Field Hockey Blanked by Cornell, Tied for Second in Ivy

Two unlikely results in Ivy League field hockey this weekend juggled the standings, leaving Brown alone at the top and three teams breathing down its neck.

No. 18 Harvard slipped out of first place in the Ivy League for the first time this season, dropping a 1-0 decision to Cornell Sunday at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y. It was the first time the Crimson (7-3, 3-1 Ivy) had been shut out since losing 1-0 to Dartmouth November 1, 1997, a stretch of 29 consecutive games.

The Harvard loss, coupled with No. 19 Brown's surprising 2-1 win over No. 16 Princeton Saturday in Providence, left the Bears (8-1, 4-0) in sole possession of first place, with the Big Red (6-3, 3-1), the Tigers (6-2, 3-1) and the Crimson each one game back.

Princeton, which has won the last five Ivy field hockey crowns, had won 35 straight Ivy games before Saturday.

On Sunday, Cornell's co-captain Kelly Dean finished a feed from sophomore Ashleigh Snelson at 29:16 of the second half to provide the game's only score. It was Dean's fourth goal of the season.

A game-tying goal by the Crimson several minutes later was disallowed by the officials.

Although Harvard dominated the game's offensive statistics, outshooting the Big Red 17-9, Cornell goalkeeper Maureen Sullivan pitched her second shutout of the season, stopping 10 shots and improving her Ivy save percentage to .837.

The Crimson also managed a 14-5 advantage in penalty corners, but could not get any of its chances to fall.

Tri-captain Anya Cowan made five saves for the Crimson, starting after Harvard Coach Sue Caples gave her a day off last Wednesday during a 1-0 win over Quinnipiac. Junior Jen Crusius made her first collegiate start and recorded the shutout.

With the goal, Cowan's save percentage falls to .896.

The reshuffled standings make three games in the last three weeks of the regular season crucial for determining the Ivy winner: Princeton at Harvard Oct. 23, Cornell at Brown Oct. 30 and Harvard at Brown Nov. 6.

Princeton has already beaten Cornell, by 4-0 Sept. 18.

Harvard goes cross-town tomorrow to face Northeastern (5-8, 4-1 America East). The Huskies swept a league weekend, beating Hofstra 2-1 in overtime on Friday and romping over Drexel 6-1 on Sunday. They are the defending conference champions.

Junior Christine Duchemin scored both goals in the Hofstra win, while the Northeastern penalty corner unit was responsible for four of the squad's six goals on Sunday. Midfielder Jackie Carl, a smallish corner hitter, netted all four scores to earn America East player of the week honors.