Around the Ivies: women's soccer

Ivy League women’s soccer has concluded its schedule of conference play. With the Crimson firmly situated at the top of the table, here are our final power rankings for the year.

Harvard (10-4-2 overall, 5-1-1 Ivy League): Owners of the best scoring differential in the Ancient Eight, as well as its best record, the Crimson will advance to host Central Connecticut State University in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Forward Margaret “Midge” Purce tied for second in the league with 8 goals during the 2014 campaign.
Dartmouth (8-5-4, 3-1-3): The Big Green handed the Crimson their only conference loss of the season. Goalkeeper Tatiana Saunders managed a league-high seven shutouts (the next-best mark being four). A season finale upset loss to Cornell sealed Dartmouth’s fate as runner-up.
Yale (8-4-4, 2-1-4): across their seven conference games, the Bulldogs scored only four times, while allowing just three goals. Of their four double-overtime draws, three were scoreless. Goalkeeper Elise Wilcox shone in her final season, stopping a league-high 91.4 percent of shots faced, while recording 64 saves.
Penn (8-5-3, 3-3-1): College Sports Madness named back Caroline Dwyer its Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. Penn did not quite live up to the high expectations it had for this season, having returned three first-team all-Ivy selections from 2013 as part of a strong junior class.
Princeton (7-6-3, 3-3-1): The destructive Tiger forward duo of senior Lauren Lazo and sophomore Tyler Lussi ranked at the top of the league in points scored (39 and 26, with the third-place finisher tallying only 18). This season marks a significant improvement from 2013, during which Princeton won only one Ivy contest.
Columbia (7-4-6, 2-3-2): The Lions racked up an eight-game unbeaten streak earlier in the season. This run of form could not propel Columbia to a plus-.500 conference record, but 2014 was nonetheless an impressive campaign for the New York side, which had graduated all three of its 2013 all-Ivy selections.
Cornell (8-9, 2-5): Two Big Red players found themselves on College Sports Madness's postseason awards list: midfielder Elizabeth Crowell, a first-teamer, and forward Caroline Growney. The two combined for 27 points and helped revive what was a moribund offense in 2013.
Brown (6-8-3, 1-4-2): With the second worst goal-against average and a goal-for mark tied for second worst, Brown did not have much of a chance this season in a competitive Ivy League. A 5-0 drubbing by Princeton marks the lowlight of this forgettable season.