Stickwomen, UConn Draw, 1-1

Imagine Harvard playing Oklahoma in football, and you get some idea what the Harvard field hockey team was up against when defending NCAA Champion Connecticut strolled onto Soldiers Field yesterday.

Imagine Harvard tying Oklahoma, and you can picture the scene of jubilation on the Crimson bench as the stickwomen--after 90 minutes of exhausting play--forced a 1-1 deadlock with the nationally-ranked Huskies in front of 40 spectators.

Harvard goalie Denise Katsias recorded 24 saves; Kate Felsen scored the lone Crimson goal, and the Crimson defense, led by Gia Barresi--who shadowed All-American forward Tracey Fuchs throughout the contest--combined to lead the stickwomen (2-1-1) to one of their most impressive ties ever.

"It was a moral victory," Harvard Coach Nita Lamborghini said.

Connecticut (now 6-1-1) came into yesterday's game ranked fourth in the nation. The Huskies also had Fuchs, who had recorded 14 goals and four assists. But despite chalking up 30 penalty corners--26 more than Harvard--UConn scored only one goal, that early in the game on Cathy Lunghi's blast off a pass from Fuchs.

"We didn't know what to expect from Harvard," Huskie Coach Diane Wright said. "We heard the goalkeeper was excellent, and she was."

Katsias got some help from Felsen, who knocked in her second goal of the season with 17:33 left in the first half. On Harvard's first penalty corner, defender Jane Grim took the inbounds pass and rocketed a shot toward UConn goalie Laura Eby. Eby blocked the shot, but couldn't clear it, and Felsen rushed in and smashed the ball into the net.

Katsias continued her heroics when she stopped a Fuchs penalty shot with 23:09 left in regulation. Fuchs tried to place the ball into the left-hand corner of the net, but Katsias smothered it. The Crimson's sophomore goalie had unsuccessfully faced two penalty shots last year, and her teammates piled on her after she recorded her first career collegiate save of a penalty shot.

"We put enough pressure on their goalie, again and again," Wright said. "We just didn't score."

Defense has traditionally been the Crimson's trademark, and yesterday Harvard made sure Connecticut's top guns were held in check.

"The team rallied together," Harvard Co-Captain Jenny Pyle said. "We knew who their strong players were, and we adjusted to them."

The Crimson will take on defending Ivy League Champion Pennsylvania Saturday in Philadelphia. The stickwomen will take with them not only a spectacular defense, but an offense which has already scored eight goals this year--only two less than last year's total.

"Last year, scoring was our weak point," Pyle said. "But there's definitely a spark to this team."