Starting in the 1977 season, the Women's Soccer team was elevated from a club level to a varsity sport at Harvard. Bob Scalise, Harvard's former athletic director, became the first head coach in program history and led Harvard to a 106-34-14 record during his ten seasons. This included three Ivy titles and one tournament quarterfinal appearance. His last season as coach was in 1986.
Following Bob Scalise's retirement, Tim Wheaton took over the Crimson for 18 seasons, recording a 156-95-45 record. During those 18 seasons, he led Harvard to four Ivy League titles, seven NCAA appearances, and reached the quarterfinals twice.
Harvard then went through two coaches who each served for one year. In 2005, Stephanie Erickson led the Crimson to an 8-5-3 record, and the following year, Erika Walsh went 3-13-1.
In 2007, Ray Leone took over the Crimson and went 90-49-18 before accepting a job at Maryland in 2016.
The current head coach is Chris Hamblin, who started in 2016 and has gone 74-31-12. He has led Harvard to one Ivy League Championship and four NCAA appearances, including reaching the Round of 16 twice. He also won the first Ivy League Conference Tournament in 2023 by defeating Columbia 3-0.
Harvard athletics have a longstanding rivalry with Yale across all sports since 1875,and it also translates to the women's soccer programs.
The first game of the series was played on November 11, 1977 where Harvard beat Yale 2-0. Harvard went on to win 13 in a row until 1990. Harvard is currently 35-9-2 in the 46 meetings hosting the longest win streak at 13 and currently on a 5 game win streak dating back to 2018.
Team honors
Conference championships
Harvard has won 13 Ivy League championships.The Ivy League began sponsoring women's varsity soccer in 1977. Prior to 1977, Harvard competed as a club team.[3]
Season
Conference
Coach
Overall Record
Conference Record
1978
Ivy
Bob Scalise
13–1–0
0-0-0
1979
Ivy
Bob Scalise
15-1-1
0-0-0
1981
Ivy
Bob Scalise
17-2-0
0-0-0
1995
Ivy
Tim Wheaton
14-2-1
6-0-1
1996
Ivy
Tim Wheaton
15–2–0
7–0–0
1997
Ivy
Tim Wheaton
13–4–2
6–1–0
1999
Ivy
Tim Wheaton
14–2–1
7–0–0
2008
Ivy
Ray Leone
10–3–5
5–1–1
2009
Ivy
Ray Leone
9–7–1
6-1-0
2011
Ivy
Ray Leone
12–5–1
6-0-1
2013
Ivy
Ray Leone
12–4–2
7-0-0
2014
Ivy
Ray Leone
11–5–2
5-1-1
2016
Ivy
Chris Hamblin
10–4–3
5-0-2
Individual honors
First Team All-Americans
Harvard Women's Soccer have had 6 First Team All-Americans and 28 All-Americans (1st, 2nd, 3rd and honorable mention)
Player
Position
Year
Lauren Gregg
–
1980
Emily Stauffer
M
1995, 1996
Naomi Miller
FW
1996
Margaret Purce
FW
2016
Hannah Bebar
MF
2022
Josefine Hasbo
MF
2023
Second Team All-Americans
Harvard has fielded six second-team All-Americans.
Player
Position
Year
Alicia Carillo
FW
1982
Jennifer Greeley
MF
1982
Kelly Landry
FW
1983, 1984
Tracee Whitley
GK
1987
Emily Stauffer
MF
1998
Jade Rose
MF
2022
Third Team All-Americans
Harvard has fielded nine third-team All-Americans.