Field Hockey Bumped From Tournament

So that’s why they’re the two-time defending national champs.

Second-seeded Wake Forest (17-3) simply overpowered No. 16 Harvard (11-7) Saturday, 7-1, in the first round of the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament at Jordan Field.

“They were able to hit the ball with really great accuracy and their receptions were strong,” captain midfielder Kate Gannon said. “When you can do the fundamentals as well as they can you can really control the ball and they did a really good job of that.”

The few inches of snow that fell Friday night pushed the starting time of the game back two hours, but did nothing to cool down the Demon Deacons’ offense.

Less than five minutes into the game, senior Kelly Dostol received a penalty corner insertion pass on the left wing, took a couple dribbles inside the arc and leveled a low skipping shot that rattled the back of the cage.

It was Dostal’s 27th goal of the year, and the Wake offense, which was averaging better than four goals per game, was just getting started.

At 16:17, Dostal was able to penetrate deep into the Crimson zone before she dished to freshman Tamar Meijer, who elevated the ball past senior goalie Aliaa Remtilla.

Just over three minutes later, Meijer intercepted a pass and managed to beat Remtilla again to push the Demon Deacons’ advantage to 3-0 just like that.

“The way they kept the field very wide and used very strong, quick, one-touch passes with very strong energy—any team that does that is going to be tough to defend,” senior midfielder Shelley Maasdorp said.

Three minutes before the half Wake Forest got another score, this time when junior Ariel Meyers laid out to direct Lauren Crandall’s shot off a penalty corner into the cage with the edge of her stick.

Harvard passing was disrupted by the speedy Wake Forest defenders, and the Crimson could only muster two shots in the first period and headed into the half down 4-0.

Refusing to go quietly, Harvard made an offensive charge at the start of the second period, as the Crimson was awarded a penalty corner, its second of the game, at 43:05.

Junior midfielder Jen McDavitt sent the insertion pass out to Gannon, who had trouble settling the ball. But Maasdorp was able to corral the loose ball and rip a reverse shot that sophomore Julie Lane deflected into the net for a Harvard goal.

The assist for Maasdorp pushed her season point total to 42—one short of the all-time school record.

But the Crimson obstinacy only seemed to stir the lethal Wake offense from its temporary slumber, as less than five minutes later Dostal again struck, this time knocking in a pass from point blank range.

With the goal and the readjustment of the Demon Deacons’ lead back to four, the Crimson could feel the game slipping through its hands.

“It was sort of like, ‘You know, we don’t have anything to lose at this point and we’re just going to leave it all out on the field,’” Gannon said.

“I have a lot of pride at the way that we did that. There wasn’t a second of that game that we weren’t trying and that we weren’t going for it, and that takes a lot of character,” she added.

Wake tallied another pair of goals at 56:19 and 58:00 to forge the final margin of 7-1.

Wake Forest outshot Harvard 23-2, and goalies Kristina Gagliardi and Merilee Robbins didn’t have to make a single save in the contest.

On the year, the Demon Deacons have averaged better than 23 shots per game.

“We got caught a little bit flat so they got some balls all the way from their backfield up to their forwards, and we were trying to force them to go outside to their back,” Harvard coach Sue Caples said. “And we did do that a lot...it was just a matter of being able to put pressure on them and play 2-on-2 at the sidelines. We just didn’t always get there quite quick enough or put on a strong enough tackle. Wake Forest moves the ball very, very well.”

It was Wake’s ninth straight NCAA Tournament win and 38th consecutive over a non-conference opponent.

Harvard, which won the Ivy title for the first time since 1991 and ended Princeton’s 10-year reign as League champs, suffered its fourth NCAA first-round loss in program history.

“We built a great team and had a great run at the end,” Caples said. “We battled hard, we exceeded our expectations. Right now, moments after the game it’s hard to really take it all in. I think this season in general is one that will require a lot of reflection.”

The seniors on the team closed out their careers in Crimson in bittersweet fashion.

“I’m very happy to have played such a good team,” Maasdorp said. “Just to have made the tournament, and then play against such a good team, I’m very happy. The toughest part was that the score was so high, but I wasn’t trying to pay attention to it.”

“I couldn’t be happier,” Gannon added.

—Staff writer J. Patrick Coyne can be reached at coyne@fas.harvard.edu.