The Milwaukee women’s soccer team faced a challenging match against Harvard, ultimately falling 4-2 at Engelmann Stadium on Thursday night. Despite an early lead with Lainey Higgins’ goal, the Panthers could not hold off a strong second-half performance by the Crimson.
Harvard, ranked No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches East Region Poll and having allowed only one goal this season before this match, managed to equalize before halftime and carried that momentum into the second half. “I liked the way we started both halves, to be honest,” said Milwaukee head coach Kevin Boyd. “The goal we got was nice. What bothers me is that we gave one up within five minutes.”
Higgins scored her fourth goal of the season at 29:13 after receiving a through ball from Zoey Pagels. However, Harvard responded quickly with a deep shot from near the sideline to level the score at 1-1 going into halftime.
In the second half, Harvard took control with goals in the 60th minute and a penalty kick in the 74th minute. Boyd reflected on these moments: “I thought we started the second half pretty well… But at 2-1, we were still in it. The PK was a gut shot.”
Despite trailing further after another Harvard goal in the 78th minute, Milwaukee continued to fight back, with Kayla Rollins scoring her second of the season late in the game.
Milwaukee’s schedule has been tough so far, facing teams with a combined record of 30-7-6 (.767 winning percentage). Coach Boyd commented on their current standing: “We are facing really good opponents and we are having to learn hard lessons… As a whole, we keep getting better every game and that is the important piece.”
Throughout the match, Milwaukee showed aggression from kickoff but faced challenges as Harvard maintained advantages in shots (20-14) and corner kicks (7 out of 11). Josefine Hasbo led Harvard off the bench with two goals while Higgins led Milwaukee’s offense with four shot attempts.
Looking ahead, Milwaukee will face Marquette at Valley Fields on Sunday at 4 p.m.
