Ohiri Field, November 23
Harvard 2, George Mason 1 (3OT)

Two fifteen minute overtime periods, and 11 minutes of sudden death play
followed regulation play.

Game Report

Harvard survived a long and difficult battle with George Mason, and has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years.

Naomi Miller’s goal in the 131^st minute, a re-directed Erin Aeschliman shot past all-world goalkeeper Jamie Pagliarulo won the game for the Crimson in sudden death overtime. Well….that wasn’t all that won it for them. There was a tremendous amount of hard work out there by the entire team. No one individual effort would have pulled this game out.

Ivy League Player of the Year Naomi Miller
scores the winning goal against George Mason.
Photo by David S. Tang
for The Harvard Crimson

The stats and the play of the game solidly favored Harvard: they outshot GMU 22 to 14, forcing Pagliarulo (the National U-20 keeper) to make 20 saves. Anne Browning and Jen Burney combined for 11. Corner kicks were 13 to 5, Harvard. Field conditions were slick, muddy, wet. Weather conditions were cold, raw, nasty.

There was solid Crimson play in all corners of the field, and it had to be that way: GMU is no slouch team. In addition to Pagliarulo ,they had dangerous forwards in Jaime Ricker (Jessica Larson’s high school classmate, who frequently matched up one-on-one with her) and Jenn Gross.

In addition, they were as aggressive and physical as any team I have seen play Harvard this year. Not in the league of some of the nasty stuff I have seen on the men’s side, but tough. Exhibit A: Anne Browning got knocked out in the last minute of regulation when she stopped a Jenn Gross breakaway. It was one-on-one, and Gross had it. Instead of winning the game for GMU, she lost control of the ball at the very end of her run, and Browning smothered it. In frustration, Gross kicked her in the face, cutting her up pretty good. For that she got a yellow card, and the ref put herself on the receiving end of Tim Wheaton’s wrath for the remainder of the game. The early word is that Anne might have a fractured orbital bone, and that can’t be good for her or for the team.

Exhibit B: Gina Foster, who played some of the game up front, being the most versatile player on the team, went in on Pagliarulo, and when she went past the top of the 18 she got smacked up in the process. G Love sat out the rest of the game, and the lineup seemed awkward at times without her. Tim Wheaton had to improvise, and it worked.

Jen Burney came in to keep the goal with 40 seconds left in regulation. The defense didn’t allow a single shot in the first two 15-minute periods (!!!), but she was tested early and often in the sudden death period. GMU hammered Harvard early, and the Crimson repeatedly escaped. Suddenly, Naomi Miller had a breakaway. All alone for the entire half of GMU’s side, she kicked it hard and low, but into Pagliarulo's arms. Shortly thereafter, Ashley Berman moved the ball into and out of the right corner, as she did all day long, fed Erin Aeschliman. Erin shot the ball, and it looked like it was going in, but Naomi made sure of it and blasted it home from a couple of yards out.

The first half of the game was pretty much all Harvard, which from a coach’s standpoint can be good news and bad news. If you own the half, but still finish it tied at nil, then one wonders that it will take to win the game. Three minutes into the second half, Jenn Gross was all alone on the left side, received a ball that went through the defense from the right side, and struck a shot home. A terrible way to start off the half. But Harvard showed what it is made a minute later when a Gina Foster corner was headed by Lindsay Minkus just past the near post.

Next up for Harvard is North Carolina. David vs. Goliath. What a difficult game this will be, played at the Mecca of women’s soccer. But what does Harvard have to loose? Is there a sports program anywhere in the country that has been more dominant during the past 20 years? Since 1979, under Anson Dorrance, they have won 14 of the 17 women’s soccer NCAA Tournaments that have been played. They have lost 16 games in 18 years. This year they have allowed 8 goals in 25 games (record is 24-0-1), and scored 6 or more goals eight times.

Harvard is missing Anne, possibly Gina, Jamie Chu, Kristin Bowes. Oh yeah, Emily, but this is no time to start thinking about Emily What If’s. When I wrote the preview of the 1997 season for the Friends newsletter, before Emily took her leave, I said this would be a Final Four team. Tim asked me to take it out, and he was right: there is no sense in putting extra pressure on the players, or giving the opposition extra ammunition. Tim, this is your chance to make me look good. So perhaps instead of "What does Harvard have to loose?" how about "What does Harvard have to gain?" It’s more than the Final Four. A win Saturday would be historical, the biggest upset in women’s soccer in a long time.

Spectator Internet guide:

Dov Glickman, Harvard Crimson, on Harvard-George Mason

The Harvard Crimson: http://www.thecrimson.harvard.edu/

The Daily Tarheel: http://www.unc.edu/dth/

UNC Women’s Soccer Site: http://tarheels.unc.edu/teams/wsoccer/home.html

College Soccer Weekly: http://www.collegesoccer.com

Season stats