Field Hockey Stumbles to 3-1 Setback

This was not the way it was supposed to be.

When the Harvard field hockey team last met the University of Massachusetts (UMass) 12 years ago, the Minutewomen marched out of Cambridge with a 2-1 overtime victory. This should have been Harvard's payback, a victory by Coach Sue Caples's squad over her alma mater.

Instead UMass (3-3) shined again, taking a 3-1 decision from Harvard (1-2) yesterday afternoon at Cumnock Field.

The contest was even at a goal apiece until, with 3:38 remaining in the game, UMass senior forward Erica Johnston blasted a shot past diving Harvard senior keeper Anya Cowen.

The Minutewomen sealed it just 1:16 later, when Johnston centered the ball and UMass senior forward Kerry Lyons sneaked it past Cowen.

"We competed at their level today, but we had serious lapses in our defense at crucial moments," said senior forward Penny Fairbairn, who scored Harvard's lone goal, an equalizer midway through the second half. "We need to have more discipline on defense."

After a lackluster first half in which the ball stayed largely on the Crimson's end of the field, Harvard seemed to come out attacking after the intermission.

"I think we were a little tentative in the first half, and once we got going we had a good chance at goals," Caples said.

Harvard's zeal paid off when, with 13:31 remaining, sophomore forward Kate Nagle, anchored near the left corner of the UMass goalpost, tapped a back pass to Fairbairn, who scooted it just to the left of UMass sophomore goaltender Zowie Tucker.

"That goal was really important to everybody to boost the morale of the team and get us back on track," Fairbairn said. "Everyone was really excited, because we felt we were the better team, and that [goal] got us back in the game."

The Crimson was stymied for the remainder of the contest, but Harvard was not without opportunities. The Crimson failed to convert four successive corner penalty shots over a 35-second span from 10:10 to 9:35 in the second half.

It was a last gasp of sorts for the Crimson, as the Minutewomen were extremely aggressive in their ultimately successful efforts to put the game away in the final nine minutes.

"At the end we made some mistakes and didn't refocus," Caples said. "UMass had a very quick transition. We have to be quicker to react."

UMass notched the game's opening goal with 8:31 remaining in the first frame. A UMass corner penalty shot ignited a flurry of activity in front of the net that ended in a score that actually bounced off Fairbairn's stick and into the goal. The score was credited to UMass senior midfielder Kate Putnam.

Harvard will try to recover from yesterday's loss when it kicks off its Ivy League schedule Saturday morning at Columbia.

"I really hope we learn from [today] that we can play with these teams," said co-captain Tara LaSovage, who twisted her left knee 10 minutes into the second half yesterday but should be ready for Saturday's game. "A lot of the game was going our way and they were waiting for us to take it, and it's too bad we couldn't. We're almost there--we have to be that split second faster, our timing just a little better."

UMass, 3-1 at Ohiri Field UMass  1  2  --  3 Harvard  0  1  --  1

G: UMass--1st period: Putnam (8:31, U), 2nd period: Johnston (3:38, Browne), Lyons (2:22, Johnston); Harvard--2nd period: Fairbairn (13:31, Nagle). S: UMass--Tucker 6; Harvard--Cowan 6