Athlete of the Week: Kate Nagle `01

Field hockey can be an unrewarding sport when the failure to convert golden scoring opportunities wastes 70 minutes of pretty stick handling, passing, and defense. Such was the case when Cornell shut out Harvard, 1-0 at Ithaca last season.

But this time around, against the Big Red, senior Kate Nagle put together the consummate game at the forward position to bury Cornell's hope of a repeat performance. Not only did she lead Harvard to victory, she showed no mercy. With her team up 2-0 at the break, Nagle lit up the Big Red for three goals in the second half to lead No. 19 Harvard to a 5-1 rout

Although Nagle did not score in the first half, it was her aggressive rush to the net that created the second Crimson goal. The threat of Nagle's charge drew all the attention from the Big Red backs, leaving junior midfielder Eliza Dick wide open for the finish.

In the second half, Nagle's play was a model of poise, positioning, and patience. Cornell keeper Maureen Sullivan was helpless to stop her.

"[Kate] was always in the right place at exactly the right time," Coach Sue Caples said.

On the first goal, while Cornell defenders innocently chased co-captain Liz Sarles around the border of the circle, they were blissfully unaware that Nagle had silently camped herself a yard out in front. After Sarles sent a soft feed towards the center, Nagle woke the Big Red backs out of their slumber with a powerful shot from point blank range that rattled the back of the net.

Thirteen minutes later, Nagle made use of the well-known truth that a goalie is easier to beat when she is sprawled face-forward on the ground. Facing Sullivan one-on-one, Nagle, using all her experience and confidence, did not rush her shot. She placidly maneuvered in front the net, tricked Sullivan into diving out after the ball, then strode right around her for goal number two.

By the 64th minute of the match, the Cornell backs had been made well aware of Nagle's talent--but they still had no luck stopping her. Sophomore forward Philomena Gambale set up Nagle a few yards in front of the net, with a pair of defenders still to beat--no problem for Nagle.

She calmly moved away from the obstruction until she found the perfect angle she needed to finish off the hat trick. That final goal gave Nagle 22 for her career, pushing her past former teammate Dominique Kalil '00 for fourth place on the all-time Crimson scoring list.

With the 5-1 win, Harvard now sits undefeated in a tie for first with No. 7 Princeton. The Crimson will be hard-pressed to beat the Ivy juggernaut that has posted a 41-1 league record since 1994, but Nagle's performance this past weekend makes anything seem possible.