Field Hockey Suffers First Ivy League Loss; Defeated In Overtime Thriller by Yale, 1-0

Call it an emphatic declaration with no punctuation mark.

The Harvard field hockey team(2-4, 1-1 Ivy) bombarded the Yale net on Saturday. However, the Elis tallied the lone goal in overtime for a 1-0 victory.

"We had a gazillion corners, but we didn't score off any of them," said co-captain Beck Stringer. "We dominated most of the game. I think everyone knew that. But we didn't get the ball in the cage."

Yale notched the winning goal on a corner with 1:07 remaining in the first overtime.

"It was a straight stop hit," said junior Tara LaSovage.

The Crimson has lost three 1-0 games this season alone and in all three, each opponent has thwarted the dogged Harvard offense from finding the net.

"We've dominated a lot of games we played," LaSovage said. "But it's not good enough to just dominate. We know we have to work even harder."

A strong defense has kept the Crimson close.

"Yale had good scoring opportunities as well," LaSovage said. "[Sophomore goalie] Anya [Cowan] played wonderfully."

"Our defense did well," Stringer said. "We were attacking inside the field for most of the game. The defense was keeping them out of our defensive circle."

Further aiding the defense, the attack played a good defensive game, blocking up the 16-yard hits upfield.

Unlike most goalies, the Yale goalie came far out of the goal.

"She left a lot of angles open," Stringer said. "We would try to dribble under the circle, and we would be smacked down in front of the goalie. We needed to dodge more."

The Yale defense also stalled the Crimson offense.

"Yale played excellent defense when it counted in the circle," LaSovage said.

Despite losing, the Crimson did play its preferred two-touch style for most of the game.

"There were times when we wavered from it," LaSovage said. "Yale made us slow things down a couple times in the first half. But for the most part, we did dominate, which is what makes it the most frustrating."

"We had them on their heels," Stringer said. "We played our style and didn't cater to their style. But we didn't finish. It's a very tough loss."

Harvard can rebound by defeating Boston University, whom it hosts on Wednesday at 3:30.