AMHERST, Mass. – The 2025 Harvard women's soccer season has officially begun as the Crimson made its way out to Western Massachusetts this afternoon to take on the University of Massachusetts Minutewomen. Despite putting forth a solid all-around effort, the Crimson's (0-1-0, 0-0-0 Ivy) season opener was spoiled by its regional rival UMass (2-1-0, 0-0-0 MAC), who came away with a 2-1 winning result. Harvard could not have been any closer to equalizing in the final seconds after a last second shot attempt was cleared off the line by a UMass defender to seal the win for the Minutewomen.
How it Happened
The 2025 Harvard women's soccer season opener brought the team west to Amherst where they took on its regional rival, UMass, on its home turf at Rudd Field. The Crimson was looking to begin the season in the win column against the first of three Massachusetts based teams it will play this season.
UMass took the opening kick, but it was Harvard who had the first chance at a goal in the contest when a
Lauren Muniz shot crept just wide of the outside post in the sixth minute of action. The Crimson's defensive unit was stout in the early going of the contest, clearing out a series of Minutewomen attacks including a pair of corner kicks in the first ten minutes. The pace of the game remained slow in the middle stages of the half with Muniz putting the first shot on goal 21' into the half. The shot was fired into the bottom right corner of the net and found the outstretched arms of the UMass goalie.
Today's game saw the return of a familiar face to the pitch for the Crimson as Olof Kristinsdottir made her first appearance in a game since the 2023 season after battling back from an injury that lasted the entire 2024 season. Kristinsdottir had a couple of looks get turned away by the defense in her first several minutes on the pitch as the pace of the game began to ramp up. At the 38' mark of the half,
Danicka Miller fed in a perfect cross to
Anna Rayhill whose header try sailed just high over the crossbar.
With just over six minutes remaining in the half,
Audrey Francois intercepted a pass in the 18 and was taken down by a UMass defender. The senior was awarded a penalty kick and made the most of the opportunity, burying the shot to the low left side of the net to put the Crimson on top, 1-0. The score would hold at the halftime break after
Rhiannon Stewart made her first save of the game in the final minutes of the frame.
The Minutewomen worked quickly out of the break, getting the equalizing goal two minutes into the half. Rayhill attempted to respond for the Crimson but her chance was denied as the score remained deadlocked 10 minutes into the half. UMass did not shy away and ended up finding the go-ahead tally in at the 59' mark.
Harvard's comeback bid began with a series of shots from Francois, Heinsdottir Gonzalez and Santos Lopez, but none of the three found the target as the Crimson kept searching.
August Hunter and Santos Lopez both had shots saved by the keeper in the following sequences.
The Crimson could not have been any closer to equalizing in the final seconds of the match as the game came down to the wire. With Harvard in full on attacking mode, the Crimson won four consecutive corner kicks in the last 60 seconds of action. The first ball in found the foot of Rayhill but was quickly cleared back out of touch by UMass. The second cross in from
Erin Gordon was headed out by the Minutewomen as the ball went back to the corner. The third cross in made its way through the 18 and onto the foot of Hunter, whose shot attempt was blocked out of bounds yet again. With just 17 seconds remaining, Hunter quickly chased down the ball and put up a cross into the area. Rayhill got the cross first, heading the ball on goal but had her attempt punched down by the opposing keeper. That punch, however, was directed right at Heinsdottir Gonzalez. The junior's shot attempt came within inches of finding the goal, but was headed off the line at the last second by a UMass defender, whose effort sealed the win for the Minutewomen.
Harvard Highlights
- Audrey Francois opened her scoring register for 2025 with the first goal of the season.
- Harvard tallied 19 shots on the day compared to just nine for UMass.
- Rhiannon Stewart made three saves in the effort.
- Harvard held a 14-4 advantage on corner kick attempts.
- Anna Rayhill and Francois each had four shots total and two on target.
Up Next
Harvard will be back on the pitch this Friday (Aug. 29) when it travels to Connecticut to take on the Fairfield University Stags. The non-conference battle is set for 6:00 PM with all the action being streamed live on ESPN+.
