Terrier Thursday: Twinbill for Crimson

W is not a hard letter to find. It's right after V and right before X in the alphabet.

Unfortunately, it is just not that easy in the world of sports. Ask the Harvard field hockey team.

Harvard began its 1992 season with a solid 3-0 win over Rhode Island. But ever since then, the Crimson has been searching for that elusive W. It couldn't find one against Brown or Springfield, and Penn was no help either.

So Harvard (1-3-1 overall, 0-1-1 Ivy) will continue its quest tonight when it crosses the river to face Boston University (7-2) at Nickerson Field.

The 12th-ranked Terriers, however, might not be very cooperative, and have proved very adept this season at collecting wins of their own.

BU has won its last four games and has not dropped a match since it lost to 2nd-ranked Iowa, 5-2.

The Terriers are also defending a 16-match home winning streak, outscoring opponents 45-3.

Despite BU's record and ranking, Harvard Coach Sue Caples is optimistic about the Crimson's chances tonight.

"I'm pleased with how we've been practicing and putting the pieces together," Caples said.

Caples said that the team has been working on some special formations for the BU game.

"We'll mix things up, and we're going to do some things to take care of their strengths," Caples said.

Namely, assigning specific Harvard players to cover the Terriers' big guns.

Junior Francie Walton will be responsible for BU's leading scorer, junior Jen Nixon. Nixon has accumulated 11 points in nine games, scoring seven goals and dishing out four assists. Last week, she was named the North Atlantic Association's Player of the Week.

Nixon finds her support in junior back Chris LaPointe who has tallied four scores and five assists.

"They have good solid athletes," Caples said. "And this will have to be our best game so far. We have to be in the game so far as long as it takes."

The Crimson hopes that its speed will allow it to race past the Terriers. Junior Sarah Downing and Freshman Carrie Shumway have shown that they can blaze trails down the right side.

And tonight's contest is on artificial turf, which speeds up the game considerably.

"We are a fast team, and we play better on turf," Caples said. "The grass is so thick on Cumnock that it just slows us down."

The last time Harvard played on turf, however, it lost to Springfield, 4-0. Go figure.

The Crimson will have to use all the speed it can muster against the Terriers, if Harvard is to topple mighty BU and finally find a W of its own.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard Coach Sue Caples said that BU has changed its strategy from past years.

"They used to be a run and gun team," Caples said. "They would play a lot of big balls and chase them down."

Caples said that now the Terriers have adopted a style of play that is very similar to Harvard's. They've converted to a more possession oriented style, with a lot of short passes. That's the type of game that we've always played," Caples said.

Sweet Revenge?: Last season, BU sent Harvard home from the NCAA tournament in the opening round. The Crimson lost, 3-0, to the Terriers, after having beaten them earlier in the season. But Caples said that last year's defeat will not have much affect on tonight's game.

"We're not the same team as last year. This is a new team with new faces," Caples said.

Do the Bump, Baby: Harvard's draw with Penn last weekend ousted the Quakers from the national rankings. With Penn's departure, Brown moved up one position and Princeton shot to the 16th-ranking, the highest of any Ivy teams this season.