Field Hockey Shoots for Top of the Ivy

Change is a good thing.

At least that's what the Harvard field hockey team believes as it enters this season with many new wrinkles in the program.

The biggest news of the year involves the very ground the Crimson plays on. During the off-season, Harvard constructed Jordan Field, a $3.3 million, state-of-the-art, synthetic-turf field to replace the natural grass surface at Cumnock Field.

The step from grass to artificial turf promises to be a huge one, since the majority of the nation's best teams plays on the surface. Now the Crimson can play and practice on the surface it will find itself playing on when it takes on the sport's elite.

"The turf field will definitely help us this year," co-captain Dominique Kalil said. "It makes the game play much faster. All of the top programs in the country play on turf, and now that we can play on it more often we will be more competitive against them."

Despite the improved playing surface, the Crimson will have to fill in for three starters lost to graduation, from a team that finished a respectable 9-9 (5-2 Ivy) last year.

Harvard must replace co-captains Judy Collins and Tara LaSovage as well as forward Penny Fairbairn. Collins was named First Team All-Ivy, while LaSovage earned Second Team honors. Fairbairn made Honorable Mention All-Ivy.

Collins was a perennial Ivy powerhouse, and tied the league's career scoring record with 102 points.

"We lost three key players from last year's team, which is clearly a difficult thing to overcome," Kalil said. "This season, however, we have much more depth. We return some excellent players and we have a great freshman class."

Tri-captains Katie Schoolwerth, Anya Cowan and Kalil will lead the new-look Crimson this season. Schoolwerth earned First Team All-Ivy honors and Cowan was named to the Second Team Harvard's goalkeeper. All three have started every game since their freshman year.

Junior midfielder Maisa Badaway, who was an Honorable Mention All-Ivy, also returns for the Crimson, and will anchor penalty corners.

With the added depth to the squad Harvard will likely showcase new formations during the season to take advantage of its strong bench.

"[Caples] plans to use more of a two forward lineup instead of the three-forward one that we used last year," Kalil said. "We will substitute players more this year as a result to take advantage of our depth."

If the new field and strategy changes work for Harvard, a very successful campaign could be in the works for this season. Last year the Crimson suffered through many close losses, losing four of its games by one goal and four more by just two.

During the middle of the 1998 campaign, Harvard seemed to hit its stride, winning five contests in a row. But the streak ended when the Crimson fell to No. 6 Boston College and No. 4 Princeton in succession.

"We played very consistently in the middle of last season," Kalil said. "We peaked at that time, getting five straight wins. But then we lost to two strong opponents, B.C. and Princeton, and lost momentum for the rest of the year."

Those two losses--which were by the scores of 3-1 and 5-1, respectively--were followed by a 2-1 loss to No. 12 Northeastern. Harvard rebounded, however, winning against Ivy League foes Dartmouth and Brown to secure second place in the conference, before bowing out in the first round of the ECAC tournament to Yale.

The Crimson feels that while the season was not a complete success, it was a step in the right direction.

"The end of last season was somewhat disappointing," Kalil said. "But overall it was a good season to build on."

Now as Harvard looks toward this season, it finds itself in a much more competitive Ivy League.

"I believe that the Ivy will be much more evenly matched this season," Kalil said. "I don't think anyone team will be undefeated."

Once again, turf seems to be the main reason for the change. The shift of the majority of Ivy teams to artificial turf fields should even out the playing field.

"Last season the league was split pretty much down the middle in terms of turf fields and grass fields," Kalil said. "This year, though, Yale is the only team left with grass, so things should be much more competitive."

Despite the increased parity, Harvard still looks to be the underdog in the fight to get to the top of the league, as the perennial powerhouses still loom as the favorites. The Crimson, however, is far from being intimidated by any team this year and plans to make some noise of its own.

"Princeton may still be the team to beat, since they have a great recruiting class," Kalil said. "But they are still only ranked No. 15. Our next opponent, UNH, is No.14, so we're taking it one game at a time."

The 1999 season has already begun on a positive note, as Harvard swept its opening weekend of play, blowing out Vermont in its season and home opener 9-1 last Friday, and winning its second contest against Rhode Island 2-1 last Sunday.

Kalil and Schoolwerth led the way on the weekend netting two goals apiece. Kalil also added four assists in the two games and sophomore midfielder Eliza Dick added three goals of her own.

The wins serve as a solid starting point for the Crimson in a season filled with high expectations.

"We've had a great preseason, and are playing quite solidly right now," Kalil said. "We really trust one another out there, and feel good about the upcoming season."