Princeton Darkens Field Hockey's Ivy Title Hopes

PRINCETON, N.J.--The No. 18 Harvard field hockey team knew that it would have to avoid any major mistakes on Saturday in order to beat No. 7 Princeton for the first time since 1993 and maintain control of its own destiny in the Ivy race.

But unfortunately for the Crimson, a critical error on penalty corner coverage in the 25th minute gave Princeton the early lead. Harvard (9-4, 4-1 Ivy) left All-American Tiger forward Hillary Matson wide open to drive in the rebound off the initial hit. Princeton (9-3, 5-0 Ivy) never relinquished its lead, winning by a final score of 2-0.

"Princeton is a great team," Harvard Coach Sue Caples said. "When you play strong teams like this--and we're almost there--you can't make mistakes. Our mistakes were costly, and teams at the highest level make fewer and fewer mistakes."

Harvard had kept the ball away from Matson--the Ivy League's leading scorer--up until that fatal corner.

"We called a different corner set, and it was only executed by half the team," Caples said. "If we had all been on the same page, someone would have been marking this kid [Matson]. She was wide open. Someone was supposed to come behind, and everyone didn't know that was the call."

The Matson goal spoiled what otherwise could have been a breakthrough game for the Crimson. Up until then, neither team had been particularly dominant, as each had given up three penalty corners, and Harvard freshman Kate McDavitt came closer to scoring than any of Princeton's forwards in the early going.

Soon after Harvard's first penalty corner, McDavitt made a rush to the net that ended with her colliding into Tiger keeper Kelly Baril--her second goalkeeper collision in as many games. Twenty minutes into the contest, she split two defenders and made her way to the circle before being taken down, earning Harvard's third corner.

Defense was prevalent throughout, as there were so many stoppages of play that neither team could control the ball with any consistency. The Crimson backs rendered Matson and the other Princeton forwards ineffective during the regular course of the game. "Their forwards have tremendous speed," Caples said. "They've been attacking all season. Our backs did a great, great job stifling them."

In the second half, Princeton earned five corners while allowing none. The Tigers kept Harvard from maintaining any consistent pressure throughout the half, but the Crimson still had its share of scoring opportunities.

After the second corner of the half, Harvard nearly came up with a winning counterattack. Freshman keeper Katie Zacarian, who had a streak of three consecutive shutouts before Saturday, kicked the ball out to senior midfielder Liz Sarles, who passed ahead to junior forward Jane Park streaking down the right sideline.

Park had open field in front of her, but the play was too slow to develop, and the defense caught her from behind and took her down. The officials held their whistles, and the scoring chance went for naught.

Halfway through the second stanza, sophomore forward Philomena Gambale and McDavitt unleashed shots on Baril in rapid succession, but Baril made a pair of kick saves to end the threat.

Five minutes later, co-captain Maisa Badawy intercepted a Tiger pass in the Harvard end and passed up to McDavitt on the counterattack. The ball found its way to junior forward Eliza Dick and senior forward Kate Nagle, who nearly succeeded in passing the ball around Baril, but they were unable to connect and the ball went across the open net.

"We created some good opportunities," Caples said. "We got a little tight in there, and we just couldn't pull the trigger."

With nine minutes remaining, Harvard called a timeout. Desperate for the game-tying goal, the Crimson added an extra forward and moved sophomore Katie Scott out of the backfield.

"We had to bump up," Caples said. "You take chances. It doesn't matter if you lose 2-0 or 3-0. We had to go for the equalizer."

Once the Crimson lost possession, Princeton immediately took advantage of the depleted backfield. The Tigers broke downfield two-on-two, and forced Zacarian to kick the ball out of bounds.

On the restart, Princeton sophomore Ilvy Friebe made a spectacular play on a loose ball just inside the circle. With the ball seemingly just out of reach, she dove and swung her stick forcefully from ground-level. Still sprawled on the turf, she raised her stick in celebration as her shot beat Zacarian for the game-icing goal.

For the final 7:30, Princeton effectively ran out the clock.

The loss leaves Harvard with little hope of winning its first Ivy title since 1991. Although both teams still have two Ivy games left, Princeton has not lost to its two remaining Ivy opponents, Penn and Cornell, since 1993 and 1990, respectively.

Despite its bleak Ivy title hopes, Harvard still is very much alive for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson's No. 18 ranking in the NFHCA poll and No. 16 ranking the NCAA poll will likely rise this week due to its 2-0 win at No. 13 Boston College on Wednesday.

Although no Ivy team has ever been selected at-large to the NCAA Tournament, the expansion of the field from 12 to 16 teams last season has greatly increased the possibility.

Harvard will be in great position for an at-large bid if it can win out the remainder of its schedule, but any additional loss would place the Crimson precariously on the bubble.

"We're disappointed, but this loss is not the end of the world," Caples said. "We're going to get another chance. If we want to get a position in the main draw, we've got to win our matches."

The Crimson's remaining games are at turfless Providence (6-12), defending ECAC champion Dartmouth (7-5, 3-2 Ivy), No. 17 Boston University (12-6), and at home against fifth-place Columbia (10-4, 2-3 Ivy).

Even though none of Harvard's remaining opponents are at the level of Princeton or No. 8 Connecticut, winning out will be no small task. B.U. and Dartmouth both beat the Crimson last season, although Dartmouth, having lost to Columbia this weekend, does not appear to be as strong this season.

A win at Providence on Wednesday won't come easily either. The Friars have upset nationally-ranked Syracuse and New Hampshire in the past week, and Harvard struggled in its only other grass game at New Hampshire this season.

The Crimson's success in securing its second NCAA bid in school history will depend on how much it improves throughout the rest of the season.

"It's going to get harder for us," Caples said. "But we have a very talented team out there, and playing these kind of matches--where you have to learn to make split-second decisions and execute under pressure--is going to continue to make us a better team."