Tigers Stop Stickwomen, 2-1; Harvard Title Hopes Dissolve

The Harvard field hockey team's quest for a first-ever Ivy League crown ended Saturday, after the Crimson fell to Princeton, 2-1, before 100 spectators at Soldiers Field. By virtue of its 2-0 victory over Cornell Saturday, Dartmouth (4-0-1 Ivy) captured the league title.

Playing in its fourth game in eight days, the Crimson (1-2-1 Ivy, 6-4-2 overall) came out strong at the outset, controlling the ball for most of the first half. Despite the squad's many scoring opportunities, the Crimson went into halftime in a scoreless tie with the Tigers.

At the beginning of the second half, the Crimson came out aggressive and kept the ball in the visitor's end for the first five minutes.

With 28:19 remaining in the second half, Harvard Tri-Captain Cindi Ersek took a pass from sophomore forward Char Joslin and scored from outside the circle, giving the Crimson the lead and an apparent air of confidence.

But the Tigers would have no part in this, as Jennifer Naticchai scored on an assist by Sue Finney less than a minute after Ersek's goal.

Princeton then took charge of the match, keeping the ball in the host's end for the next ten minutes, and adding their second and game winning tally at the 17:01 mark on an unassisted goal by Heidi Ludtke.

Harvard had one final chance to force an overtime period with just over three minutes left in the match, but the Crimson failed to put in a loose ball in front of the Princeton cage, as a stingy Tiger defense cleared the ball and sealed the stick-women's fate.

Harvard, coming off a two-game winning streak with victories over New Hampshire and Boston University earlier this week, was worn down from the rigorous schedule that had them playing four games in just eight days.

"With midterms plus four games in one week, we didn't play as well as we should have," Tri-Captain Jane Grim said. "Everybody seemed sluggish and we really didn't play as a team."

"We didn't play as well as we're capable of playing," Coach Nita Lamborghini said. "Princeton is a good team and we didn't get into the flow of the game like we wanted to. We didn't react to what they were doing as well as we could have."

While the Crimson's chances of capturing the Ivy League crown seem bleak, the stickwomen are still very much in the race for the Boston Four title with a 1-1 record.

"Our goals now are to play as well as we can," Grim said, "and to keep in the running for the Boston Four title."

Harvard's demanding schedule continues tomorrow afternoon, as the Crimson takes on Boston College at Soldiers Field.