Big Red Blanks Stickwomen

The march for the Ivy League Crown continued last weekend for the Harvard field hockey team in Ithaca, N.Y.

After sending the Elis home with a loss under their belt two Saturdays ago, Harvard's field hockey team anticipated a similar victory over the Big Red last Saturday.

But the Crimson's expectations went unfulfilled, as Cornell handed Harvard (8-2-1, 2-1-1 Ivy) its first Ivy League loss this season, 2-0.

Tough Break

The Crimson's hopes of obtaining sole possession of first place in the Ivies last weekend quickly turned sour. The game got off to a rocky start when, two minutes into the game, Big Red forward Deb Rine blasted a shot off a player's stick into the Crimson goal.

"The first goal was really shaky," Harvard Co-Captain Kristen Fowler said. "It has to touch an offensive player's stick in order for it to be ruled an official goal. Our goalie [Lisa Yadao] thought it touched the stick of one of our defenders but it was called a goal. We didn't recover from that."

The Crimson was not able to recover from its inauspicious beginning. Cornell senior midfielder Anne Kevebaugh managed to flick yet another goal past the Crimson defenders before the first half was over.

But even though the Big Red's offensive efforts were thwarted in the second half of the game, the damage had already been done. Cornell had succeeded in knocking the aspiring Crimson out of first place in the Ivies.

Tough Turf

"We didn't make the transition from grass to turf very well," fullback Emily Buxton said. "They picked up a lot of our passes and played very well defensively against us."

"It was a disappointing loss for us," Coach Sue Caples added. "We didn't play up to our normal level of play. Cornell's style of play didn't allow us to do that. They hit the ball hard up the field to gain ground and capitalized on some of our errors.

"We beat ourselves," Caples continued. "We had a good second half. We controlled the ball and showed tough defense but some days the ball just doesn't fall for you."

NOTEBOOK: The Crimson welcomes two big rivals, Boston College and Princeton, to Cumnock Field this week. Brown played no Ivy League games last week and maintains sole possession of first place in the Ivies with a record of 2-0-2. The Tigers, 3-1-1 in the Ivies, lost to the Quakers last Saturday.