Stickwomen Triumph Over Lackluster Yale

Maybe this is what Peggy Noonan was thinking of when she penned George Bush's "A New Breeze" inauguration speech.

As far as the Harvard field hockey team is concerned, its 3-0 over Yale yesterday in New Haven was a breath of fresh air.

For a team mired in a scoring slump, three goals were akin to a nuclear explosion. Junior Sarah Downing, junior Amy Belisle and freshman Maureen O'Brien all scored for the Crimson.

And the kicker: it was against Yale.

"It was our most complete game of the season," Coach Sue Caples said. "Our passing game was working well for one of the first times all season. It's been a long time since a win.

We're almost not used to it."

A long time indeed. The last time Harvard (2-4-2 overall, 1-1-2 Ivy) beat an opponent, it was September 20 and school hadn't even started yet. Rhode Island was the unlucky 3-0 victim.

But this game was different. The Crimson applied relentless pressure and finally scored with 32:36 gone in the first half when the fleet-footed Downing tallied unassisted. Then, with seven seconds left in the half, Belisle converted a penalty shot for a strong 2-0 lead.

That would have held up, but O'Brien added to it anyway with an unassisted goal with 30:43 gone in the second half.

"We had good pressure all game," Caples said. "We kept our poise, too. The last couple of games we had looked shattered."

The victory was a relief for Caples, who said the team demonstrated mental toughness down the stretch.

"It really feels good to win," Caples said. "The physical mistakes we were able to deal with, and the mental mistakes were limited in this game."

To win, Harvard had to shut down Yale's superstar attacker Anne Lehman, who currently leads the Ivies in scoring.

But Yale almost did all the work itself, shifting Lehman from center forward to the midfield and back to center forward.

The moves were ostensibly for defensive purposes, but it had the effect of ruining Lehman's rhythm. Harvard did the rest.

"Lehman is one of the top players in the league," Caples said. "We slowed her down pretty well, though."

Freshman goalie Jessica Milhollin, who has had a tough year in the net, was flawless, stopping nine of nine shots.

Yale's Janelle Kellman, on the other hand, was not. Kellman gave up all three goals before she was replaced late in the second half. She was relieved by Mary Frieder, who saved five shots.

Caples was careful not to overstate the importance of the win, but it was pretty clear that she felt it was a breakthrough victory:

"You're going to see a different team in the second half of the season," Caples said. "We're executing better, we have more confidence, we're making good positive progress."

HARVARD, 3-0 at New Haven, Conn. Harvard  2  1  --  3 Yale  0  0  --  0

G: Harvard--Downing, Belisle, O'Brien; Yale--None. A: Harvard--None; Yale--None. S: Harvard--Milhollin (9); Yale--Kellman (6), Frieder (5).