CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Ivy League has a new leader as the Harvard women's soccer team moved into first place this afternoon with a 2-0 victory over the Yale Bulldogs. The Crimson (5-4-2, 3-1-0 Ivy) secured three points in the win over the Bulldogs (3-8-0, 1-3-0 Ivy) and now total nine points on the season to take over the top spot. Elsa Santos López and Anna Rayhill scored the goals for the Crimson and Rhiannon Stewart recorded her ninth career shutout with five saves in the contest.
 

How it Happened

Week four of the Ivy League women's soccer season took the Crimson down South to New Haven where it met its rival, the Yale Bulldogs, on the pitch in a critical Ivy Legue contest. Fresh off back-to-back wins in league play, Harvard was looking to stay hot against the Bulldogs, who themselves were coming off a key win last week against Princeton. The sides met in harsh conditions on Sunday with heavy winds and consistent rain impacting play for the duration of the contest.
 
Harvard did not let the rough weather slow them down in the early going, quickly putting together a dangerous scoring opportunity and taking advantage. Susie Long began the play with an incredible run into the scoring area, dodging defenders before dribbling down the Yale end-line. Once the Yale keeper made her approach to Long, the junior dumped a pass off to Elsa Santos López who was waiting out in front of the net for an easy tap-in goal. The ninth minute strike put the Crimson in the driver's seat early.
 
Yale worked to counter quickly, going on the offensive and controlling possession for the next 15 minutes. The Bulldogs recorded three chances, none of which were on goal, thanks to the hard work of Harvard's backline. Rhiannon Stewart also played well in front of the formidable Crimson defense, making two saves in the first half to hold off Yale from equalizing.
 
The Crimson offense did not stop working in the first half after the goal. Audrey Francois led a pair of quality charges for Harvard, recording two shots on goal that were both saved by the Bulldog keeper. Yale's defense would hold off the Crimson surge in the first half to go into the halftime break trailing the Crimson by just one.
 
Once the teams took the field in the second half, the rain really started to come down at Reese Stadium. It took the sides a few minutes to adjust as play bounced back and forth in the midfield with no quality chances recorded until the 70' mark. Ólöf Kristinsdóttir recorded the shot on goal but the Yale defense stood tall in the sequence to remain just one goal behind. That is until Anna Rayhill took matters into her own hands just a few minutes later.
 
After collecting possession in the Crimson's defending third, Rayhill dribbled through the midfield and into the attacking third, avoiding and weaving through five Yale defenders on her way into the Bulldog six-yard box. Rayhill's last move was to put the ball on her left foot and fire a screaming low lining shot between the Yale keeper's legs and into the back of the net. Rayhill's incredible individual effort put the Crimson up two on its rivals.
 
The Bulldogs would keep driving despite facing a deficit late in the contest. Yale recorded three shots on goal in the final ten minutes of action but Rhiannon Stewart stood tall and saved all three to send the Crimson back to Cambridge with the victory.
 
Harvard moved into first place in the Ivy League standings with the result as the team now holds nine points just over the hallway mark of the Ivy League season.
 

Harvard Highlights

• Anna Rayhill and Elsa Santos López each scored their second goals of the season.
• Santos López now leads the team in goal contributions with six on the year.
• Susie Long notched her third assist of the season.
• Rhiannon Stewart made five saves to post her ninth career clean sheet.

 

Up Next

After a two-game road stand, the Crimson will return to its home field next weekend to take on the Brown Bears in what will be a critical Ivy League matchup. Harvard and Brown will renew its rivalry this Saturday (Oct. 18) at 7:00 PM at Jordan Field with all the action streaming live on ESPN+.