No. 18 BC Tops Field Hockey in OT

Take all of the ranked opponents off the Harvard field hockey team’s schedule, and the team’s season is perfect.  But an unblemished Ivy League record is only half the story for this year’s Crimson squad (8-5), and its winless streak against ranked teams continued last night as No. 18 Harvard fell 3-2 in overtime to No. 12 Boston College (13-4) at Jordan Field.

“It was a game of capitalizing, and we actually had more second half opportunities than they did,” said junior midfielder Jen McDavitt. “They took advantage of the few that they had, and that’s unfortunate, but that’s the way the game goes sometimes.”

The loss is the fifth against ranked opponents for the Ivy-leading Crimson.

Harvard had its chances on Wednesday, but the more experienced Eagles took advantage of a defensive miscue to capture an overtime win.

Fittingly,  the team’s leading scorer and reigning Ivy Player of the Week Shelley Maasdorp looked to have the game won for the young Crimson squad as she raced downfield on a 75-foot breakaway to start the extra period.  After weaving through the entire BC defense,  Maasdorp had only the goalie to beat.

But BC goalkeeper Jillian Savoy denied Maasdorp’s one-on-one at the goal, leading immediately to a BC break away in the other direction.

“The problem was I was going in on her left side, which was her stick side,” Maasdorp said.

The goalie’s deflection propelled the ball toward midfield,  and the BC offense found itself on the fortunate end of a 4-on-2 break.

Sabrina Lazzari tapped the ball past Harvard goalie Aliaa Remtilla, and Harvard’s winless streak against ranked opponents pressed on.

“Field hockey is a game of mistakes,” a frustrated Harvard coach Sue Caples said. “We played a good game, we had opportunities—overtime was just tough.”

The two teams remained locked in a momentum battle for much of the game, with each squad relying on flurries of offensive action to attack the goal.  Despite dominating much of the second half,  the Crimson had difficulty finding the back of the net.

Maasdorp’s goal less than three minutes into the game gave the Crimson the early advantage, but BC midfielder Crystal Frates netted a goal for the Eagles midway through the first half to tie the score at one.

Offensive exchanges by both sides made for an exciting first half, but defensive stops on either end kept the scoreknotted at one at the break.

Harvard started the second half with a series of offensive chances, but BC struck first on Sara York’s goal halfway through the second period. The Crimson fired back three minutes later when junior midfielder Jane Sackovich’s circus shot from the right arch slammed into the goal’s left corner.

The talented Eagles squad managed to quell Harvard’s late second-half offensive surge, stopping the Crimson attack after two late penalty corners.  BC’s own chances fell wide of the goal,  and the momentum shifts that governed most of the game led to a tie score at the end of regulation.

The narrow defeat comes just before the Crimson’s showdown with defending Ivy League champion Princeton (5-8, 4-1 Ivy) this Saturday at 12 p.m. in Princeton, N.J.

“We’re going to grind it out, and we’re going to find ways to win,” Caples said. “It may not always be pretty, but we’re finding a way. Through winning, we will find a way to play well.”