Stickwomen Sputter to Scoreless Tie

DURHAM, N. H.--Nobody smiled after the Harvard women's field hockey team (1-0-1) foundered to a scoreless tie against New Hampshire (1-3-2) yesterday in Durham.

Not only did neither team manage to connect for a goal, but neither team accomplished the goal it had going into the contest. Crimson Coach Edie Mabrey saw this year's game as her best chance yet to win against the Wilcats, but yesterday the stickwomen extended their winless string against UNH to six games.

Wildcat Coach Jean Rilling hoped her team would break out of its scoring slump, a problem that has plagued UNH all season. The team Rilling calls "my scoreless wonders" has tallied but twice in their first six outings. "This is the lousiest I've seen them play this year," Rilling said, adding that in her halftime talk she threatened to walk off the field if her team's play failed to improve.

If anything, Mabrey was more disappointed than Rilling. This was her team's worst contest of the season, including its four of Ireland, said the Crimson mentor. Not only that, but it proved an emotional letdown after Tuesday's 4-2 triumph over Providence.

Not that Harvard didn't have some fine individual performances. Andy Mainelli shone at right inner, controlling the ball in midfield scraps and setting up the other forwards. It was not for lack of opportunity that the stickwomen couldn't find the back of the net.

The Crimson tailed to take advantage of 11 penalty corners and three long hits, and the stickwomen's 9-8 edge in shots on goal yielded no comparable advantage on the scoreboard. The best scoring opportunity of the game came with 15 minutes left. Right wing Kate Martin took a pass from Betsy Torg, worked the ball close to the right side of the net, then dumped the ball in front of the open goal. The ball sat 10 feet from a Crimson lead for four seconds, until a UNH defenseman cleared it away.

Harvard goalie Juliet Lamont kept the stickwomen in the game with some clutch saves, the biggest coming 10 minutes into the second half. Wildcat Co-Captain Joan McWilliams broke away on the right side of the field. As McWilliams drove towards a one-on-one showdown with Lamont, the Crimson netminder came out to cut down McWilliam's angle. The UNH senior drilled the ball straight at Lamont, who made a pad save to preserve the scoreless tie.

Harvard expects to return to its winning ways Sunday when the Crimson takes on Bentley at 10 a.m. and Boston University at 3 p.m. Asked whether her team would regain its season-opening form, Mabrey stated. "They have to come back up; they've got no choice."