Field Hockey Prepares for League Showdown

The Harvard field hockey team polished off the first half of its Ivy schedule with a 1-0 win at Cornell yesterday.

The victory over the Big Red (7-5, 1-2 Ivy) sets up the Crimson (6-4, 3-0) for a battle with No. 7 Princeton (10-2, 3-0) for sole possession of first place in the Ivies on Saturday.

The Tigers are the seven-time defending Ivy champions.

“We knew we had to take care of Brown, Yale and Cornell first before that would be an important game,” said Harvard captain Jane Park. “We know what we have to do to beat team’s at the level from playing [No.2] Michigan and [No. 6] Michigan State.”

For the second game in a row, freshman midfielder Kate Gannon played a huge role in putting Harvard over the top.

In the 57th minute, she overlapped and controlled a cross through a crowd inside the circle and shot the ball past Cornell keeper Kaitlin Tierney for the game’s only score.

Also for the second game in a row, Harvard started off slow in the first half before turning it on in the second half.

The Crimson managed only two shots in the first half on Saturday before exploding for 10 in the second.

“We had a better first half in this game than against Northeastern,” Park said. “We didn’t really start clicking and playing to our full potential. We had our chances. But there was never a sense of desparate urgency.”

The team’s reason for such confidence was its defense. Cornell had just eight shots on the day. When the Big Red did break through, sophomore keeper Katie Zacarian stepped up.

“It was on a shot from the top of the circle, and at the last second [Zacarian] stuck out her stick and stopped it,” said sophomore forward Mina Pell. “It was definitely a crucial save because we weren’t down at halftime.”

“There were definitely some anxious moments when they had some breakways,” Park added.

Harvard outcornered Cornell 9-3 on the game. The intense pressure from the Crimson’s corners ultimately set the stage for Gannon’s goal.

“We started off slow, and we didn’t really get going until we had several corners in a row in the second half,” Pell said. “It’s inevitable that corners create the attack.”

But the Crimson still struggled to make much out of its own corners corners. Harvard’s corner battery was completely replaced by graduation and injury, and the squad has yet to smooth out its set play.

Harvard’s only corner goals of the season came in succession against Yale.

“We didn’t score on them,” Pell said of Harvard’s corners yesterday. “The timing of the pullout and the stop, we’re definitely working on them.”

Harvard’s corners and its first-half play are two areas with room for improvement.

“We need to start off playing well,” Park said. “We can’t be taking a whole half to warm up.”

But based on its past performance, the Crimson thinks the first half woes will go away. Harvard’s return to its homefield after four straight games on the road is expected to be a boost.

The Crimson will play Boston College in its final tuneup for Princeton on Wednesday. The Eagles (7-6) have had an up-and-down season.

“This is a great opporunity to play on our home turf, and the Wednesday game will be good preperation,” Park said. “We played [a complete game] against Michigan and Michigan State and we really need to get back to that level.”