Stickwomen Tie 16th-Ranked B.C., 1-1; Early Goal Propels Crimson Past Eagles

Boston College Coach Charlene Morett yelled until she became red--er, crimson--in the face yesterday.

She yelled at the officials, yelled at her players and even yelled at Harvard wing Cindi Ersek who had smoothly--and not illegally, as Morett heatedly insisted--swiped the ball from an Eagle forward.

Morett's 16th-ranked Eagles (8-4-4) were losing, 1-0, to a Harvard field hockey team that had won only three games on the year and she didn't like it one bit.

And although B.C. finally got on track and scored a goal with 22 minutes left in yesterday's contest before 50 chilly spectators at Soldiers field to salvage a 1-1 tie with the Crimson (3-7-2), Morett and her squad trudged off the field at game's end as if they had been defeated.

Harvard, coming off a disappointing 2-1 loss to Princeton Saturday, put on a splendid offensive show against its highly touted opponent, reeling off 19 shots and 12 penalty corners.

The Crimson--noted for its strong defense--had not played so well offensively since its 2-0 victory over Dartmouth a week and a half ago.

"Our players are earning a little respect," Crimson Coach Nita Lamborghini said.

Harvard's two captains--Anne Kelly and Alicia Clifton--hooked up for the Harvard goal.

With seven minutes gone in the game, Kelly took a pretty corner pass from Clifton and smashed a shot that flew through the Eagle defense and into the net.

"I didn't even look up," Kelly said. "I had no idea where the ball was going."

Kelly's goal was set up by wing Gia Barresi who drove through the pressing Eagle defense and dished a pass to forward Kate Felsen.

Felsen's subsequent blast was blocked by Eagle goalie Cathy O'Brien. So was Ersek's follow-up scoop. But the latter set up the penalty corner that the Crimson converted into its eighth goal of the year.

Harvard didn't relax after the score but continued to pound away at the B.C. netminder whose eight saves on the afternoon kept the visitors in the game.

"We battered them in the first half," Crimson midfielder Jane Grim said.

Although bombarded by a slew of Crimson shots, the Eagle defense held fast and the half ended with Harvard up, 1-0.

In the second half, the two teams played evenly--although B.C. scored off a corner pass that forward Shannon Murphy pumped past Crimson goalie Denise Katsias into the left-hand corner of the net.

Late in the contest, Harvard showed flashes of its first-half potency, when Ersek and Clifton led separate drives deep into Eagle territory and took shots that the B.C. netminder deftly turned back.

The Crimson's last chance to pull an upset came with just 30 seconds left in the game.

Midfielder Bambi Taylor rapped a shot off a corner pass and Clifton got her stick on the rocket, but it slid just right of the Eagle net and out of bounds.

Had Harvard played as well as it did yesterday against Princeton, it might be tied now for first place in the Ivy League with Penn.

But as it stands, the stickwomen have an uphill battle to the Ivy championship.

Green Dreams

A Penn loss at home against Dartmouth Saturday and two Crimson victories in its remaining Ivy games--at Brown Saturday and at Yale a week later--would put the stickwomen into a first-place tie with Penn and set the stage for a playoff so improbable that Harvard dare not dream about it.

Not yet.

But after yesterday's strong showing, anything seems possible.

THE NOTEBOOK: Prior to yesterday's contest, Kelly--who has played Harvard field hockey for four years--had never scored...Kasias finished with six saves...B.C. had eight shots and seven penalty corners.