Field Hockey Drops Pair of Weekend Contests

Despite adding two losses to its record, the Crimson field hockey team (6-4, 1-2 Ivy) emerged from the weekend’s games undeterred as it enters the second half of season play.

Saturday afternoon Harvard faced Brown (5-2, 2-1 Ivy) and played extended minutes in a hard-fought match, losing in double overtime to the Bears. The next day, exhausted from the battle against the Bears, the Crimson faced nationally-ranked Boston University but ultimately lost, 3-1.

“We knew going into the game that BU was a top team, and they were going to be one of the strongest competitors we had seen,” said junior Elizabeth Jacobson, who scored the Crimson’s lone goal. “We came off the field knowing we had played well and held our own, so we weren’t as down after [Sunday’s] loss.”

HARVARD 1, BOSTON UNIVERSITY 3

Despite physical exhaustion after over 90 minutes of play the previous afternoon, Harvard showed up ready to compete on Sunday.

“After Saturday’s game, we knew we had to learn from our mistakes,” Jacobson said. “We all agree that we need to fight for 70 minutes; we have to come out with everything we have. It’s okay to make mistakes, but we can’t repeat them.”

BU reminded the Crimson of the skill and intensity the match would require shortly after the first whistle blew, scoring off a corner at 7:44. The Crimson responded just 10 minutes later.

Wellington provided her third assist of the weekend, dribbling through defenders up the right line to send the ball to Jacobson in the air. Jacobson ran into open space, sending the equalizer past the goalie with a reverse-stick.

“It set BU back on its heels when we scored,” Jacobson said of her fifth goal of the season. “We did well at getting the ball back to the circle, Hannah had the great pass, it was a perfect set up, and they were not prepared. They didn’t think we could come out that hard.”

The Terriers took the lead again with less than five minutes in the half, and finished the game at 57:03 with a third goal. The Crimson was disappointed but felt it had competed well against the more heralded team across the Charles.

“We did a really good job of putting pressure on [BU],” Jacobson said. “We definitely held our own, and showed them that we were a competitive team. I know the score was 3-1, but it was 1-1 for a long time. It was nice seeing the other team get frustrated; they were a little stunned, and frantic for a few minutes.”

Harvard looked to the weekend’s losses as learning opportunities, and discussed a few goals as it prepares to face top Ivy squads in the remainder of the season.

“If we can keep our work rate up going forward it will help,” Jacobson said. “We need to focus on working as a unit, and playing for each other and I think that’s our main goal.”

HARVARD 3, BROWN 4

After falling behind 2-0 in the first half against Brown, senior Noel Painter scored two goals within ten minutes to tie the game before halftime.

“Starting the second half 2-2 was like a new game,” Painter said. “We were starting at 0-0. We needed to come out hard and just get ahead.”

The senior scored her third goal of the game at 57:44 off freshman Hannah Wellington’s second assist of the evening, giving the Crimson its first lead of the game.

Harvard looked to maintain control for the remaining ten minutes, hoping to keep its opponents from scoring. The Crimson nearly accomplished this task, but with just 30 seconds left, the Bears responded and tied the game 3-3, sending it into overtime.

“It was just a simple mistake at the end,” Jacobson said. “We thought we had it. Instead of being controlled, we let up a little too much.”

While Crimson goalie Issy Davies kept the back of the net empty during the first overtime, blocking five shots on goal, Brown ended the second overtime with a shot by Jaclyn Torres to win the game.

Due to the quick turnaround, Harvard did not have much time to dwell on Saturday’s loss. The team’s thoughts went quickly to preparing for BU.

“Everyone had to visualize and focus on what they had done wrong and what they needed to work on [after Saturday’s loss],” Jacobson said. “This weekend was a lot about fixing the individual and coming together as a team.”

—Staff writer Orlea L. Miller can be reached at omiller@college.harvard.edu.