Field Hockey Aims To End

The Harvard field hockey team faces No. 7 Princeton on Saturday at Jordan Field in an Ivy League showdown between the league’s only unbeaten teams. Since returning winless from its trip to Michigan, Harvard (7-4, 3-0 Ivy) has gathered momentum with three straight wins.

“Michigan weekend was a huge weekend for us even though we came away with two losses,” said senior back Sarah Luskin. “We proved to ourselves that we could do it.”

After defeating then-No. 16 Northeastern 2-1, beating Cornell 1-0, and blanking Boston College 5-0, Harvard has collected an offensive drive with which to enter tomorrow’s battle.

Freshman midfielder Kate Gannon earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors after her game-winning goal against Cornell and her game-tying goal over Northeastern. Junior forward Philomena Gambale received Honor Roll accolades after scoring the overtime game-winner against Northeastern.

In the win against Boston College, sophomore goaltender Katie Zacarian recorded her third shut-out of the season.

“I know that we’ve been looking forward to this game all season,” Zacarian said. “Princeton is consistently a challenge to us. We know that they will have a strong team every year.”

This year’s team fits the Princeton billing. The Tigers (10-2, 3-0 Ivy) are also riding a three-game winning streak after pulling out wins against Deleware, Brown and Connecticut.

Junior attack Rachael Becker was named the league’s Player of the Week last week after scoring four goals in her last three games, including two game-winners. Junior Ilvy Friebe of Bonn, Germany, has been deadly in the circle this year, as she leads the nation in goals with 20 and points with 47.

Though the Tigers have a scoring sensation, it proved the overall strength of its offense in its 5-1 win against Brown, in which five different players scored goals.

“Princeton has a strong scoring effort so that’s definitely a thought,” Zacarian said.

Both Princeton and the Harvard boast top-notch goaltenders, with Tiger junior Kelly Baril second in the league with a GAA of 1.46. Zacarian is right behind her with a GAA of 1.48.

The Crimson will have to shut down a Princeton offense that leads the Ivy League in goals with 42 and penalty corners with 122. But Harvard enters the duel confident in its abilities.

“It doesn’t matter who we play,” Zacarian said. “It matters how we play. We’re focusing more on ourselves, on having strong communication, on being proactive and on being very aggressive.”