PRINCETON, N.J. – Harvard women's soccer (9-1-3, 3-0-2 Ivy) remains undefeated in conference play after it took down the Princeton Tigers (8-6-1, 1-3-1 Ivy), 3-2 on Saturday afternoon. The Crimson came from behind twice in the contest to notch its ninth win of the season.
Hannah Griffin scored a career high two goals to lead the offense and
Ainsley Ahmadian capped off the win with her fourth game-winning-goal of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Taylor Fasnacht began the offensive push with a shot on goal in the fourth minute.
- Smith Hunter put a great pass into the box in the 13th minute that was nearly headed home by Angela Caloia, but the duo was robbed by the Princeton keeper.
- The Harvard defense opened up strong, allowing no shots to reach Hannah Gardner for the first 20 minutes.
- The Tigers struck first at 22' to take a 1-0 lead.
- Hannah Griffin evened the score at 33' with her second goal of the season. Griffin put a shot between the legs of her defender and into the back of the net to equalize the score.
- The score would remain 1-1 at the end of the half despite the Crimson being outshot 6-4.
- Harvard had a great opportunity 51' into the game with a 3-on-1 rush coming up just short.
- Princeton notched a go-ahead goal seven minutes into the second half to make the score 2-1.
- Harvard's offense continued to advance, putting four shots on goal in the next ten minutes, looking for the equalizer.
- Harvard got another tally on the board at the 70' mark to tie the game. The equalizer was credited as an own goal after Asluag Gunnluagsdottir sent a ball into the box that was deflected off a Princeton defender and into the twine. Hannah Griffin was the closest to the shot and helped position the defender into the scoring area.
- The Crimson did not stop there, as Ainsley Ahmadian snuck a shot into the back of the net to put Harvard in front, 3-2, with 12 minutes to play.
- Hannah Gardner made a huge save at the 80' mark to preserve the lead for Harvard.
- The Crimson secured the 3-2 victory against Princeton and moves to 9-1-3 on the season and 3-0-2 in Ivy League play.
HARVARD HIGHLIGHTS
- Hannah Griffin scored her second goal of the season in the first half to even the score
- She added another goal later in the contest to even the score once again
- The two-goal total is a career-high for Griffin
- Ainsley Ahmadian had another game-winning goal, her fourth of the season
- Ahmadian now holds the team lead with seven goals on the year
- Hannah Bebar notched another point with an assist on the Ahmadian goal
- Bebar now has points in 11 of 13 games this season and a team-high eight helpers
- Sophie Hirst registered an assist on the Ahamdian goal as well, her first of the year
- Aslaug Gunnlaugsdottir notched her fourth assist on the second Griffin goal
- Jade Rose and Lara Schenk both played the full 90 minutes to lead the defense
- Harvard's backline allowed only four shots on goal as the Crimson outshot Princeton 20-12 and 12-4 in shots on goal
- Hannah Gardner made two saves in net to backstop the winning effort
- This is the seventh time Harvard has reach the three-goal total and is now 7-0 when reaching the mark
UP NEXT
Harvard will hit the road for one final trip up to Hanover, N.H. for its final road contest of the season. The Crimson and the Big Green will battle it out next Saturday, Oct. 29 at 5 PM before returning to Jordan Field to wrap up the regular season against Columbia on Nov. 5.
