ITHACA, N.Y. – In its first road game of the 2025 Ivy League women's soccer season, Harvard was victorious against the Big Red in Ithaca. The Crimson (4-4-2, 2-1-0 Ivy) spoiled the Big Red's (3-4-4, 1-2 Ivy) homecoming weekend with a 2-1 result in the battle. With the win, Harvard extended its unbeaten streak to 31 consecutive games against Cornell.
How it Happened
The Crimson made the trip out to Ithaca in Upstate New York this afternoon to take on the Cornell Big Red in the third week of Ivy League women's soccer action. It was 44
th matchup between the two sides in series history with the Crimson coming into the contest with a long win streak against the Ivy League foe.
Cornell opened the game strong, controlling possession for much of the opening 15 minutes. The Big Red recorded two chances in the first ten minutes, but Harvard goalkeeper
Rhiannon Stewart was there to make both saves and hold off the Big Red.
After the initial advance by Cornell, Harvard settled in and began to create chances in the attacking third. The team's first shot on goal came 16' into the match off the foot of
Susie Long who slotted a low shot into the near corner that was saved by the Cornell goalkeeper. In the next three minutes, Harvard created two chances for Ólöf Kristinsdóttir, one that was narrowly called offside and another attempt that resulted in a shot that sailed wide for the junior striker.
Stewart and the defense – featuring the backline trio of
Jasmine Leshnick,
August Hunter and
Erin Gordon – held firm in the first half to keep the Big Red off the scoreboard. Harvard used this performance by the defense to head into halftime locked in a scoreless draw.
The pace picked up almost immediately when the teams took the field for the second half as both teams were working quickly for that critical first goal. After Cornell fired off a quick first attempt, the Crimson made its move. The team started the push at the 50' mark, working the ball into the Cornell area and winning the Crimson's first corner kick of the afternoon. On the ensuing set piece,
Audrey Francois played a ball short to
Jasmine Leshnick who put a crossing shot into the area. Leshnick's shot deflected off the goalkeeper but Írena Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez was there to clean it up and score her first goal of the season.
Just three minutes later, Harvard was back on the attack.
Kennedy Belfon completed a strong sliding tackle to get the ball over
Anya Van Den Einde who then completed a short pass over to Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez. The junior slid a pass over to a charging Leshnick who then fired a shot from nearly 40 yards away. The shot curled perfectly over the head of the Cornell keeper and into the back of the net to give Harvard a 2-0 advantage.
Stewart stepped up to make two more saves in the final 30 minutes of the contest to help hold off the Big Red's comeback attempt. Cornell managed to get one goal back as the final score read 2-1 in favor of the Harvard Crimson at the end of the match.
Harvard Highlights
- Írena Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez scored her first goal of the season.
- Jasmine Leshnick scored her third goal of the season. The strike would go down as the game winner.
- Audrey Francois, Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez and Leshnick all recorded assists in the matchup.
- Rhiannon Stewart made six saves in the contest.
Up Next
Harvard will play another road contest next weekend against the Yale Bulldogs. The rivals are set to battle on Sunday (Oct. 12) at 3:00 PM in New Haven with all the action streaming live on ESPN+.
