Yale meets Harvard Women
Fall, 1996

A preview of the game by The Harvard Crimson

 By BRYAN LEE

The Harvard women's soccer team (3-0-0, 1-0-0 Ivy) goes into today's high noon showdown with Yale (3-1-1, 0-0-1) wary of their opponent but, like an older sibling, ready to put the Bulldogs in their place.

Although Yale has gotten out to a fast start with wins against University of Delaware, Fairfield and Providence, Harvard comes in ranked 19th in the nation after a 14-2-1 Ivy League championship campaign last year.

"Yale's very dangerous," sophomore goalie Jennifer Burney said. "They are a contender, but we're the stronger team, and we want to show it and prove it. They are solid but not really spectacular. We are individually as good as they are at every position if not better, and we have better depth."

Sophomore linker Naomi Miller has less respect for the Elis. "They're fairly good but not great," she said. "This is always an emotional game and it is a league game, so we need to win. So I would say 5-0 at least."

The Bulldogs bring a solid set of center midfielders and pair of forwards, but Harvard remains confident of victory. "Last year, we beat them in a close game, 2-0," junior forward Kristen Bowes said. "They think they're hot stuff this year, but we're going to win. Their foursome works well together, but we have an advantage even at those positions.

"[Junior First-Team All-America midfielder] Emily Stauffer and [sophomore] Devon Bingham are better than their midfielders, and we have the two best forwards in the league," Bowes added. This opinion seems to be the consensus for the rest of the team as well. "We have more talent than Yale," Stauffer said. "Their best four players might not even be starting on our team and probably wouldn't stand out."

"I think we'll win 5-0," Bowes said in a prediction made completely independently from Miller's. "We're also more fit than they are, so if it gets close, we'll be able to pull away."

The Crimson have been dominant in their first three games, winning by a 9-2 goal differential. Just as impressively, the team has outshot its opponents 79-6. Stauffer has not showed any signs of slowing down and already has five goals and two assists. "I wouldn't say that I was playing exceptionally or was in a zone," the midfielder said. "My teammates have been setting me up, and I've been the beneficiaryof a lot of great balls in front of the goal." Stauffer also credited the emergence of freshman sweeper Jessica Larson with much of the team's success.

Harvard got off to a good start, beating the University of New Hampshire 2-1 and controlling much of the play, with ten corners to none for UNH and 24 more shots. After the team surrendered an early penalty kick, Stauffer tied up the contest in the 62nd minute. Junior forward Keren Gudeman then knocked in the game-winner with eight minutes left in the match. "It was a tough game because it was close, and it was our first game," Stauffer said. "We had doubts--not that we weren't better--but whether we could pull it off."

A week later came the 3-0 whipping of Columbia, with the hapless Lions getting 34 fewer shots than Harvard. Stauffer, Bowes and Miller all scored.

Boston College played possum last Tuesday as Stauffer scored a natural hat trick with the first three goals of the game. BC and Harvard then traded goals, with Bingham capping off the 4-1 victory.

Athletes, such as Cleveland Indians pitcher Orel Hershiser, earn the moniker "bulldog" for their toughness. Yale will have to demonstrate an ability to hang on against a Harvard team full of confidence and on a roll.