Field Hockey Looks to Stay Perfect in Ivy

As far as the No. 18 Harvard field hockey team is concerned, Jordan Field has been worth every penny of the $3.3 million it cost - so far.

Despite yesterday's rain, Jordan's synthetic turf is still bright green, and the white lines that lay on top of the turf are still clean and fresh.

"It's a great field," said sophomore back Hilary Walton. "The play is faster and more intense on turf, and both practices and games have been more fun."

Games at Jordan have also been more fun for the Crimson because Harvard (5-2, 2-0 Ivy) has yet to lose at its new home. And since its last contest in Cambridge - a 4-1 rout of last-place Columbia in the Ivy League opener Sept. 19 - the Crimson has dropped two of its last three games.

But both of those losses were one-goal deficits to perennial powerhouses, No. 1 UConn and UMass, which has reached the NCAA Tournament each of the last two years.

Harvard, however won the most important contest on its three-game road trip by shutting out arch-rival Yale, 2-0, last Saturday to remain undefeated in the Ivy League and tied with No. 16 Princeton and Brown at the top of the conference standings.

And the Crimson has a good chance to continue rolling over Ivy competition tomorrow when it hosts last-place Pennsylvania (1-4, 0-2) at noon.

The Quakers will stumble into Cambridge bearing the heavy burden of a three-game losing streak. Penn came close to its first conference victory last Sunday at Cornell, but the Big Red prevailed in double-overtime, 2-1.

Despite the poor record, Penn has been competitive in most of its games as three of its four losses were one-goal setbacks.

And the Quakers did not miss a beat when their starting goalkeeper, junior Alison Friedman, went down with a sprained ankle the day before the trip to Ithaca. Sophomore Gerianne Kauffman stepped into the net and stopped eight Cornell shots, good enough for a spot on last week's Ivy League Honor Roll.

"Penn is always a strong team, and we have to rebound from our loss at UMass," said junior forward Kate Nagle.

Nagle, riding a five-game scoring streak, has emerged as one of Harvard's biggest offensive weapons. Along with tri-captain Dominique Kalil and sophomore forward Eliza Dick, Nagle is tied for the team lead with five goals on the season.

That trio of scorers, with the help of freshman Kalen Ingram, will attack the Quaker goal, whether Friedman or Kauffman is minding the net for Penn.

"We just need to play hard and be offensive," Dick said. "The problem at UMass was too many mental lapses. But we came back with some good practices to finish the week, and if we play tough and stay in the game, we'll be fine."

On defense, the Crimson can rely on tri-captain Anya Cowan, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week. Cowan recorded 23 saves against Yale last Saturday and leads the Ivy League with a .857 save percentage.