Women's soccer upends #16 Harvard to claim sole possession of Ivy lead

Saturday, October 16

Cambridge, Mass.

4:00 PM

Brown University

9-3-0, 4-0-0Ivy

Harvard University

9-1-1, 3-1-0Ivy

Brown

Harvard

Photo by: David Silverman Photography

Women's soccer upends #16 Harvard to claim sole possession of Ivy lead

10/16/2021 8:38:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. – The Brown women's soccer team defeated No. 16 Harvard 1-0 Saturday evening at Jordan Field to remain undefeated in Ivy League play and take sole possession of first place in the conference.

"I'm so proud of this team," head coach Kia McNeill said. "They played with a tremendous amount of fight, hunger and grit tonight to get a result on the road. Brittany is one of the best forwards in the league because she can change games at any moment and that is exactly what she did tonight."

The Crimson controlled much of the possession in the first half and early in the second, but the Bears didn't let it get to them. Brown managed six shots on the day, and only three on goal, but that was all they needed.

In the 75^th minute, Kayla Duran cleared a ball off the Bears' back line all the way up field to a streaking Brittany Raphino. A Harvard defender was first to it and tried to clear it backwards, over her head. It fell to the feet of Ava Seelenfreund who used one touch to free up Raphino. The junior ran onto it and beat the goalie high and to the left.

"It was a really tough battle," Raphino said. "But we came through with a big team win against a hard opponent. I'm beyond proud of this team."

The game-winner was Raphino's only shot on goal of the night. Seelenfreund had Brown's only other.

Harvard pressured in the final 15 to try and get the equalizer, but the Bears' back line was up to the task.

In goal, Kayla Thompson only made two saves, but she played a much bigger role than the stats suggest. The senior's positioning all night was huge, allowing her to cut off crosses and eliminate would-be scoring chances before they materialized.

Harvard was ranked 8th in Top Drawer Soccer's national ranking and 16^th in the United Soccer Coaches poll before the game. Brown was unranked in the the Coaches' poll and 22^nd in Top Drawer Soccer's.

"With the result last weekend against Princeton and the result tonight against Harvard," McNeill said. "Hopefully we will get more regional and national recognition. We know we have three games to go, but we have put ourselves in a great position to win the league and we are going to keep playing hard until the job is done."

Brown will continue Ivy action when they take on Cornell on the road next Saturday, Oct. 23 at 1 p.m.