Field Hockey Suffers Second OT Loss

After more than 81 scoreless minutes, the Harvard field hockey team suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to No. 20 Princeton, 1-0, Saturday afternoon at Jordan Field.

The Tigers (10-4, 5-1 Ivy) clinched a share of the Ivy League title, while the Crimson (7-7, 3-2 Ivy) fell to a tie for second place.

Princeton sophomore Kaitlin Donovan scored the game-winning goal with just over three minutes remaining in overtime. The goal capped a game in which the Crimson defense shone and the offense struggled to challenge Princeton goalkeeper Cynthia Wray.

“We played good individual and team defense,” head coach Sue Caples said. “We just did not generate enough scoring opportunities.”

The Tigers dominated the first half, outshooting Harvard, 7-1. But thanks to excellent goaltending by junior Kylie Stone, they failed to score.

Freshman Maggie McVeigh had a few breakaway chances, but the Crimson otherwise failed to mount a significant offensive threat.

Harvard came out strong after the half and played a much more balanced game, launching five shots. The Crimson and the Tigers each had plenty of scoring opportunities, trading penalty corners near the end of regulation.

A Harvard corner with four minutes to play resulted in a strong shot from co-captain Devon Shapiro, but Wray made the save.

The Tigers were awarded a corner with mere seconds left in the game that they failed to convert, and the game remained scoreless at the end of regulation.

However, Princeton dominated the 6-on-6 sudden-death overtime period, outshooting the Crimson, 4-0.

The difference in the game, however, came on penalty corners. The Tigers were awarded four in the overtime period alone, including one that resulted in the game-winning goal.

Princeton’s Donovan was waiting by the left corner of the net to deflect a shot off the stick of her teammate Paige Schmidt. Donovan was able to put the shot past Stone into the back-right corner of the net, sealing the victory for the Tigers.

For the game, Princeton outshot Harvard, 19-6, and had 14 penalty corners to the Crimson’s three. Stone finished the game with nine saves.

Offensively, Shapiro and junior Tami Jafar had the only shots on goal. Shapiro and co-captain Jana Berglund made key defensive plays to preserve the shutout in regulation.

“Princeton was the better team today,” Caples said.

As Harvard looks ahead, Caples wants the team to work on better offensive execution and on creating scoring opportunities.

The Crimson will try to rebound from the loss on Wednesday evening when the team hosts No. 14 Boston University at 7 p.m.

Harvard’s next Ivy League matchup comes against Dartmouth (4-9, 1-4 Ivy) at home on Saturday.

“We have three big games left,” Shapiro said. “We just have to keep playing our game.”