Women's Soccer Announces Schedule for 2010 Season

Photo of Kerry Kartsonis courtesy of David Silverman.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard women’s soccer team, the two-time reigning Ivy League champion, will play seven home games and will travel to Florida for two contests during the 2010 season, as head coach Ray Leone announced the team’s schedule this week.

In addition to hosting Ivy League rivals Yale, Cornell and Columbia, the Crimson will welcome Long Island, Boston University, Rhode Island and Quinnipiac to Cambridge.

Harvard opens the season by facing LIU in a night game Sept. 3, before going on the road for three straight at New Hampshire Sept. 5, at Central Florida Sept. 10 and at South Florida Sept. 12.  The Crimson returns home to face 2009 NCAA tournament participant Boston University Sept. 16 and will remain in Cambridge to play Rhode Island the following evening.

The Crimson begins its conference schedule at Penn Sept. 24, before traveling to intrastate rival Massachusetts Sept. 26.  Harvard opens October at home against archrival Yale Oct. 2, and makes a midweek trip to Fairfield Oct. 5.  After hosting Cornell Oct. 9, Harvard will again play three straight on the road, beginning with a game at Brown Oct. 16.  Leone and his squad will also visit Siena Oct. 19 before going to Princeton Oct. 23. 

In its final non-conference game of the regular season, Harvard hosts Quinnipiac Oct. 26, before finishing at Dartmouth Oct. 30 and at home against Columbia on Senior Day Nov. 6. 

Harvard claimed its ninth Ivy League title and reached the NCAA Championship for the 12th time last fall.  The Crimson, which has won the last two Ivy League crowns and earned the conference’s automatic berth in each of the previous two seasons, went 9-7-1 overall and 6-1 in Ancient Eight games.  After starting the year with a 1-5-1 mark, Harvard won six straight and eight of nine en route to the Ivy championship.

The Crimson returns 22 players from last year’s squad, including Katherine Sheeleigh, Melanie Baskind, Lindsey Kowal and Gina Wideroff, who all earned All-Ivy League honors last season.  Sheeleigh and Wideroff will serve as co-captains, the second straight season Wideroff has been selected to lead the Crimson.