News

HMS Is Facing a Deficit. Under Trump, Some Fear It May Get Worse.

News

Cambridge Police Respond to Three Armed Robberies Over Holiday Weekend

News

What’s Next for Harvard’s Legacy of Slavery Initiative?

News

MassDOT Adds Unpopular Train Layover to Allston I-90 Project in Sudden Reversal

News

Denied Winter Campus Housing, International Students Scramble to Find Alternative Options

Stickwomen Halted

UMass Penalty Shot Fells Crimson, 2-1

By Mark Brazaitis

The outcome of yesterday's field hockey game between Harvard and the University of Massachusetts came down to two penalty strokes--one for each team.

The Crimson had a chance to pull an upset with 4:16 left in regulation and the score tied, 1-1, when Jane Grim lined up seven feet from UMass goalie Lynn Carlson. With the players on both teams standing behind the midline, Carlson knocked down Grim's shot with her stomach.

Kathe Derwin squared off against Harvard goalie Denise Katsias with five minutes left in overtime. Derwin placed a perfect shot into the lower left-hand corner of the Crimson net as Katsias dove after it dejectedly.

Derwin's goal lifted the nationally-ranked Minutewomen to a 2-1 victory before 50 spectators at Soldiers Field and improved their record to 11-1 overall. Harvard, playing in its second overtime contest in a row and fourth this season, failed to win for the fifth straight time and saw its overall record fall to 2-4-2.

"It was an excellent stroke," Crimson Coach Nita Lamborghini said of Derwin's game-winning goal. "The difference between the two strokes was that [UMass] had a veteran on the line, someone who's taken several of those shots, and we had a young player up there."

Both teams traded goals in the first half. Crimson forward Sharon Landau, starting for the first time in three games, knocked in her team-high fourth goal of the year with six minutes left in the half.

Char Joslin drove down the left side of the field and smacked the ball into the circle, where Landau was waiting.

"Char drove it in and the goalie deflected it," Landau said. "I took it off the goalie's pads and shot it in."

Comeback

UMass retaliated three minutes later when Nancy Philbrick trapped a loose ball to the left of the Crimson net and smacked a shot past Katsias.

With the score tied, 1-1, it was now only a matter of which team could convert its penalty stroke.

Ironically, it was Grim who set up the UMass penalty stroke when she raised her stick above her shoulders--illegally--to block Christine Kocot's shot off a penalty corner.

Grim prevented a sure goal, but Katsias--who turned away a penalty stroke against UConn two weeks ago to give the Crimson a tie with the defending NCAA Champion Huskies-had to face her second penalty stroke of the season, and the fourth of her collegiate career. She had 13 saves on the afternoon and with one more, the Crimson would have had a tie.

"I knew we could make something happen when we got that stroke," UMass Coach Pam Hixon said. "And we did."

Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.

Tags