Stickwomen Lose to Eagles On Double-Overtime Goal

Under a bleak, overcast sky yesterday at Cumnock Field, the Harvard field hockey team fell to Boston College in double overtime, 2-1.

BC attacker Paula Boukouvalas tapped in a freak rebound off Harvard goalie Jessica Milhollin's leg pads with 7:49 remaining for the win.

"It was a disappointing game, and not just by the score," senior Sarah Downing said. "I don't think we played as well as we could have. Their goals were tough [for us] because they were random--flukes."

The final goal seemed especially fluky. BC attacker Meghan Reilly launched a shot from about 10 yards out which deflected off a defender's stick. Milhollin, forced to change direction, couldn't block the ball entirely and tried for a kick save. The ball bounced off her outstretched leg and stopped just in front of the goal.

Boukouvalas beat a horde of Eagles to the ball and knocked in the easy goal.

"That goal went off the defender's stick," Milhollin said. "Those are the hardest to block--and the cheapest. Our defense played well [throughout the game], but we just broke down in the end."

Harvard (3-6-2 overall, 1-2-0 Ivy) had many opportunities to score, but the same luck which gave BC its two goals kept the Crimson out of the nets for most of the game.

The game reflected Harvard's seasonal trouble of getting the ball past opposing goalies. So far this season, the Crimson has scored just 13 goals in 11 games--seven of those goals in just two contests.

"I don't understand why we, and I, can't finish our scoring chances off," co-captain Francie Walton said. "There's only so many times we can say that."

"We didn't have the intensity," Downing said. "It kind of puts you down."

The Eagles raced out to an early lead two and a half minutes into the game when Michelle Labonge flicked a shot up into the air from near-point-blank range. Milhollin tried to block it with her hand, but the ball rolled off her into the goal.

"It was a deflection, and it found its way into the corner," Assistant Coach Donna Lee said. "What can you do?"

The Crimson finally got compensation for its offensive pressure with a tying goal 18:04 into the second half.

Junior Sarah Winters, who played with a thick face guard protecting her broken nose, sidestepped across the crease and lofted a shot past BC goalie Sarah Egnaczyk into the opposite corner of the goal.

"Our goal was good, a nice lift shot," Downing said.

However, neither team was able to improve upon its total for the rest of regulation, and so the game continued into overtime and then double overtime. Then, all of a sudden, the game was over.

The Crimson will play next this Saturday against Princeton, which will give Harvard a chance to prove that it can overcome its scoring difficulties.

"We're sick of the ball bouncing the wrong way," Walton said. "I hope we can fix it this weekend."