Stickwomen Canned

Last year, it took the nationally-ranked University of New Hampshire field hockey team 56 minutes to finally knock off Harvard, 1-0, on a penalty stroke.

Yesterday, the Wildcats again struck late in the second half to slip past the underdog Crimson, 1-0.

Laurie Mercier snuck past the Harvard defense to flip in a loose ball with less than 20 minutes left in the game, and the nation's second-ranked team won its 11th game--against one loss--in front of 30 spectators at Memorial Field in Durham, N.H.

Meanwhile, the Crimson failed to win for the eighth straight time and dropped to 2-5-3 overall this season.

"They pressed us," Wildcat goalie Michele Flannell said. "At times, they really stifled us with their defense. But we didn't have one of our best games either."

Harvard, which was held scoreless for the fourth time this season, couldn't capitalize on its six penalty corners.

"They had a few tough corners," Flannell said. "Harvard's got a scrappy team."

The Crimson's best scoring chance came when forward Char Joslin slapped a shot from outside the penalty circle just right of the far post in the first half. But no one was hovering close enough to the net to tap in the blast.

"It was really an evenly played game," Crimson Co-Captain Gia Barresi said. "We knew it was going to be tough."

Harvard, which jumped to a 2-1-1 start at the beginning of the year, has not won a game in a month. The team scored seven goals in its first two games, but it has netted only five since.

"I think the biggest challenge for us is to realize we're playing well," Barresi said. "We have to continue to improve and come out hard. But if we'd win a game, it would certainly help."

A breakdown in communication between Harvard defenders and Crimson goalie Denise Katsias led to the UNH goal. Katsias charged to block the shot, but the ball slipped by her and the unguarded Mercier was there to knock it in.

"We were a little unsettled in the first half," Flannell said. "But we controlled the game more in the second half. And we scored."

The stickwomen must again turn their attention to the Ivy League when they travel to Princeton, N.J., Saturday to battle the Tigers.

With a 0-1-2 league record, Harvard is virtually out of contention for the league title. First-place Brown owns a 4-1 record and, with a win over Harvard on November 1, would claim at least a share of the Ivy crown. Second-place Pennsylvania, with a 3-1 league record, is still firmly in the race.

Harvard, which is bringing up the rear of the Ivy League alongside Cornell, still has an outside chance to claim a share of the title, providing it wins the rest of its league games.

But unless the Crimson finishes its season in miraculous fashion, the Ivy crown may be out of reach. Again. In the eight year history of Ivy League women's field hockey, Harvard has never won the Ivy title.

"We want to finish as well as we can in the Ivies," Barresi said. "We definitely can have a hand in who's going to win the title."

On the other hand, the Crimson is still in the thick of the race for the Boston Four title. Harvard beat Northeastern earlier in the season, and with victories over Boston College and Boston University later in the year, the Crimson could come home with this prestigious championship.

"No one is giving up," Barresi said. "We still have our heads up."