As thousands of prospective students visit Ivy League schools this fall, the Huskies’ two trips to a pair of “Ancient Eight” institutions have been far from fruitful.
The UConn women’s soccer team (2-2-3) hit the road to Cambridge, Mass. on Sunday and was held at bay by Harvard University (6-2-1). The Huskies failed to find the back of the net in a 2-0 shutout loss.
The Huskies were also held scoreless against Brown University (6-2-1) at the end of August, taking a narrow 1-0 loss. UConn is now 0-2 against Ivy League competition this season and is 0-2-2 on the road.
UConn struggled to locate the net throughout Sunday’s rain-dampened contest. Despite taking three more shots than the Crimson, 14 to Harvard’s 11, the Huskies only placed three shots on target. Harvard located the goal on seven attempts and made the Huskies pay on two.
The first of those successful shots came in the closing minutes of the first half. Senior Crimson midfielder Írena Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez rocketed a penalty kick toward the left side of the goal and off the outstretched fingertips of UConn goalkeeper Ava Yamas with 1:09 left to play before the break, snapping a scoreless tie.
Rookie forward Lou Ruffien followed that score with one of her own in the second, tapping a long cross-field pass off the foot of fellow freshman forward Brooke Huleatt high toward the crossbar and in from a few feet out for Harvard’s second tally of the day with 27:22 left in the match.
While two of UConn’s shots on goal came in the second half, including an attempt by junior midfielder Gabby Miller to erase the goose egg with 4:24 left to play from close range that went wide left, the Huskies could not threaten enough to impact the score.
Junior forward Se-Hanna Mars led the Huskies with five shot attempts, including one on goal. The duo of freshman Olivia Busby and sophomore Nicole Bidun stopped all three of the Huskies’ on-target shots in a perfect performance for the Crimson goalkeeping crew.
Yamas played 90 minutes for the first time this season and blocked five shots, also letting in both Harvard goals. Lily Onorato had started each of the Huskies’ first six contests and did not appear for the first time all season.
Freshman midfielder Maeve Staunton, who leads the Huskies with three goals on the season, also did not play. Staunton had scored three goals across the Huskies’ previous two contests coming into Sunday, including their lone score against West Virginia (5-0-2) last weekend.
After struggling in away matches to start the season, the Huskies will return to the more comfortable confines of Joseph J. Morrone Stadium on Friday. UConn will host a fellow New England State School, the University of Vermont (3-4-2). The Catamounts hold just a 1-2-1 record on the road in 2026 but have won three straight contests.
With the Huskies looking to rebound from two straight winless outings, game time in Storrs is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will stream live on UCONN+.