A Tale of Two Halves: Harvard Women’s Soccer Falls Despite Stellar Opening in Seven-Goal Thriller

Harvard women’s soccer (0-2-0) opened the first half against the University of Massachusetts (3-0-0) by scoring three goals — a tally it accomplished only once in an entire game last season.

Thirteen minutes into the game, captain forward Ólöf Kristinsdóttir struck twice to push Harvard into a 2-0 lead, the fastest brace recorded by a Harvard player since current Gotham FC player and former Harvard Board of Overseers member Margaret (Midge) Purce ’17 in 2015 against Yale.

Senior defender Jasmine Leshnick drew a penalty in the 37th minute and converted from the spot, pushing the Crimson to a commanding 3-0 lead heading into halftime.

Unfortunately for the hosting team, the Minutewomen launched decisive counterattacks, which, alongside a series of defensive mistakes, sealed the Crimson’s fate on Monday, as UMass roared back with four unanswered goals in the second half to secure a 4-3 victory.

“We played some of the best soccer in years in the first half. We were really, really good — moved the ball well, created a ton of chances, and opened them up and took a 3-0 lead into halftime,” head coach Chris Hamblin said after the match.

“In the second half, they kept coming and coming and coming, and we didn’t have the gumption to manage that,” he added. “Looking back, we probably need to do a better job keeping the ball. I think we did a great job of that in the first half. The second half, that got away from us, and I think this is a tough pill to swallow.”

Harvard characteristically dominated the offensive side of the stat sheet. The Crimson outshot the Minutewomen 25-11, with 12-7 shots on goal.

However, UMass junior keeper Leah Nisenfeld was able to repel most of Harvard’s attempts, saving nine shots to her counterpart freshman Olivia Busby’s three saves.

Busby, a Canadian youth national team player, got the opportunity in net ahead of the Crimson’s three other rostered goalies — an indication that Hamblin is still searching for his starter in net after graduating Rhiannon Stewart ’26. In Harvard’s season opener against Stony Brook, Hamblin started Nicole Bidun, a sophomore transfer student from the University of Georgia.

Ahead of the season, Hamblin told The Crimson that one of his three areas for improvement was capitalizing on set pieces. In its first two games, Harvard has earned 29 corner kicks while limiting opponents to just four, though it did not convert on a set piece in its first outing.

The team’s persistent efforts were rewarded with a breakthrough goal against the Minutewomen.

Leshnick launched a long pass from midfield down the wing, and Rayhill’s sprint toward the corner flag saved the ball from heading out of bounds for a corner kick. The ensuing well-positioned corner from Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez fell to Rayhill, whose dummy opened the space for Kristinsdóttir to slam a shot from the back post into the net.

“I’m glad we got one because it’s been lacking in our score sheet right now, so getting on the set piece goal is great,” Hamblin said. “We still got some work to do, though.”

Roughly seven minutes later, the Crimson continued to comfortably maintain possession, cycling the ball through its own territory and slowly working its way through the midfield to find Leshnick. The senior defender pulled the ball back past her UMass defender, then played it over the top to locate Kristinsdóttir.

Though the captain’s tap toward the goal was cleared off the line by a Minutewomen defender, the ball rebounded to her feet — clearing the runway for her second goal of the game and the 13th of her career, the most among active players.

Harvard’s midfielders effectively smothered UMass’s major offensive buildups for the rest of the half, with Leshnick, freshman Camila Reinaldo, and senior Anya Van Den Einde combining defensive pressure with clean distribution out to their forwards.

With eight minutes remaining in the half, Leshnick headed the ball off an opposing goal kick, leading to a combined passing play pushing Harvard toward the final third. A backheel from freshman midfielder and forward Lou Ruffien paved the way for Leshnick’s run into the box, where she was tripped for a penalty.

The senior converted from the spot — securing the Crimson’s 3-0 lead heading into the half.

Busby was relatively untested throughout the first half, only facing two shots from the UMass offense and easily stepping off her line to collect the ball.

That changed quickly four minutes into the second half as the Minutewomen intensified their pressure.

A costly turnover in front of the Crimson’s net off a goal kick provided a chance for a UMass senior forward Caroline Dickson to dart past and fire a shot that narrowly missed wide of the left post.

The Minutewomen won a free kick on the left wing of the field just three minutes later, and an ensuing entanglement led to UMass securing its best scoring opportunity of the game so far with a penalty kick.

Sophomore midfielder and defender Amelia Deren converted, closing the deficit on the scoreboard to two. On the visitors’ next attacking opportunity, a sliding challenge from a Harvard defender on Dickson was called, resulting in the third penalty of the game, but the attempt went wide.

Capitalizing on the gaps within the Crimson’s weakened midfield, freshman midfielder Monica Curry quickly advanced the ball nearly a third of the field undisturbed by much pressure— quickly finding graduate student forward Nia Hislop on the right wing, who hit a one-touch shot underneath Busby’s legs to score another for the Minutewomen, bringing the score to 3-2.

Several injuries rocked Harvard’s cornerstone players throughout the half, with Rayhill and freshman defender Claire Kessenger — one of three players to play every minute of the season until then — eventually exiting the game. Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez and senior central defender Amy König went on to be the only two players to play the entirety of the last two matches.

“Centerbacks, they often do play a little bit more than some of the other players in Amy and Claire. Írena has been a very important part of our midfield,” Hamblin said.

Another costly defensive error and misplayed pass from Harvard’s defense resulted in a turnover just outside the penalty box, with Curry volleying and curling a bouncing ball toward the top left corner to tie the game.

Harvard recovered some of its offensive synergy throughout the final stretch of the second half. Passing sequences between Kristinsdóttir and freshman forward Brooke Huleatt – Harvard’s lone goalscorer against Stony Brook – earned the Crimson several opportunities on the left wing and through corner kicks.

Faced with UMass’s continued chances from successful counterattacks, the Crimson slowly began to rebuild its possession through the middle and passing connections down the wings, resulting in two of its biggest chances from its forwards in the final fifteen minutes.

An open Van Den Einde in the middle quickly switched the play to Hulleat on the left wing. The freshman forward — in a sequence that almost mirrored her debut goal on Thursday — worked her way from the wing and tapped the ball slightly past the opposing UMass defender, curling a shot to the top corner that hit the crossbar.

Just thirty seconds later, Leshnick — renowned for her long-shot capabilities — fired a free kick from another ZIP code toward the right post, forcing UMass’s keeper to punch the shot out for a corner kick.

Unfortunately for the Crimson, the missed opportunities proved costly.

UMass launched a final counterattack, swiftly shifting up the field against Harvard’s retreating backline. A carefully located pass found Curry in between two of the Crimson’s central defenders, generating just enough space to slide the ball across the goal to seal a 4-3 lead with four minutes remaining.

“I think everyone’s heartbroken in the way that the game ended, and we all need to look at ourselves and say, how can we make sure that doesn’t happen again?” Hamblin said. “And that’s what this early season is for: figuring out.”

“I think we had an excellent second half against Stony Brook, and I think we had an excellent first half against UMass, but we were poor in the first half against Stony Brook and poor in the second half against UMass,” Hamblin said. “I think putting all the pieces together for our next game would be important, and licking our wounds and getting back up — it’s part of Division I athletics.”

Harvard will continue to seek its first win of the season, finishing its three-game homestand on Thursday against Fairfield University (2-1-1) at 4:00 p.m. EDT.

—Staff writer Uy B. Pham can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ubp.88. Follow him on X @uybpham.