Stickwomen Knot UMass, 0-0

Despite giving up 19 penalty corners and, 19 shots, the Harvard field hockey man shut out a strong University of Massachusetts squad to earn a 0-0 tie yesterday at Soldiers Field.

Last year's NCAA runners-up continually assaulted the Harvard not in the final seven minutes of play, but goalie Juliet Lamont and the Crimson defense held their ground to earn their seventh shutout in 11 outings. The draw brings Harvard's record to 8-1-2 overall, 3-0 in the Ivies. UMass holds a 9-2-1 season mark.

The tie was a necessity for the Crimson, as it preserved the stickwomen's chances of gaining one of two probable NCAA tournament berths for the Northeast. Having fallen to Connecticut earlier in the season, Harvard needed at least a tie yesterday to stay in the running for second best in the region.

At halftime, Crimson Coach Edie Mabrey instructed her charges. "You will not be beaten."

"We got ever a big hump by at least tying them," Mabrey said after the game.

There's another hump in the stickwomen's path, however, as Harvard travels to Princeton tomorrow. The Tigers sport a 4-0 record in league action, making them the only team other than the Crimson to boast a winning Ivy ledger.

"I look at the Princeton game as the Ivy title," Mabrey said.

Late in the second half of what had been a remarkably even game, the Minutemen began to take control. The Crimson's mid-field play began to fail, and UMass held the ball in the Harvard half for nearly all of the last 15 minutes.

Charge It

With only 6:45 remaining, the Minutemen went on a short corner spree, earning eight while only three minutes elapsed off the running-time clock. Seemingly unaffected by the constant pressure, the Crimson defense combined speed and positioning to stymie every UMass scoring attempt.

The Minuteman hit each short corner to the top of the penalty circle, when Megan Donelly would either shoot or dish the ball off to an open teammate. But Crimson halfback Toby Carroll rabbited out from inside the goal so quickly that she arrived at the top of the circle just after the ball did.

Five times Carroll reached Donnelly in time to break up the play, assuring that the UMass player could neither shoot nor get off an effective pass.

One time Donnelly did manage an effective pass, and only a heads-up play by halfback Ellen O'Neill averted a Minuteman score. The UMass midfielder faked a shot, then flipped the ball to Pam Moryl 10 yards out from the left post. Crimson goalie Lamont was caught in a crowd outside the not and couldn't recover in time to stop Moryl's shot. O'Neill zipped over to the ball and stubbed it just in front of the goe, line to preserve the tie.

The defensive heroics were necessary because the offense couldn't boat Minuteman, goaltender Patty Shea. Nine Crimson shots fell wide of the mark, while Shea stopped six others. The stick women got their chances but just couldn't convert.

The offense could never control the ball for long, so the Harvard midfielders spend much of the game trying to regain possession. Elli Pew had the most success, regularly blocking the UMass passing lanes.

"She's anticipating where the ball is going to go," Mabrey said.

THE NOTEBOOK After a one-game absence Maureen Finn re-entered the lineup at cente halfback Mary Ann Riordan, who made her debut in the Finn-less alignment, reappeared yesterday in the second half Mabrey put Riordan and Jane Hunnewell into the contest in order to get some "fresh air" into the attack. The Crimson coach felt that her forwards were hesitating after losing the ball, instead of immediately trying to get it back. The JV team Riordan left is still undefeated, after tying the UMass JV squad. 2-2.