PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -  It came down to the final minutes in Philadelphia, but the Harvard women's soccer team found a way to win at Penn to keep its Ivy League Tournament hopes alive. Senior Áslaug Gunnlaugsdóttir delivered the game winning goal for the Crimson (6-3-5, 2-3-1 Ivy) in the 84^th minute to lift Harvard to a massive result against the Penn Quakers (1-7-6, 0-4-2 Ivy). The team earned three points in the Ivy League table and has now jumped into fourth place in the conference.
 
The win also sets up a win-and-in situation in the season finale against Yale, which will be played at Jordan Field next Saturday (Nov. 2) at 3:00 PM.
 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Crimson made its way to Philadelphia this afternoon to take on the Penn Quakers in its penultimate regular season match of the season.
• Harvard came out flying after the first touch, getting a quick opportunity in the first minute of the game. Audrey Francois made a great run into the box before firing a rocket shot off the pipe.
• In the following ten minutes, both teams settled in to slow down the pace of play. Harvard recorded the next shot off the foot of Sydney Farnham but the attempt sailed wide. The Crimson kept pushing and got another quality look turned aside at the 27' mark when Anna Rayhill had an attempt blocked.
• At the 39' mark, Nicola Golen had another solid scoring chance turned aside after her shot was cleared off the line by a Quaker defender.
• Rhiannon Stewart made the save on the only shot she faced to close out a quiet half for the junior keeper.
• The teams went into the halftime break deadlocked in a scoreless tie, but the Crimson held a 4-3 advantage in shots.
• Coming out of the break, both teams packed it in defensively. No shots were recorded until the 65' mark, when Stewart had her number called again. The keeper made the save to keep the Quakers off the board.
• Audrey Francois went on a tear down the stretch, continually working the ball into the box to create chances for the Crimson. The junior had a shot saved at the 78' mark which began a surge for Harvard.
• In the 83^rd minutes, Francois collected the ballon the side of the box off a Harvard throw and drew a penalty inside the area to give Harvard a golden chance late in the action.
• Áslaug Gunnlaugsdóttir stepped up to take the penalty and drilled a shot into the right side of the net to give the Crimson a 1-0 lead.
• Harvard would hold off Penn for the remainder of the action to secure the win and three massive points in the Ivy League table.

 

Harvard Highlights

• Áslaug Gunnlaugsdóttir scored the lone Crimson goal in the contest, her sixth of the season. The tally also extended her goal-scoring streak to three matches.
• Rhiannon Stewart made two saves and recorded her sixth clean sheet of the season.
• Audrey Francois registered two shots to lead the team.

 

Next Up

The win over the Quakers sets up a massive fixture next Saturday (Nov. 2) against Yale at Jordan Field. The sides, who both own seven points in the league standings, will battle it out for the final spot in the Ivy League Tournament when they meet on the pitch at 3:00 PM and on ESPN+.