CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A late rally for the Harvard women's soccer team fell short tonight as the team fell, 2-1, to the visiting Monmouth Hawks. Two early goals for the Hawks (4-2-0, 0-0-0 CAA) was enough to hold off a late surge from the Crimson (0-3-1, 0-0-0 Ivy).
Lauren Muniz scored her first goal of the season in the second half to kick off the run for Harvard that fell short.
How it Happened
The Crimson welcomed the Monmouth Hawks into Jordan Field on Thursday night as the teams met on the pitch for the first time since the 2021 season. The contest was the second of seven consecutive home matches for the Crimson.
After the opening kick, Harvard quickly worked the ball into the Monmouth zone where
Anna Rayhill nearly put the Crimson on top with a left footed strike that just skipped wide of the post. Monmouth went on the counter and ended up finding the back of the net in the ninth minute of play to take an early lead. Just four minutes later, the Hawks struck again to open up a 2-0 lead 13' into the action.
First-years
Danicka Miller and
Hannah Eftekhari each had great looks on target in the half, but both were cleaned up by the Monmouth goalkeeper as the Crimson went into the halftime break trailing by two. Harvard held a 5-4 advantage in shots in the frame but was still looking for its first tally of the game when play began in the second half.
Senior goalkeeper,
Rhiannon Stewart, hit her stride in the second half, fending off a flurry of Monmouth shots in the opening minutes of the half to keep the Crimson within striking distance. Havard began to make its move midway through the half, with the team posting three consecutive shots while creating a few different scoring chances. First it was
Susie Long who fired off a shot that went wide, then Rayhill followed up with another quality look before Elsa Santos López had a shot that hit the crossbar.
Just a few minutes later, Monmouth committed a foul to give Harvard a free kick in the attacking third. Santos López lined up the kick and put a great crossing pass into the 18 where she connected with Muniz. The sophomore headed the ball into the back of the net to give Harvard its first goal of the evening and cut into the Monmouth lead.
Stewart would go on to make two more clutch saves down the stretch to keep the Crimson in the game but the team was not able to convert on any of its chances in the late stages of the action as Monmouth escaped Jordan Field with a 2-1 result.
Harvard Highlights
Up Next
Harvard will continue its long homestand this Sunday with another regional rivalry matchup against the Northeastern Huskies. First kick is schedule for 1:00 PM on Sunday (Sep. 7) at Jordan Field with all the action being streamed live on ESPN+.
