Tie Knocks Out Stickwomen

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--The University of Pennsylvania field hockey squad can address its thank-you letters c/o Nada Sellers.

For the Yale goaltender put on the finest goaltending exhibition of the year Saturday to keep the Harvard field hockey squad off the scoreboard for two halves and two overtimes and keep the game deadlocked in a most dramatic 0-0 tie--one that, for Harvard, was as bad as a loss.

The scoreless tie quickly erased any Harvard hopes of a first-ever Ivy title and sent the league crown rolling to Philadelphia. The Crimson closed out its Ivy campaign at 4-1-1, just one-half game behind Penn's 5-1 championship mark. The Quakers now move on to the NCAA tournament, while the stickwomen move on to next year.

For that, you can thank Nada Sellers.

What the sophomore goaltender did Saturday on a beautiful day in New Haven was single-handedly this art a Crimson squad that, without a doubt, played its finest hockey of the year. At the same time, she preserved a tie for a Yale squad that couldn't even have made the Ringling Bros., Barnum & Bailey traveling circus.

"They were really lucky to have such a great goalie." Harvard Captain Ellen O' Neill said. "She not only destroyed some of our at tack but also initiated some of their own."

All that against a Harvard squad that had been the Cinderella story of the Ivies a team that had jumped to a 4-0 league start and needed just one win in its last two games to clinch that first-ever title. But a loss at Brown turned Saturday's game into a must-win situation for Harvard.

Which combined to turn Saturday's contest before 250 fans into the most emotional Ivy showdown of the year. The Crimson fought desperately for the goal that would have brought the title to Cambridge, and the Bulldogs fought desperately for the goal that would have salvaged their miserable season. Not even 90 minutes were enough, however, for either squad to find its way on to the board.

And for that, you can thank Nada Sellers.

For while the Bulldogs never really posed much of a challenge for Harvard netminder Juliet Lamonte the Crimson kept Scllers plenty busy, continuously pounding her with a barrage of shots.

The first half--which saw one Trina Burnham shot find the back of the net but disallowed because it was too high--proved a defensive struggle, with both squads wary of giving up that crucial goal.

But the second half turned into a free-for-all as the Crimson began its onslaught of shots on goal and penalty comers. Harvard shot after shot, though, became Sellers' save after save. The Eli goalie stopped 11 Harvard shots and II Harvard penalty corners in that second period, frustrating a Crimson attack that displayed the power that led to its final 8-6-1 season mark.

All this while the Bulldog offense couldn't muster a semblance of an attack, which left it all up to Sellers to stop a flurry of Crimson shots with just seconds left in regulation.

Harvard took over right where it left off, though, controlling both overtime periods. But again, the scenario was the same. Shot, Save, Shot, Save.

"We'd been having some defensive problems," Sellers said. "And Harvard was really pressing us on the penalty corners. I must admit I was a bit worried."

If she was, though, it didn't show. As time ran down in both overtimes, the Philadelphia native squelched a flurry of penalty corners, leaving the game in a scoreless tie for the second straight year.

In fact, the last score in a Harvard-Yale game came two years ago when Betsy Torg had the goal and Both Mullen had the assist. Lamont closed out that 1-0 win with a shutout.

On Saturday, Mullen, Torg and Lamont closed out their Harvard field hockey careers.

And for that, you can thank Nada Sellers.