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News Trump Is Probing Harvard’s China-Linked Financial Aid. Here’s What the Numbers Show. News 150 Harvard Alumni Affairs Staff Face Two-Day In-Office Mandate Amid Pushback News Garber Says Tenure Is Needed to Protect Unpopular Speech in D.C. Remarks News Garber Endorses Integrating AI Into Harvard Research and Teaching News Deming, Dozens of Harvard Affiliates Call for Research on AI’s Economic Impact Most of the Class of 2030 moved into Harvard Yard on Wednesday morning, marking the final wave of incoming freshmen settling into their new homes for the year. The freshmen on the Harvard women’s soccer team (1-2-0) — who had moved in weeks earlier than their peers — found their footing in a 4-0 win over Fairfield University (2-2-1) on Thursday evening. Deep defensive pressure from the freshman trio of midfielder Lou Ruffien and forwards Brooke Huleatt and Molly Vana, anchored by captain midfielder Írena Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez, forced Fairfield to concede a corner kick only three minutes into the game. Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez whipped the ball into the box, and senior defender Jasmine Leshnick headed it through the Stags’ defensive blockade for the Crimson’s first goal. The freshmen continued their offensive pressure. Huleatt and Vana dominated possession on the left wing, consistently combining in passing sequences and exploiting the space left behind by the visitors pushing forward. Over the next 14 minutes, the duo traded a goal and an assist — pushing Harvard to an early 3-0 lead for its second straight game and leaving its opponents staggered. The Crimson remedied its conceded counterattacks and defensive mistakes from its previous game, which led to Harvard conceding four unanswered goals against the University of Massachusetts for a 4-3 loss on Monday. Instead, the Crimson maintained its offensive pressure and possession throughout both halves and exploited several scoring opportunities on the wings for a 4-0 win, tallying its first victory and clean sheet since beating arch rivals Yale 2-0 last October. The result also marked Harvard’s largest margin of victory after beating Cornell 5-0 in October 2024. Fairfield’s other loss this season came against No. 9 North Carolina in its opening match. Huleatt led the team in goal contributions with one goal and two assists, closely followed by Héðinsdóttir Gonzalez’s two assists from corner kicks. Despite captain forward and leading scorer Ólöf Kristinsdóttir sitting out due to injury, two other goals came from fellow freshmen, Vana and rookie midfielder Camila Reinaldo. Offensively, the Crimson posted its best shot-on-target rate yet this season — with 15 of 21 shots landing on goal, led by Vana’s four. “We’ve had a couple of tough matches to date. We’ve had really good moments in both, and we’ve just left some gaps that’ve been punished,” head coach Chris Hamblin said. “Today we were able to put together two solid halves and be able to take care of some of the details that’ve been working on this week and get the shutout.” “We’ve been so happy and excited with our first-year group in their play and their attacking profiles, and I think we proved today how dangerous we can be,” he added. Less than three minutes after converting from a corner for the second straight game, Harvard struck again. Despite a Crimson turnover off a defensive clearance, Vana swiftly diffused a counterattack and drove down a third of the field. She slid the ball through to Huleatt on the left wing, who buried it across the Stags’ goalkeeper on her first touch. Vana’s run down the wing forced a save from the Fairfield keeper, leading to a series of corner kicks for Harvard. On the second corner, a touch from Huleatt went across the goal and disseminated to Vana at the back post, allowing for a smooth finish into an open net. “When we get space on the wings, we’re able to attack at pace,” Hamblin said. “Our wide players today had a really good game, fantastic game, getting around the corner. We got so many crosses off and opportunities from that.” The rest of the half remained rather quiet. Harvard’s defensive shape kept the Stags on the outskirts of its final third, with resulting shots often fired haphazardly under pressure — landing off target or ending in saves from freshman goalie Olivia Busby. In net, the Crimson exchanged Busby for sophomore transfer from the University of Georgia Nicole Bidun. Previously, Busby and Bidun had each played an entire game for the Crimson between the posts, taking the lead for the starting spot ahead of two other goalkeepers on Harvard’s roster. One minute into the second half, Huleatt beat several defenders through the midfield before recollecting the ball from sophomore midfielder Elsa Santos López on the flank. The freshman forward then secured her second assist of the game, beating her Fairfield marker on the endline and finding Reinaldo in the air back post for Harvard’s fourth goal. Fairfield’s opportunities remained limited in its offensive half. Several clearances fell back into the feet of the Crimson’s midfielders, while other balls played through the air were calmly collected by senior defender Amy König. The German youth national team player was subbed out in the 75th minute and has played the most for Harvard, featuring in every minute for the past two games. Captain forward Anna Rayhill found her space to drive the Crimson’s possession on the other side, tracking back on the defensive end and converting her tackles into deep runs down the right wing. The pressure hardly dissipated when Rayhill was subbed off as sophomore midfielder Hannah Eftekhari and junior forward Lauren Muniz maintained the pressure on both ends. The Stags slightly recovered offensively, winning two corner kicks and two free kicks, though the ultimate attempts posed little threat to Bidun and Harvard’s defense — the visitors finished with four shots on target. Further offensive chances for Fairfield were quickly resolved by central defenders, though their best chance of the game came with four minutes remaining in regulation. A shot from the top right of the box forced Bidun to dive low toward the bottom left of her net for her second save. “We were just a little bit out of position in some of those counterattack moments that UMass was very, very good at capitalizing on,” Hamblin said. “A ton of credit to the midfield players for committing to that detail, and that’s certainly a big reason that we were able to get a shutout today.” Harvard will now embark on a three-match road trip, starting with Syracuse University (3-0-1) on Sunday at 1:00 p.m EDT. “I’m excited to test ourselves against good competition. Syracuse is undefeated right now, so it’s certainly not going to be an easy game. I just hope we can patch up some of these bumps and bruises,” Hamblin said. “I don’t think we’ve necessarily earned the result that we would have liked, and we could have got,” he added. “So, to be able to flip it today is a great testament to the group and their fight and spirit.” —Staff writer Uy B. Pham can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ubp.88. Follow him on X @uybpham. Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter. Have a tip for The Crimson? Share it confidentially.