Stickwomen Fall Flat; Deja Vu Dreams Vanish

Last year, the Harvard field hockey team waited 89 minutes and 59 seconds before scoring a goal and disposing of Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y.

Saturday on Soldiers Field, the Crimson waited and waited, shot and shot, but despite several late rallies couldn't repeat last year's heroics. After 90 minutes of exhausting play, Harvard settled for a 0-0 tie with the Big Red in front of 100 spectators.

Harvard forward Char Joslin seemed ready to do what Linda Runyon did last year--slip a shot into the Cornell goal late in double overtime and lead her team to a 1-0 victory. But Joslin's shot with seven seconds left in the game smacked off the pads of Big Red goalie Kelly Clark and dribbled out of the penalty circle.

Despite chalking up 26 penalty corners and flinging 23 shots toward goal, Harvard (2-3-2 overall, 0-1-1 Ivy) just couldn't put the ball past Clark, who recorded 15 saves.

"Our defense played a great game," Cornell Coach Shelby Bowman said. "So did our goalkeeper. We're pretty happy with the tie."

Cornell (1-3-4 overall, 0-1-2 Ivy) had a mere eight shots and six penalty corners, challenging Harvard goalie Denise Katsias only when Beth Paciello flipped a shot off the right post with 12 minutes left in regulation.

Katsias--who recorded eight saves on the way to her first shutout of the year--spent much of the game watching her teammates fling shots at the opposing net, and got a clear view of Harvard's scoring difficulties.

The Crimson, behind the steady stick of Joslin, smacked solid first shots off its penalty corner passes. But Harvard didn't follow up on its inital blasts with second and third shots.

"If we had gotten some shots off the rebounds, we might have scored," Katsias said. "It's frustrating."

"We'd get one shot and [Clark] would clear it," Crimson Co-Captain Gia Barresi said. "We just couldn't get the second shots. Those rebounds are the best scoring opportunities in field hockey."

Cornell, which plays its home games on Astroturf, seemed stifled by the natural grass of Soldiers Field. The visitors rarely advanced past midfield--and when they did, Harvard sweeper and Co-Captain Jenny Pyle halted the attacks with long clearing passes.

Harvard came close to scoring several times. Forward Cindi Ersek plunked two shots off Clark's pads early in the first half, and Clark had to charge out of the net to block several Joslin bullets late in regulation.

Joslin caused excitement on the Harvard bench and in the stands when she drove past the Cornell defense and to the left of the Big Red goal with time running out in double overtime.

But her shot from 10 feet struck Clark in the knee pads and bounded toward the corner of the field and out of play.

Katsias, who recorded four shutouts last year, didn't think Saturday's game was one of her best, especially after she recorded 20 or more saves in four of her team's first six games.

"I play my best when I get a lot of shots," Katsias said. "When a shot came, I could barely clear it because I'd been waiting for so long."

THE NOTEBOOK: The Crimson's next game is against Massachusetts Wednesday at Soldiers Field... ...Katsias has 108 saves this year for an average of 15 per game. She recorded 144 saves last season.