Stickwomen Stomp Springfield

"They were caught up in our game," said Harvard sophomore Becky Gaffney of the Springfield College field hockey team.

And she was right. Yesterday at Soldier's Field, it was definitely Harvard's game.

The Crimson consistently kept the ball in its end of the field, dominating Springfield in an impressive 3-0 victory. It was the second straight win for the Crimson, which beat Penn, 2-1, Saturday and is currently tied for first with Brown in the Ivy League.

Harvard (4-2 overall, 2-0 Ivies) was on the offense the entire game, giving the Eagles few opportunites to score. The Crimson gained momentum early on, scoring two goals in the first half and clenching the win with a final goal midway through the second half. Harvard created several opportunities, tallying 22 corners while the Eagles managed only six.

The first goal was scored by senior Lisa Cutone in scramble in front of the net. Cutone snagged the deflection off Co-Captain Char Joslin's shot and put it past Eagle netkeeper Julie Elias at the 16:50 mark of the first half.

Springfield got the ball down to its end of the field after Cutone's goal, but the Crimson defense thwarted the Eagles' attempts to get on the scoreboard. Never losing its composure, Harvard ended the half with an insurance goal from senior Sharon Landau.

After a breakaway downfield from Joslin, Landau managed to drill a shot by Elias with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half.

"We stayed up the whole game," Landau said. "We had a corner within the first 35 seconds and a goal within the last minutes."

The second half the Crimson continued to play great hockey.

"It was consistent playing," junior Anne van Dykum said. "We are finally getting the feel of how everyone is playing."

Harvard demonstrated the same great offense, the same great passes and the same great defense. Senior Lynn Frangione anchored the Crimson backfield, which would not let Springfield take advantage of the few times it did have the ball.

"We dominated the play the whole game," Co-Captain Erin O'Brien said. "Everyone is pushing harder and harder and no one let up."

Dangerous Play

Midway through the second half Cutone connected with a loose ball and placed it beautifully in the upper corner of the net, but the goal was called back for dangerous play. The Crimson came back and tallied a textbook third goal. Cutone shot a corner in front of Landau, which she stopped for sophomore Sandra Whyte, who launched the ball into the net.

At 3-0, Elvis had a better chance of coming back.

"We dominated, we drew a lot of corners and moved the ball well," Coach Sue Caples said. "Things looked well. Everyone's contributing a lot."

The Crimson will meet Fairfield in another non-league contest Saturday at Soldiers Field at 12:30 p.m.