BC Eagles Soar, While Stickwomen Can't Score

CHESTNUT HILL--Last night, the wet turf of Boston College's Alumni Stadium was as slick as Bill Clinton, and the Harvard field hockey team just couldn't keep its footing as the Crimson lost to B.C., 1-0, and slipped to a damp 3-6-2 on the season.

Under the lights on an eeriely empty stadium, Harvard failed to get past Eagle goalie Heather Welch while B.C. managed to score one goal itself.

But that one goal was enough to cost the Crimson the game.

Although freshman netminder Jessica Milhollin recorded an amazing 17 saves, the Eagles (6-9) kept pressuring Harvard until they scored.

And the Crimson could come up with no response.

Falling Short

Harvard fell short on each of its offensive opportunities and had trouble moving the ball on the fast surface.

"We were on the defensive a lot in the first half," Harvard Coach Sue Caples said. "They had more possession time, but we had the chances. We just couldn't finish."

B.C. took the lead 23:58 into the first half when senior sweeper Jen Mudano unleashed a furious shot from her stick that Milhollin could only watch slip past her and into the goal.

"We played our best field hockey of the season in the first period," B.C. Coach Sherren Granese. "We kept posession and took a lot of shots."

In the second half, Harvard played better defense but when it dug down deep into its offensive pocket, the Crimson found nothing but lint.

"I'm pleased with the way [Harvard] adjusted in the second half," Caples said. "We were almost there. It only takes one."

The Crimson mustered only one good shot on the Eagle goal in the second period and forced just four penalty corners the whole game.

One reason that Harvard lacked an effective attack last night may have been the absence of junior Amy Belisle, who was sidelined with a stress fracture in her leg.

Forced to Shift

Caples was forced to shift sophmore forward Meg Colligan from forward to sweeper to fill in for Belisle, and the offense struggled without the Eliot resident's playmaking.

"Meg did a great job at sweeper, but she's a threat offensively and we missed her up front," Caples said.

Harvard had been scoring profusely in its past few games, but last night, the Crimson looked as if it fell back into the scoring rut that it was stuck in for much of the season.

"We just couldn't score," Harvard Assistant Coach Donna Lee said. "The ball just didn't bounce our way tonight."

BOSTON COLLEGE, 1-0 at Alumni Stadium BC  1  0  --  1 Harvard  0  0  --  0

G: BC--Jen Mudano; Harvard--None. A: BC--Alison Corradi. Harvard--None S: BC--H. Welch 6; Harvard--Milhollin 17.