Harvard Falls to Long Beach State, 2-0

Photo of Lauren Mann courtesy of DSPics.com.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard women’s soccer team dropped a non-conference game against Long Beach State, falling by a score of 2-0 Friday afternoon at Ohiri Field. Goalkeeper Lauren Mann made one save for the Crimson, while Katherine Sheeleigh had four shots on offense.

After a shot by Long Beach State’s Lindsay Bullock hit the cross bar at 36:01, the 49ers earned a corner kick. Jenn Brooks controlled the ball after receiving from the corner and slid a pass through three Harvard defenders directly to Whitney Velez, who was camped out in the box. Velez turned and fired a bouncing shot that hit the right side of the net past Mann at 36:31.

Harvard (1-2-1) had three chances late in the half, but Sheeleigh had a shot sail high and another one of her attempts was blocked in front. Alexandra Conigliaro also rifled a shot, but the ball flew over the cross bar in the final seconds. Through 45 minutes, Long Beach State (3-2) enjoyed an 8-5 edge in shots, including 2-0 on net, and earned five of the seven corner kicks in the opening half.

Less than three minutes into the second, Melanie Baskind nearly knotted the game when she booted a ball from five yards out on the right side, but Nichols Jorgensen, the Long Beach State goalkeeper, batted it out of bounds. In the 55th minute, the 49ers doubled their lead to 2-0 as Shawna Gordon headed a cross pass from the left side off the right foot of Nicole Hubbard at 54:42.

With 19:16 left to play, Kerry Kartsonis rifled a shot from 20 yards out that bounced twice before Jorgensen grabbed for the save. Moments later after a Crimson corner kick, Kartsonis sent another shot at the 49ers’ goal, but it sailed high and wide to the left. Harvard continued to press offensively and Gina Wideroff wound up for a hard shot from 30 yards out with 12 minutes to play, but Jorgensen caught the line drive. Moments later, Conigliaro flipped a shot near the cross bar, but Jorgensen pulled it down for the save.

Harvard outshot Long Beach State by a wide margin, 14-1, in the second half, and had all five corner kicks to lead in that category, 7-5, for the game. Overall, the Crimson held a 19-9 lead in shots.

The Crimson will now begin a three-game road trip, starting at Hofstra Sunday. Harvard will meet the Pride at 1 p.m.