Field Hockey's Kristin Abely

Freshman Kristin Abely wasn't expecting much when she tried out for the Harvard field hockey team a mere two days before the squad's first game.

"I just wanted to make the team," she says

Surprise, surprise.

For as it turned out, Abely was just what Crimson Coach Edie Mabrey needed. The stickwomen were stranded without a goalkeeper after last 'June's graduation of four-year starter Juliet Lamont.

So two days after she first tried out, Abely had more than made the team She'd become the Crimson's starting goalie.

Now nine games into the season, the freshman has grown quickly, shining in spots while stumbling in others

She's recorded two shutouts and amassed a highly respectable 1.50 goals against-average.

"Kristin's doing a line job," Mabrey says. "She had a big spot to till, and she's filled it up"

The Connecticut native's introduction to college athletics hasn't been particularly easy, though The senior-laden Harvard squad, which entered the season as the Ivy team to beat, has stumbled to a 3-6 overall record and a 1-1 Ivy mark.

The Crimson's record includes six consecutive shutout losses, a losing streak almost unparalleled in recent Harvard athletic history and particularly difficult for the squad considered one of the best in Harvard field hockey history.

Abely was instrument in brining that losing streak to an end Saturday on Soldiers Field, when she recorded seven key saves as the Cantabs toppled Cornell, 1-0.

One of only two freshman starters on the Harvard squad, Abely was especially impressive in that Cornell win, which was her first starting assignment after two games as the backup.

"She just wasn't ready for [artificial] turf," Mabrey says of her decision to have Abely come off the bench instead of starting in the two pre Cornell games.

In the win over the Big Red, Harvard Captain Ellen O'Neill says Abely "was coming out really strong and really confident like she hadn't done before"

That's been the Yardling's biggest adjustment getting away from the high school tendency of staying close to the net

"I have a long way to go to be as good as other college players," she says. "I have a lot of work, but the team has been supportive"

So, too, has Lamont, who is currently working with the freshman "She's helped me a lot," says Abely, who began her goalkeeping career in eighth grade and continued as a four-year starter for Staples High School in Westport, Conn.

While leading Staples to the state tournament three times, Abely also spent some time on the basketball court and softball field

For now, though, Abely will stick to just field hockey.

That's because she knows she has her work cut out for her this year, she says.

"I have to become more aggressive and keep my mind in the game," she says "I need to gain more confidence. That will come with experience."

And Mabrey's more than glad to give her that experience

"She's though," Mabrey says of her starting goalie and, after a pause, the Harvard coach adds, "she's it."