Despite Strong Offensive Effort, Field Hockey Falls in Opener

In its season opener, the Harvard field hockey team dropped a 5-0 decision to Massachusetts Sunday afternoon at Jordan Field.

The Crimson (0-1) toughed out its first match against the Minutewomen (3-1), already four games deep into their season.

“It was our first game and we have a lot to improve on,” co-captain Jana Berglund said. “But the score did not reflect the quality of our play.”

Only in practice for a little over a week, Harvard was quickly put to the test.

The Minutewomen challenged the Crimson on both sides of the field as the game remained scoreless for the first twenty minutes.

In the first half, UMass attempted five shots on goal, three of which went in, while Harvard put up eight unsuccessful bids.

All three Minutewomen goals were off assists. The tallies just slid past junior goalkeeper Kylie Stone, who earned two saves in the first half and another in the second.

Coming into the second half with a three-goal deficit, the Crimson notched four shots but was unable make it past Minutewomen goalie Sarah Williams, who tallied eight saves during the contest.

Although UMass claimed the game in a seemingly lopsided victory, the score failed to capture Harvard’s offensive efforts.

The Crimson created a lot of opportunities, outshooting the Minutewomen, 12-8.

“If one had gone in, it quite easily could have been a different story,” Harvard coach Sue Caples said. “I don’t think anyone who was there would say that the score reflected the game.”

Sunday’s crowd of 320 witnessed a close contest in efforts, albeit not in tallies.

“UMass is a great team. They capitalized on opportunities, and we did not,” co-captain Devon Shapiro said. “It is a matter of us putting things together. We stepped up and challenged them very well, but it just didn’t work out for us in the end.”

Executing during these opportunities is what the team will focus on in the upcoming days.

“We need to score some goals,” Caples said. “No shot is a bad shot at this point. You just have to keep firing away.”

Focusing on goal production, Harvard will draw upon both new and old players in the effort. With several returning players and seven freshmen added to the roster, the team and the coach are optimistic about the season.

“Our freshmen are going to be pretty key to our success this year.” Berglund said. “And we’re returning a lot of starters, which is a definite positive.”

“This is the most depth we’ve seen in a long time,” Caples said.

With its season in gear, the Crimson looks ahead to its second game on Wednesday night, when New Hampshire comes to Jordan Field.

—Staff writer Kara Kelley can be reached at kkelley@fas.harvard.edu.