Double-OT Winner Gives Field Hockey 1st Loss

The Harvard field hockey team (7-4, 3-1 Ivy) suffered its first Ivy League loss of the season, 2-1, against Yale (7-5, 2-2) at Johnson Field in New Haven, Conn., on Saturday afternoon.

The Crimson’s defeat came in double overtime after 95 minutes of fierce play.

The deciding goal was scored when Yale’s Harriet Thayer passed the ball to Cat Lindroth, who deflected the ball into the back of the net for her second overtime winner of the season. Her first came last week when she knocked in a double-overtime score against Dartmouth.

Harvard freshman Maggie McVeigh scored the game’s first goal in the 18th minute of the first half to put the Crimson ahead, 1-0. McVeigh pushed it past Bulldogs goalkeeper Charlotte Goins with a long shot from the top of the left circle.

The goal was McVeigh’s third of the season and the team’s first unassisted goal.

Yale answered with 10 minutes left to play in the second half, as Lindroth scored on an assist from Bulldog freshman Marissa Waldemore to knot it at 1.

Although Harvard outshot Yale, 17-14, including 11 penalty corners to the Bulldogs’ eight, it struggled to capitalize on opportunities after the first goal.

In the first overtime, the Crimson outshot Yale, 4-1, including three penalty corners, but neither side scored.

Junior goalkeeper Kylie Stone registered five saves for the day, with two coming in overtime. For Yale, Goins proved to be impenetrable, tallying 13 saves while allowing only a single goal.

“We certainly had our share of opportunities, but we didn’t finish yesterday,” coach Sue Caples said. “17 [shots] is a lot—the [Yale] goalie made a lot of saves.”

Coming off of an overtime win against Cornell last Saturday, the Crimson filled its game-free week with intense practice. Coming into the game, Harvard was focused and prepared.

“In any Ivy League game, it is always a 50-50 game,” co-captain Jana Berglund said. “We knew [Yale] was going to come out hard, and we knew we had to control the tempo.”

This is the second year in a row that the Crimson and the Bulldogs went into double overtime. Last year, Harvard pulled off a 3-2 win.

Saturday’s game also proved detrimental to the Crimson’s Ivy League standing. Before the matchup, Harvard was in first place in the Ivy League. But the loss, in conjunction with Princeton (7-4, 4-1) defeating Brown (0-11, 0-4), moved the Tigers into first place while pushing the Crimson down to second.

Harvard is set to play a pivotal game against Princeton this Saturday.

“We are playing well, but we can play better and take more risks,” Caples said. “We control our own destiny. We are going to go after it.”