Red Upsets Stickwomen, 2-1

ITHACA, NY--After Saturday's field hockey match-up between Harvard and Cornell here at Schoellkopf Field, Crimson Tri-Captain Jane Grim summed up the game's outcome.

"It was heartbreaking," Grim said.

The Big Red, sparked by junior Mary-Beth Delaney's second-half goal, upset Harvard, 2-1, in front of a Homecoming crowd.

The loss evened the Crimson's Ivy League record to 1-1 (3-3-1 overall), and put a damper on its hopes for a first Ivy title. Cornell--which had been blown out, 10-1, by Penn last month--improved to 2-1 (4-5 overall).

The opening minutes of the game dictated how tough a day it would be for the visiting Crimson on Schoellkopf's artificial turf.

Cornell junior Ellen Graap took a shot from inside the circle five minutes into the first half. Harvard goalie Denise Katsias saved the inital shot, but the ball spun back into the net and Graap was credited with a "turf shot" goal.

Harvard pressured throughout the first period but came up empty. Forwards Cindi Ersek and Nicole Simourian outran a slower Cornell squad, but most of Harvard's shots were either wide or saved by Cornell's Kellly Clark, who recorded 12 saves.

"We didn't play a good first half," Harvard Coach Nita Lamborghini admitted.

When the second half began, the Crimson continued to attack on the offensive side. As Harvard's defense shut down the Big Red offense, the Crimson tried to even the game.

"We had many more scoring opportunities," Tri-Captain Kate Felsen said, "but we didn't take advantage of them."

The stickwomen's persistence paid off, however, when Simourian scored her second goal of the season with 11 minutes in the game off a 16-yd. shot by Grim.

But when it seemed Harvard was finally controlling the game, the Big Red came back. Delaney capitalized on the last of three straight Cornell penalty corners by slipping a shot past Katsias with eight minutes left. It was Co-Captain Delaney's fourth goal of the year.

Harvard still had some chances to send the game into overtime. On a Harvard penalty corner with six minutes remaining, Cornell's Nadia Glucksberg deflected a potential goal. In the final minute of the game, Lisa Cutone's shot was wide after Ersek brought the ball into the circle.

Grim's desperation shot with 20 seconds rolled wide. Cornell then ran out the clock to preserve the win.

"When we came here," Grim said, "we tried to be confident. It always seems to take longer for us to get motivated."

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard had a total of 13 saves and 8 penalty corners...Before Delaney's goal, the Crimson had not allowed a goal off a penalty corner in three games and 30 penalty corners...Harvard's next Ivy League game is against first-place Dartmouth this Saturday at Soldiers Field.