In women’s soccer, Penn and Princeton asserted their dominance on offense this week while other teams struggled to tally goals. After losing its first 10 games to start the year, Cornell had an unexpectedly good week with a 1-0-1 record and Ivy League Player of the Week honors awarded to senior forward Maneesha Chitanvis.
BROWN
Brown (6-4-0, 0-3-0) lost its third conference match of the season to Princeton on Saturday 2-0, putting the Bears at the bottom of the rankings this week. The Bears managed to hold off a strong Princeton offense until the 76th minute and recorded 11 shots against the Tigers. Brown ultimately failed to convert shot attempts into goals, and a defensive lapse late in the game provided enough of an opening for Princeton to score two goals in the game’s last few minutes.
CORNELL
The Big Red (1-10-1, 0-2-1) ended a 14-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over Lafayette on Oct. 2. Senior forward Maneesha Chitanvis led the offense with two goals alongside senior forward Xandra Hompe, who recorded a goal and three assists on the day. With a 1-1 draw against Harvard on Saturday, Cornell managed to put together two games without a loss for the first time since the 2010 season. Chitanvis was awarded Ivy League Player of the Week honors for her contributions to Cornell’s unbeaten week.
DARTMOUTH
The Big Green (7-4-0, 2-1-0) sits in a third-place tie with the Lions this week after notching its second conference win on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Yale. Freshmen forwards Corey Delaney and Lucielle Kozlov each drove in a goal in the second half, giving Dartmouth the two-goal advantage over Yale. Dartmouth managed to overpower Yale for the majority of the match, giving the Bulldogs little breathing room to mount an offensive attack.
HARVARD
The Crimson (5-3-3, 1-1-1) sits in fifth place this week after a disappointing performance against Cornell. Harvard dominated play for most of the match, recording seven more shots in total than the Big Red. Ultimately, the Crimson failed to breach Cornell’s last line of defense as Big Red goalie Tori Christ made an astonishing 10 saves on the day. The defending Ivy League champs look to recover from a frustrating beginning to conference play and move up in the rankings this week when the Crimson takes on Brown.
PENN
Penn (7-4-1, 3-0-0) has proved time and time again this season that it is the team to beat in the Ivy League. After an early victory over the defending Ivy champ, Harvard, the Quakers beat out the Lions 1-0 with a goal from junior forward Kerry Scalora on Saturday. Penn maintained stifling possession of the ball throughout the second half, giving the Lions a scarce number of opportunities to counter with an attack of their own. The Quakers sit atop the rankings this week in a first-place tie with Princeton.
PRINCETON
The Tigers (7-3-1, 3-0-0) defeated Brown to continue their win streak in the Ivy League on Saturday and secured a first-place tie with Penn in the conference. Princeton has outshot seven out of its 11 opponents thus far this season. The Tigers continued their offensive dominance against Brown with a 13-4 shot differential in the first half alone. Despite early success in the Ivy League, Princeton has yet to prove itself against the League’s major powers such as Penn and Harvard, both of which the Tigers will not face until later in the season.
YALE
The Bulldogs (5-6-0, 0-3-0) are tied for last place with Brown this week after a loss to Dartmouth. The defeat marked the Bulldogs’ first loss to Dartmouth since 2007 and ended Yale’s four-game winning streak. While the team is out of the hunt for the Ivy League title, it faced a tough opening half to its Ivy League schedule as it began the year against Princeton and Harvard. The Bulldogs may manage to climb up the rankings in future weeks when they face some of the League’s less formidable offenses.
