Stickwomen Register Trio of Shutouts

The Radcliffe field hockey team mounted a stifling defense last weekend to dominate the field in the New England Association Tournament in Burlington, Vermont. The stickwomen rolled to two wins and a tie in their three contests while refusing to allow a single goal.

Meanwhile, judges were keeping a tab on the players with an eye toward selecting first, second, and third-team all-star squads to compete in another tournament in Rye, New York later this month.

Five 'Cliffe players, forwards Karen Linsley, Gwill York and Sarah Mleczko, along with right-link Stefi Baum and sweeper Ann Dupuis, were named to the first team. Linsley was the only Crimson stickwoman to earn that honor in each of the last two years.

Second-team Stars

In addition, halfbacks Susie McCune and Mary Howard, and goalie Ellen Seidler were named to the second team, while left link Lucy Wood won a berth on the third squad. Crimson mentor Debi Field will coach the three units when they travel to Rye to meet club teams from throughout the East.

The Radcliffe contingent played its first two games on Saturday. In the initial contest, the stickwomen defeated URI with a hard-charging attack that finally broke the team's two-game scoreless streak.

In the first half, a jumble of players battled for the ball in front of the Anchorman net before Mleczko slapped the ball home for the early lead. Later, York tore after a ball near the endline, got it ahead of the URI netminder, and drove it into the net for another tally.

Crazy Scoring

McCune connected on a long, hard shot off a corner play in the second half to cement a 3-0 win for the Crimson. "We scored like crazy," Dupuis said yesterday. "We concentrated on playing as a team, because the judges look for players who mesh as a unit, and it worked just great."

In the next game, against Bentley, things didn't mesh quite as well. The defense had trouble getting the ball upfield to the forwards, but Crystal Terry notched her first varsity goal and Seidler put together another shutout for a 1-0 Radcliffe win.

On Sunday, upset-minded Middlebury shut the Crimson attack down completely, but Seidler turned in another superb effort, and the stickwomen escaped with their second 0-0 deadlock of the year.

The successful weeken left the team's record at 8-1-2 with games against UConn and Yale remaining.