Season-Defining Win Slips Past Harvard

After 11 tries, it looked like this would be it.

After 11 tries, 11 almosts and should-have-beens, the Harvard field hockey team was supposed to shake the tiger off its back—and, perhaps more importantly, give shine to an otherwise disheartening 2005 season.

After more than a decade, the 12th time looked like it would be the charm.

It wasn’t.

Senior midfielder Jen McDavitt was everywhere: diving for balls, challenging rebounds, running coast to coast, feeding penalty corners, and scoring the Crimson’s only goal.

Her coach, Sue Caples, would gladly note that her 1-0 game-breaker, good through half-time, was one of the few times Harvard has led at intermission against any opponent this year.

Senior Jane Sackovich did her part to sacrifice her body, laying out on the turf of Jordan Field over and over again, seemingly knowing that this would be her final opportunity to do what nearly three generations of Crimson field hockey had been unable to achieve.

And sophomore Siobhan Connolly was stellar between the pipes, notching eight saves as the replacement for injured freshman and usual starter Kelly Knoche.

But for Harvard (5-9, 1-4 Ivy), such a formula did not add up to an upset of the best team in its conference.

Given what’s happened in 2005, that probably shouldn’t surprise anyone.

All the heart and defense in the world can’t score one goal, and one more goal is exactly what the Crimson has been sorely missing.

Thanks to the Tigers (7-8, 6-0), now nine of Harvard’s 14 games this year have been contests decided by one point. Three of them have gone to at least one overtime.

Out of those nine games, seven have been losses. Five of those losses have been shutouts.

After winning the Ivy League and going to the NCAA Tournament in 2004, McDavitt, Sackovich, and Connolly exemplified how the Crimson has heroically trudged through its most trying season in years.

Saturday afternoon was supposed to provide a highlight. Harvard could have attached a memorable footnote to this 2005 season by upsetting a team that has historically owned the Crimson and the rest of the Ancient Eight. Princeton-Harvard is always a fiery matchup, with tremendous pride—and, on better days, an Ivy League title—on the line.

In 2003, it was a classic duel between two top-20 teams. After the Tigers roared back in the second half to the tune of two goals, the Crimson scored with 12 seconds left and a chance to tie. Harvard couldn’t come through, however, and lost by a score of 3-2.

Last year, Harvard held a 1-1 stalemate until Hillary Schmidt knifed the game-winner with just 1:20 left in the contest, sending the Crimson home.

This weekend, it was Schmidt again—on an assist from another Schmidt, Paige—who tied the game with 15:32 remaining. Candi Arner then put the game to rest at 7:27 in overtime.

The loss was Harvard’s eighth straight, and its 12th straight defeat to the Tigers. In the end, that—not sweat, not heart, not effort—will be the bottom line.

McDavitt, Harvard’s captain, is aware of that unfortunate fact of life.

But it doesn’t seem to matter.

Throughout her career, from start to finish, she has played every game—no matter what the score—like it’s her last. She did it on Saturday, and she’ll do it for real against Boston University, Dartmouth, and Columbia as she closes out her career.

“It’s about putting it all out there in every effort,” McDavitt said. “I think when it’s your senior year, it hits home. It’s your last chance.”

Against Princeton in the waning days of October, her teammates did their best to help her make the most of it.

One can’t help but think how a victory this weekend would have been deservedly rewarding.

—Staff writer Pablo S. Torre can be reached at torre@fas.harvard.edu.