William and Mary Defeats F. Hockey

"Disheartening" doesn't come close to describing it.

"Maddening" won't quite cut it, either.

"How the hell did this friggin' piece of B.S. happen, dammit!?!" is getting pretty close.

The Harvard field hockey team's loss to William and Mary yesterday at Cumnock Field was not a glorious day for the Crimson (1-1 Ivy, 3-6 overall).

3-0 losses, on their own, are not a thoroughly terrible thing. Sure, they aren't a merry walk in the park, but they also are not usually cause to cut off one's right arm in agony.

After yesterday's game all of the Crimson's limbs did remain intact. However, there weren't any sharp objects around to use, either.

"Do you have any questions?" responded Harvard Coach Sue Caples when asked for a comment.

She clearly was at the end of her fuse and wasn't in the mood for any annoying Crimson reporters making open-ended statements.

It was that type of day.

The game began at 2:30 p.m. under the brisk October sunshine.

Harvard started off decently, with some innocuous attacks, and did an all right job of containing William and Mary's offense.

As the first half winded down, the Crimson had some chances for goals that didn't quite materialize.

Nevertheless, to any observer, it seemed to be totally obvious that Harvard would soon score. Each attack looked as though as it had promise, but would break down in some different place each time.

There was a feeling that by the Law of Averages, if nothing else, Harvard ought to score soon.

The problem turned out to be more fundamental than that, however.

"We have to take better shots," captain Megan Colligan (sweeper) said. "They have to be shots and not things that we just direct at the goalie."

The Tribe's goaltender, Sarah Witkowski, easily brushed aside all the slow ground balls coming her way, and the score at half was 0-0.

In the second half, Harvard's victory seemed to be even more certain.

Through the first 15 minutes after halftime, the Crimson completely controlled the rhythm of the game. But the offense still could not score for the same reasons as before.

Then, the Tribe went on the warpath.

The team that didn't have the slightest glimmer of an offensive opportunity in the first 50 minutes of play suddenly broke away from the Harvard defense in a 3-on-1 breakaway.

The Crimson's junior goaltender, Jessica Milhollin, tried to dive and stop it but failed.

"The individual defense was weak," Caples said. "All the footwork on defense needs work."

Harvard never gained back any momentum. Essentially, the game was over.

William and Mary scored again on another breakaway, and then added a third.

But it really didn't matter.

"I didn't think that they were that good," Colligan said. "[But] all of a sudden you find yourself down 1-0, then 2-0,..."

And all of a sudden, the game that Harvard should have won turned into a thrashing on the Crimson.

Ivy Notes: The new Top 20 poll has come in, and the Ancient Eight (seven in field hockey--no Columbia) is movin' on up.

Princeton moved from the 17th slot to the 11th, and Penn rose up two places to 16.

What's more, Dartmouth may also sneak into the poll soon. The Big Green defeated #20 UNH and tied Penn earlier this year.

The Ivy League Player of the Week is Lauren Demski, a Dartmouth goalie, who has a shutout streak of four games...the Rookie of the Week is Princeton midfielder Kathleen Kelly, her second such award this season....Harvard Captain Megan Colligan is on the Honor Roll for her two assists in losses to Penn and B.U. and for general defensive fortitude. W&M  1 Harvard  0