In the end the Tigers did not mount much of athreat at all, thanks in large part to anexcellent performance by the Crimson's defense.
Anne Browning made several crucial saves in thesecond half, including a snare of a Princetondirect kick in the 90th minute. Junior sweeperJessica Larson continued to demonstrate why shemight be the Ivy League's best defender,consistently stripping Princeton's forwards ofpossession and thwarting the Tigers' scoringchances.
"I thought Jes Larson had an amazing day,"Wheaton said. "I think she is the best defender inthe league, and I think she proved that. She shutthem down and cleaned everything up, and I wasreally proud of her."
The match was extremely physical all night,with several players on both sides hitting theground quite often. Berman and Princeton sophomoreJennifer Lankford, both of whom wear No. 4, had aparticularly rough battle throughout the match.
At one point, both players tackled each otherwhile fighting for a ball along the sideline.
"[Lankford] actually turned out to be kind ofnice," said Berman, downplaying the melee. "Shewas just fouling and pulling some dirty tricks atthe beginning of the game.
"They were very physical. I was impressed withhow they went to the ball," Berman added, "butthey didn't really build any attack."
Harvard did not emerge from the matchcompletely unscathed. In the 71st minute, Fosterwas tackled and aggravated an earlier sprain ofher left ankle. The injury is not as serious asthe original sprain, but Foster left the game anddid not return.
The native of Davie, Fla. will likely sit outHarvard's match at Vermont tomorrow, but sheshould be able to play against Dartmouth onSaturday. Foster's injury apparently inspired herteammates; the Crimson scored its goal just 29seconds after Foster exited the game.
Miller also aggravated an existing ailment. At73:42, she chased a ball into the Princeton box,where Rettig secured possession. As Miller avoidedthe Princeton keeper, Rettig threw her body atMiller, and the two went down in a heap.
Miller stood up immediately remained in thematch and showed no ill effects. However, thedefending Ivy League Player of the Year hassuffered from a painful cyst on her ankle bone allseason, and she was in a good deal of pain afterthe match.
Rettig, though, apparently inflicted moredamage upon herself than she dealt out. The keeperwrithed in pain on the field after the collisionand eventually left the game.
"[The match] didn't go the way I wanted it togo," Berman said. "I think it was good to get awin, but it's always difficult to play against ateam that packs it in. No matter how much we areconscious of the fact that they are packing it in,it's always frustrating to not be able to play theway you want to play."
Three yellow cards were issued in the match,one to a Harvard player, one to a Princeton playerand the third to Wheaton. Harvard's coach earnedhis second yellow card of the season for beratingthe referee following Foster's injury.
ScoringHar--Berman (Stauffer, Miller) 71:14.