Field Hockey Builds Momentum Heading into Princeton Matchup

For yet another game last week, a team with its home turf in Boston scored a decisive victory over a squad from New York. Unlike the Red Sox, No. 11 Harvard field hockey delivered an undisputed sweep of the visitors to set a program-best nine game win streak, smothering Cornell with eight goals while allowing a stunning zero shots from the Big Red on Saturday to win, 8-0, at Berylson Field.

As would be familiar to any reader of The Odyssey, Ithacans have a tough time on the road. Cornell (3-9, 0-4 Ivy) holds a 1-6 record for away games, against its even record at Dodson Field. However, like that epic’s namesake who earned early victories over the Trojans before his trying trek, the Big Red put together an impressive start to its outing.

Cornell goalkeeper Maddie Henry kept the first 21 minutes of the game scoreless, despite 11 shots from the Crimson (12-1, 4-0). However, a virtual line change by the Big Red in the 22nd minute saw four new players enter and brought a bend, then a snap, to the solid Cornell back line.

The 12th shot of the match, an up-close jab by junior midfielder Grace Geiger, ricocheted off the left leg of Henry and was collected by sophomore midfielder Tessel Huibregtsen at the top of the arc. Huibregtsen drew back her stick and fired, burying the ball in the back of the net and handing Harvard a 1-0 edge in the 26th minute.

From there, it was the Crimson all the way.

“I think Cornell did a good job in defending [near] the goal cage,” coach Tjerk van Herwaarden said. “I think that once the first goal fell, especially after the second one, they have to then push out, which gave us a little more space, and then we were able to just keep going. The first one was a pretty important one for us.”

The rest of the half’s points came hard and fast. The initial score of an eventual hat trick by junior forward Maddie Earle came in the 29th minute and was followed closely by an unassisted bouncer from freshman forward Olivia Hoover in the 34th.

A minute later, a whistle signalled the end of the onslaught — and a 3-0 Harvard advantage going into the second half.

Although a 48 degree steady rain chilled the fans, the Crimson’s sticks remained hot after the break. A set of goals by junior midfielder Bente van Vlijmen in the 44th minute and Earle in the 45th preceded a cluster by Huibregtsen and junior midfielder Casey Allen in the 57th and 59th.

“We keep telling each other, ‘Next five minutes, next five minutes,’ or, ‘Next two minutes,’ just to keep focusing on the process and not the result,” van Vlijmen said. “So I guess that’s how we really kept our momentum after every goal.”

The final snipe, in the 68th minute, completed Earle’s second hat trick of the season, earning her a league-leading 12 goals, and topping off a dominant 8-0 Harvard victory — a program-best ninth consecutive win.

This topped the Crimson’s eight-game win streak of 2016, a season that saw Harvard reach the NCAA playoffs before falling to Syracuse in the first round.

For van Vlijmen and senior midfielder Victoria Boylett, posting a win against the Big Red was far from their only pregame concern. The duo performed the national anthem before the game’s opening whistle.

“Yeah, we were both very worried about doing it justice and stuff, because I’m from England and [van Vlijmen] is from the Netherlands, so we wanted to make sure we were respecting it and all that,” Boylett said. “I think it went well. It was amazing to have our teammates over as we hit the sort of more difficult notes that are renowned for being troublesome.”

The team saw six of its starting 11 against Cornell hail from outside the United States.

“In terms of culture and stuff, we love how we’re all very different,” Boylett said. “I think we can all learn a lot from each other by being from different places and having different experiences, in field hockey and in life in general.”

Van Vlijmen echoed the sentiment.

“This anthem, this sport, this school connects all of us,” van Vlijmen said. “That’s, like, a beautiful thing to represent, to be represented by.”

A playoff berth for this already-historic team lies heavily on the outcome of Saturday’s de-facto Ivy League championship game at third-ranked Princeton (11-3, 4-0).

“It’s a huge game, and I think the team knows that,” van Herwaarden said. “The last couple years, the Harvard-Princeton game has been the game of the season, and it’s going to be the same this year. Right now, after today’s win, we’re going to take the day off tomorrow and then get ready for Princeton.”