Field Hockey Blanked at Jordan Field by Cornell

On a pink-accented Jordan Field, Harvard field hockey suffered a tough loss to Cornell on Saturday, falling to the Big Red, 2-0.

For National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the crimson that normally dominates uniforms and apparel in the stands was overshadowed by pink hair dye, pink tape on sticks, and pink hats and scarves to fight the excessively windy weather. Halftime involved breast cancer trivia, a raffle, and breast cancer awareness bracelets.

The game was unusual not only because of the change in color scheme, but also because it represented a landmark victory for the Big Red (9-3, 3-1 Ivy). The win was Cornell’s second-ever victory at Jordan field, and its fourth victory in a row—the most consecutive victories in Big Red field hockey history.

Cornell began the game aggressively, taking the first shot in the fourth minute of the game. This shot set the pace for the rest of the first half, and the ball remained on the Crimson’s (3-10, 1-3) side of the field for the majority of the half.

Cornell had the advantage in penalty corners over the first 35 minutes, taking three to Harvard’s zero. The Big Red also outshot the Crimson, 5-1. Throughout the game, sophomore goalie Cynthia Tassopoulos made eight saves but allowed a 15th-minute unassisted goal to Catie De Stio. De Stio also added the game-clincher with two minutes left in the contest, finishing with both of Cornell’s scores on the day.

De Stio accounted for over half of the Big Red’s shots on goal as well. Of her nine shots, eight were on target, matching Harvard’s shot total for the entire contest. Three of the Crimson’s shots were on goal.

But even with these offensive discrepancies, the Crimson came out with a stronger attack in the second half. Harvard better controlled possession and was able to create some offensive opportunities. The squad took seven of its eight shots in the second frame, challenging Cornell a bit more.

“[Crimson coach Sue Caples] kind of just got our spirits back in it and told us that we do need to attack more and start pressuring Cornell and to work on our core skills,” said Tassopoulos of the coach’s words at halftime. “I think that’s something that we ended up improving on a lot in the second half.”

Harvard gained the advantage in penalty corners in the second half with six to the Big Red’s four. Of these six corners, four came in the last five minutes of the game when Harvard had a chance to force overtime.

“When you’re down by one goal and you get opportunities like that, it’s a very good sign. It shows that your attack is going in the right direction,” Tassopoulos said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t convert them today. But having four corners like that is very optimistic.”

On one penalty corner, the Cornell goalie fell to the ground—leaving Harvard a chance at a shot on the open net—but the team was unable to convert on the chance.

“In practice, we’ve been having really good corner success,” junior co-captain Carly Dickson said. “We were really disappointed that we didn’t finish any of them. They played a different defense than we had expected, so we needed to adjust.”

The Crimson’s opportunities on penalty corners were promptly followed by the Big Red’s second and final goal. De Stio carried the ball on a breakaway and scored off of a hard and well-placed shot. This goal cemented Cornell’s lead and led the visitors to victory.

“We still have three big games left, so we’re definitely not by any means giving up,” Dickson said. “It’s just that we really wanted to show that we can be really competitive in the Ivy League, so it’s just giving us a little bit more pressure.”