Harvard Hands Rams First Loss Despite Dramatic First Half Comeback

Rhody Starters
Leyh, Warjas, Hansen, Murray, Ari Stanton, Brennan, Lieberman, Alex Stanton, Gylfadottir, Nardella, Lindsey (GK)

Harvard Starters
Casscells-Hamby, Gary, Washburn, Becker, Keene, Stollar, Mosbacher, Urke, Dickens, Kanten, Emba (GK)

Scoring Summary

1st Half - HARV - Brooke Dickens (Urke) - 2:48 - 1st goal of season
1st Half - HARV - Bethany Kanten - 22:06 - 1st goal of season
1st Half - URI - Simone Hansen (Brennan) - 23:06 - 1st goal of season
1st Half - URI - Ari Stanton (Murray) - 23:40 - 3rd goal of season

2nd Half - HARV - Megan Casscells-Hamby - 56:16 - 1st goal of season - GWG

How It Happened
1st Half
Harvard opened the scoring in the third minute after winning an early corner kick. Lauren Urke played the corner into the center of the box where Brooke Dickens won a clean header and beat goalkeeperReilly Lindsey to the bottom right corner. Rhode Island nearly answered in the 19th minute when Donika Murray burned two defenders with her speed and crossed a ball for Samantha Leyh, but Leyh's volley went just wide of the goal. Harvard doubled their lead in the 22nd minute when Bethany Kanten put a 35-yard free kick into the upper right corner. Rhode Island responded in rapid fashion with two goals in 34 seconds. Freshman Simone Hansen connected on a Nicole Brennan with a bicycle kick to cut the lead in half and then Donika Murray broke down the right wing and found Ari Stanton who buried her third goal of the year to tie the game.

2nd Half
Harvard answered Rhody's first half flurry with a goal 11 minutes into the second half. Meg Casscells broke through two defenders and found herself in alone on Reilly Lindsey. Casscells tapped a low ball past Lindsey to give the Crimson a 3-2 lead. Harvard controlled play for most of the half as Rhode Island was unable to create any chances at an equalizer.

Inside the Box Score

• Shots: (Rhode Island 11, Harvard 10); Shots On Goal: (Harvard 6, Rhode Island 5)
• Corners: (Harvard 6, Rhode Island 2)
• Fouls: (Rhode Island 8, Harvard 7)
• Cards: (None)
• Records: (Rhode Island 4-1-1; Harvard 3-0-0)
• Goalkeepers: (URI - Reilly Lindsey, 2 saves, 3 GA, 90:00; HAR - Cheta Emba, 2 saves, 2 GA, 45:00; Lizzie Durack, 2 saves, 0 GA, 45:00, W)

Quotables

• POSTGAME VIDEO

Additional Notes

• Simone Hansen scored the first goal of her collegiate career on a bicycle kick in the 24th minute.
• Meg Casscells second half goal was the first goal allowed by Rhode Island in a non-set piece situation this year.
• Ari Stanton set a new career-high with her third goal of the season.

Up Next

The Rams travel to New York on Friday to square off with the Albany Great Danes at 5 p.m.