Field Hockey Takes Third Straight over Yale, Forces Ivy Title Showdown with Princeton

The No. 19 Harvard field hockey team may have only 16 players on its varsity roster, but that lack of bodies has by no means translated into a lack of depth.

Junior forward Jane Park and freshman forward Mina Pell--two players who had been scoreless before Saturday--proved to be the difference for the Crimson (8-3, 4-0 Ivy) in a 3-0 win over Yale (1-11, 1-4).

The victory allowed Harvard to keep pace with No. 7 Princeton (6-3, 4-0) atop the Ivy standings.

"We have a lot of talent out there," Coach Sue Caples said. "A lot of different people are creating scoring opportunities. We have a balanced attack--you can't mark just one person on this team. Everyone's stepping up and making things happen."

As in last Wednesday's game against Northeastern, the Crimson failed to convert on nine penalty corners before finally getting on the board in the second half.

Co-captain Maisa Badawy, taking a free hit from a yard outside of the circle, found Park cutting across the net in traffic. With two defenders bearing down on her, she reversed her stick and fired a hard shot that found the right corner of the net.

"I know Maisa. When I cut towards her, she always sees me cutting," Park said. "I knew I just had to keep my stick on [the ball] so the defense couldn't hit it out. Then I just did a little reverse tip and put it past [the keeper]."

Harvard's second and third goals both came on penalty strokes, the first by sophomore back Katie Scott and the second by junior back Katie Turck.

Penalty strokes are awarded for breaches of the rules that prevent sure goals. On both infractions, the Yale defenders took away goals from Pell, who despite her stellar play on the day, still remains scoreless for her career.

"Turck and Scottie definitely [deserved] those [goals]; they were awesome strokes," Pell said. "I just happened to be there at the right time. Hopefully, it'll come soon, I haven't had one yet."

Fourteen minutes in the second half, freshman Kate McDavitt passed off to Pell, who found herself with space just inside the left-center edge of the circle. Facing impending defensive pressure, she backed up and scooped the ball high towards the net.

The perfectly placed shot by Pell could not be legally stopped. It flew high over the head of Yale keeper Krissy Nesburg and descended towards the upper-right corner of the goal. An Eli defender raised her stick above her head to prevent the score, forcing the first penalty stroke of the game.

Then with under a minute left in the game, senior forward Kate Nagle rushed towards the net unobstructed, with Pell alongside her. Nesburg fell down far outside of the net to stop Nagle, but Pell gained control of the loose ball, skirted around Nesburg and pushed the ball straight at the empty net. A Yale defender managed to stop Pell's shot with her feet, forcing the game's second penalty stroke.

Although Nesburg gave up three goals on the day for the Bulldogs, she kept Yale in the game until Park finally beat her nine minutes into the second half.

"[Nesburg] was having a good day," Park said. "She seemed to be there for all of our shots, but we had a lot of shots and penalty corners, and we knew if we kept going at her, we'd finally get one in."

Harvard earned nine penalty corners in the first half and 11 on the day, but the Crimson battery was never able to find a play that worked.

Contrary to strategy from recent games, Park took a number of direct shots, as did co-captain Liz Sarles. The Crimson mixed the option in occasionally, but almost every time Harvard passed off instead of shooting directly, the play was too slow to develop.

"We went with the straight shot more, because Jane doesn't practice the straight shot as much," Caples said. "She's been getting down good shots. She's always been one of our options. Mix it up is good--keep them guessing."

The closest Harvard came to scoring in the first was on the third corner, when Park blasted the ball to the low left corner of the net, and Nesburg barely made the save. Nagle secured the rebound and crossed to McDavitt, but they just missed the connection.

Freshman keeper Katie Zacarian made nine saves on the day to earn her second consecutive shutout. She held strong early in the game when Yale, led by senior Christine Anthony, made it difficult for Harvard to escape its own end in the opening minutes. Twice, the Bulldogs sent the ball across the mouth of the net.

In the second half after the Crimson was comfortably ahead, Zacarian stopped a Suzanne Anthony shot from point-blank range. In the final minutes, Stephanie Dolmar-Connell was sprung loose on a breakaway, but Zacarian came out to the top of the circle and slid down to break up the play and preserve the shutout.

After playing eight of its first 11 games on the road, the Crimson will begin a five-game road trip, starting Wednesday night at No. 13 Boston College (8-5), fresh off a double-overtime loss to No. 8 Connecticut.

"Wednesday night will be a very big game for us," Caples said. "B.C. is a Top 20 team, and we need to learn how to win on the road."

On Saturday, Harvard and Princeton will face off in a battle between the only two remaining unbeaten teams in the Ivy League.

"We're psyched to be 4-0 in the Ivies," Pell said. "I think we'll handle it well. We're moving up and up, and every game is getting harder. We'll see what happens."

But for now the Crimson will relish its third consecutive victory.

"We want to enjoy this," Caples said. "We've put ourselves in a good position. We're keeping destiny in our own hands and we're playing good hockey."