Offensive Onslaught Leads Effort

Up until last weekend, the Harvard field hockey team had not scored six goals in a game in over five years. Yesterday, in its game against Saint Louis at Jordan Field, the Crimson (6-5, 2-1 Ivy) not only tallied six goals, it also kept the Billikens (4-8, 0-1 Atlantic 10) scoreless.

Sophomore midfielder Chloe Keating, sophomore forward Leigh McCoy, and senior forward Tami Jafar notched two goals apiece while co-captain Kylie Stone and freshman goaltender Ana Roda combined for a shutout in a dominant 6-0 win.

“We’re really coming together nicely,” head coach Sue Caples said. “We’re peaking coming into this stretch run and into our ever-important Ivy games.”

Harvard got on the scoreboard just 3:26 into the action. On a penalty corner, junior midfielder Kristin Bannon sent a pass to sophomore forward Maggie McVeigh at the top of the circle. McVeigh fed the ball to freshman back Georgia McGillivray who fired a shot on net. Keating deflected the ball out of the air and past Saint Louis goaltender Alex Labarge.

“We practice tipping,” Keating said. “It was a nice hard shot on goal so I didn’t really need to do anything to deflect it.”

The Crimson scored its second goal eight minutes later. After an unsuccessful penalty corner, Harvard regained possession, and Jafar got the ball in the right side of the circle along the end line. With no one around her, Jafar wound up and blasted a rocket past Labarge for a 2-0 lead.

The Crimson expanded its lead midway through the half when McCoy scored her first goal of the game. The forward received the ball on the left half of the circle, raced along the end line, and snuck a close range shot in the bottom left corner.

“Maggie [McVeigh] did a great job of pulling the goalie and the defender wide, so I was able to slip it behind the goalie,” McCoy said.

Harvard added another tally when Keating struck again. On a penalty corner, McGillivray fired a shot, but the attempt was saved by a diving Labarge. The rebound rolled out in front of the net where Keating collected it and lifted it over the prostrate goalkeeper and into the net.

“Chloe showed really nice poise on the lift,” Caples said.

At halftime, the Crimson lead 4-0, with a sizeable advantage in shots, 13-3, and penalty corners, 10-2. The defense applied consistent pressure on the Billikens, frequently forcing turnovers in Saint Louis’ own territory.

In the second half, Harvard continued to dominate. McCoy scored her second goal roughly ten minutes into the period on a sensational coast-to-coast run. The forward gathered the ball about 25 yards out from her goal and took off downfield with McVeigh running beside her. As McCoy ran into the circle, Billikens goaltender Katherine Deem came out to challenge her. McCoy simply sidestepped the goalie and shot the ball into an open net. The goal was her team-leading sixth of the season.

The final tally came 57:59 minutes into the game. Sophomore forward Kristin Ohanian had the ball on the right side of the circle and sent a cross in front of the net. Jafar swooped in and blasted a one-timer past Deem.

“I think the game showed how much the offense has improved,” McCoy said.

The Crimson has won four straight games, scoring a total of 16 goals in those contests.

“We work very hard in practice with goal scoring drills,” Caples said. “It’s really just a lot of timing and reps.”

“Everybody’s shots have been great lately,” Keating said. “I think we’re going to have a lot of goals for the rest of the season.”

—Staff writer Timothy J. Walsh can be reached at twalsh@fas.harvard.edu.