F. Hockey Finishes Second With Win

After five straight overtime contests and a long 4-7-3 season with all the emotional satisfaction of a slice of stale buttered bread, the Harvard field hockey team finally put forth one of its best efforts and closed out the season yesterday with a win over Brown in Providence, 4-0.

With Princeton's 2-1 overtime loss to Pennsylvania in Philadelphia late last night, Harvard (5-7-3 overall, 3-2-1 Ivy) finished a surprising second in the Ivy League.

"We started out the season really tough, we definitely came back in the second half of this season," junior Maureen O'Brien said. "We proved we could play with all these top-20 teams."

Ivy champion Penn is ranked 12th in the country, third-place Princeton is ranked 14th. Penn will automatically advance to the NCAA tournament.

Against Brown yesterday afternoon, Harvard scored three times in the first half and coasted to an easy victory. Co-captain Francie Walton scored two goals in her last collegiate field hockey game.

"We were just really good out there," senior Amy Belisle said. "The first half was some of the best we've played all season, and we were really ready for them."

Harvard managed just eight shots over the entire game for a frightening efficiency rate of 50 percent. In the first half, the Crimson took four shots, scored two goals and was awarded a penalty stroke on the third shot.

Sophomore Carrie Shumway started the scoring 10 minutes into the game when she tapped a cross from junior Sarah Winters past Brown goalie Tara Harrington.

"It was just like in practice, every day," senior Deirdre Long said. "That early goal set the pace for the rest of the match."

Five minutes later, Walton scored on a penalty corner and ten minutes after that, Belisle converted a penalty stroke awarded when a Brown player stopped a sure goal with her hand. Belisle's shot was into the left corner and low, and the game was essentially over.

Walton added the fourth goal on a penalty stroke midway through the second half.

On defense, the Crimson held the Bears to just two shots in the first half but relaxed in the second with the three-goal lead. Brown responded with a barrage of long-distance shots and attempted to parlay the rebounds into goals. Harvard goalie Jessica Milhollin recorded 10 saves in the second half, according to junior Maureen O'Brien.

"She just played great," O'Brien said. "They would just come into range and shoot."

The 4-0 win broke a string of five straight overtime contests for the Crimson dating back to October 16.

"With 15 minutes left, everyone was so happy," Belisle said.