Women's Soccer Faces Bulldogs in Home Ivy Opener

After a brief mid-September slump, the women’s soccer team appears to have rediscovered its winning formula, stringing together three straight victories before a scoreless draw with crosstown rival University of Massachusetts on Monday night.

The contest marked the start of a four-game homestand for Harvard (6-2-1, 1-0-0 Ivy), which has played in Cambridge just three times this season.

On Saturday, the Crimson hosts Ivy League rival Yale (5-3-0, 0-1-0) at Soldiers Field. The Bulldogs dropped their league opener against Princeton, 1-0, on Saturday, while Harvard opened its Ivy League slate with a dominant 3-0 victory at Penn.

The win marked the ninth straight conference victory for the Crimson dating back to the 2012 season, as Harvard went undefeated in league play a year ago.

Yale, on the other hand, has struggled to stay competitive in the Ancient Eight in recent seasons, finishing fifth in the standings last year and sixth in 2012.

In fact, the Bulldogs have claimed the Ivy League regular season title just twice in the championship’s 32 -year history, while the Crimson has captured the crown four times in the last six seasons alone.

As the discrepancy in league titles implies, Harvard firmly controls the all-time series between the two programs.

The Crimson owns a 30-8-1 record against Yale, having beaten the Bulldogs six straight times, including a 3-1 victory in New Haven last year.

Yet despite the one-sidedness of the rivalry, Harvard does not intend to look past its Ivy rival.

“Every game in the Ivy League is so big,” co-captain Marie Margolius said. “That’s just the nature of this league.... No one looks past any team.”

Indeed, the Ancient Eight schedule offers little room for error, as each team plays every other conference squad just once. As a result, a single loss can doom a team’s chances at claiming a championship.

This year’s edition of the rivalry pits two similar squads, as both have possession-based approaches and similar records heading into this Saturday’s tilt.

In addition, their goals-per-game averages and shot percentages are virtually identical.

The two teams have faced one mutual opponent thus far, with the Crimson besting the University of New Hampshire, 1-0, and Yale falling to the Wildcats by the same score.

In order to snap their losing streak against Harvard, the Bulldogs will have to find a weakness in a defense that has been nearly impenetrable recently.

The Crimson has recorded shutouts in six games so far this year, including four straight heading into Saturday’s contest.

“[They have] strong chemistry, they’re improving, they’re getting fitter,” Harvard coach Ray Leone said. “They’re covering each other well. I think that’s really the strength of it. And of course excellent goalkeeping from both [senior Cheta Emba] and [sophomore Lizzie Durack].”

Emba and Durack have split goalkeeping duties for the Crimson, as both have been equally solid between the pipes.

Thus far this season, the Crimson coaches have varied their approaches to get the two playing time, sometimes having the netminders split halves or playing alternate complete games.

Emba and Durack have impressive goals against averages of 0.57 and 0.48, respectively, with Emba making 17 total saves to Durack’s 10 stops.

As for the Harvard offense, it has had its share of ups and downs throughout the year. Despite scoring 2.5 goals per game in its six wins, the Crimson has been shut out in its other three contests.

Capitalizing on chances in the final third has been a point of emphasis for Harvard all season, and that focus remains the same heading into Saturday’s matchup.

The Crimson hopes to create a good deal of chances, as Yale has surrendered almost 14 shots per game this year.

“Early in the Ivy League...everybody’s in the race.” Leone said. “It’s exciting, it’s intense beyond belief, and those are challenges for your team to play under those high stakes…. You [have to] somehow be calm under pressure.”

Staff writer Phil Delamater can be reached at philipdelamater@college.harvard.edu.