Flame Burns Out for Stickwomen

In sport, winning is often a matter of something intangible.

Not skill or speed or agility. But fire.

In the Harvard field hockey team's 2-1 loss to 20th-ranked Connecticut yesterday at Cumnock Field, the Crimson saw that flame flicker but never quite burn.

Harvard (1-1-0, 0-0-0 Ivy) could not establish control throughout the match. Connecticut (2-3-1) took full advantage and kept the ball in Harvard's end for most of the game.

"We were reaching to what they did instead of anticipating or creating," Harvard Coach Sue Caples said. "The spark just was not there today and we couldn't get any thing going our way."

Harvard could not muster any shots for the first 25 minutes of the game as Connecticut pressured constantly.

The Huskies kept the ball in the Crimson circle and forced 13 penalty corners. Harvard, on the other hand, had just four such opportunities the whole game.

"The level of intensity out there was really low," Captain Rachel Burke said. "We weren't talking and it looked like we were just running around looking at our feet."

Connecticut's first goal came with 2:18 left in the opening period when Connecticut forward Heather Graver split the Crimson defense and scored on freshman goalie Jessica Milhollin to give the the Huskies a 1-0 halftime lead.

Harvard did have an offensive flourish in the second half, resulting in junior Francie Walton's first tally of the season.

"We came alive for about five minutes, bet we didn't take advantage of all our opportunities," Caples said. "We weren't seeing the field or making good passes."

Although the Mather forward's goal tied the game for a brief span, it was just not enough: Huskie freshman Sarah Rahn marked the game winner with 7:34 left in the match.

Harvard's hopes of a second win faded with a last minute fast break opportunity that failed as the whistle sounded.

The Crimson begin its defense of the 1991 Ivy crown when it hosts Brown Saturday at Cumnock Field.

CONNECTICUT, 2-1 at Cumnock Field Connecticut  1  1  --  2 Harvard  0  1  --  1

G: Connecticut--Graver, Rahn; Harvard--Walton. A: Connecticut--Papoosha, Kelly; Harvard--None S: Connecticut--Muntz (7); Harvard--Milhollin (7).