Women's Soccer Downs Providence, 3-1

Playing in their third road game in eight days, the Harvard women’s soccer team had as good of an excuse as they have had all season to start out flat against Providence on Sunday afternoon.

Instead, the Crimson did just the opposite, overcoming fatigue and the Friars’ momentum coming into the game to launch 10 shots in just the first half. The consistent offense turned into a goal right before intermission, as sophomore defender Leah Mohammadi converted an opportunity in front of the net to put Harvard up 1-0.

Senior forwards Rachel Garcia and Midge Purce added goals in the second half before Providence pulled one back. From there, the Crimson saw out its 3-1 advantage with ease.

The win marks Harvard’s (3-3-0, 0-0-0 Ivy) first road victory of the 2016 campaign, as it had lost its two previous games away from Cambridge, to Louisville and Boston College. The Crimson are now in a position to salvage a split in its string of four straight road games when it plays at New Hampshire on Thursday.

“Playing three games in a little more than a week was obviously a challenge for us,” Harvard coach Chris Hamblin said. “But we took away good lessons from the two losses before this game and applied them to win tonight.”

The Friars (4-3-1, 0-0-0 Big East), meanwhile, fell back to earth after recording four straight shutout wins. Over that stretch, they had outscored their opponents 9-0.

Against the Crimson, however, they had trouble jumpstarting their offense. While Harvard had 10 shots in the first half, Providence only had two in that same time frame. The Friars finished with seven shots and just three corners for the entire game.

“All over the field, we were extremely compact and each line worked well together and stayed connected,” Crimson co-captain Carly Rotatori said. “Being able to transition together effectively was key to preventing them from breaking through and having chances on goal.”

The low offensive output by Providence marked a turnaround for not just the Friars, however. Harvard’s defense also rebounded well from its previous two matches, in which it allowed a combined six goals.

On the other side of the field, Purce led the Crimson offense just as she has all season so far. She recorded an assist to go with her late goal, bringing her total output to five goals and one assist in six games.

Harvard’s first tally, which came in the 42nd minute, featured a great centering pass from Purce. She rolled a dangerous ball into the box and across the goal, and Mohammadi capitalized to put the Crimson up. For Mohammadi, who has mostly been used as a defensive substitute in her two seasons, the goal was the first of her collegiate career.

Then, in the 84th minute, Purce did it all herself, as she took the ball at midfield and ran all the way into the box before slotting past Providence senior goalkeeper Kristyn Shea. The goal was Purce’s third unassisted score of the year, continuing to show her ability to create her own shot.

Garcia also added a goal, making her the team’s second leading scorer this season after Purce. Garcia now has two goals to go with an assist. On the other side, senior forward Rachel Ugolik was responsible for the Friars’ only goal, and the Providence attack did not challenge the Harvard goal–which was missing co-captain Lizzie Durack–much beyond that.

“[Starting senior goalie] Lizzie [Durack] didn’t play, but we have faith in all of our keepers and they played well today,” Hamblin said. “Dani [Etzel] and Kat [Hess] both did a great job for us.”

Each goalie played one half, with each making one save as they worked with the defense to neutralize the Friars’ attack. Together, Etzel and Hess guided the Crimson to the victory.

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