, now is a good time to take a step back and consider the Crimson’s performance in its first five games. Harvard remains undefeated through five games for the first time since 1996, a season in which it went 15-2-0 overall and won all seven league games. It is an encouraging start to the season for a team with serious hopes of winning the Ivy League. Here are some takeaways from the opening few weeks of the season.
The 98 Percent: NIL and a New Era of Opportunity for Harvard Student-Athletes
On July 1, 2021, a seismic shift occurred in the landscape of college athletics. When the NCAA adopted policies that grant Division I, II, and III student-athletes the right to profit off their name, image, and likeness (NIL), former Harvard men’s water polo player Nick Bunn ’19 and childhood teammate Andrew Mavis (who also starred in college at George Washington) launched a company help student-athletes connect directly with potential partners and profit from their NIL.
Aiming Towards a New Goal
Former George Washington star and three-time ACWPC All-America honorable mention Andrew Mavis finished his illustrious college career in 2019, but has remained close to collegiate athletics through his passion for helping student-athletes navigate the new era of NIL.
Shooting From a Distance
Nick Bunn ‘19 fires a shot on goal during his playing days at Harvard. He hopes to continue impacting the campus and Harvard student-athletes through his new company, 98Strong.