Field Hockey Victorious To Close Season

The Harvard field hockey team defeated Penn 3-0 at Jordan Field yesterday to conclude its season with a four-game winning streak.

The victory lifted Harvard (11-6, 5-2 Ivy) into a tie for second place against Dartmouth (13-4, 5-2) in the Ivy standings while Penn (6-11, 4-3) finished in fourth place. Princeton (15-2, 7-0) won its eighth consecutive Ivy crown and an automatic NCAA berth.

Last season, the Crimson earned an at-large berth to the 16-team NCAA field on the strength of a 12-5, 6-1 Ivy campaign. With the Big Ten, Colonial and Mid-American Conferences each producing a deeper pool of tournament contenders this season, Harvard’s best bet to make the tournament was ultimately through the Ivy’s automatic berth, but those hopes effectively ended with a loss to Princeton on Oct. 20.

“We set some pretty high goals for ourselves and we didn’t achieve all of them, but we had very successful season,” said Harvard Coach Sue Caples.

In recent years, Harvard had accepted a berth to the ECAC’s four-team field hockey tournament when it fell short of NCAAs. This year, however, Harvard decided that it would pass up on any ECAC bid.

“[Making NCAAs] was a tremendous experience a year ago,” Caples said. “That was a wonderful moment in [the player’s] careers here. They’ll remember that. We’ve moved to the next level. And that’s our focus, getting back there.”

So after choosing to make yesterday’s Penn game the final game of the season, Harvard made it one of its best games of the season.

“We played a complete game today,” Caples said. “We talked about playing for 70 minutes. It’s a very simple concept but very difficult to do.”

Senior back Katie Turck gave the Crimson all the scoring it would need just 7:15 into the game when she won a scramble for the ball off a shot from freshman Shelley Maasdorp on a penalty corner.

“[The seniors] all wanted to score, but I’m glad one of us did,” said captain Jane Park.

Turck, the regular pusher on the penalty corner battery, scored her first goal of the season in the final game of her career. It was the second year in a row that Turck had scored the game-winner against Penn, as two of her six goals last season came in a 3-2 come-from-behind win.

“Obviously it’s a great way to finish off my career,” said Turck of her final goal. “Its sometimes a scramble to put the ball in the net, but it was a great time to finish it off.

One goal was more than enough offense for a defense that kept Penn far away from striking distance all afternoon. The Crimson backfield, which besides Turck included All-Ivy junior Katie Scott and seniors Sarah Luskin and Heather Hussey, helped limit Penn to just three shots on goal for the game and none in the second half.

“In the second half, there were no shots on goal. It was amazing,” Park said. “Our transition was great. We had nice stick passing and our defense just wasn’t letting anything through.”

The Crimson managed to keep the ball out of its end for nearly the entire game as the team consistently positioned itself well and made good decisions with the ball.

“We did a good job building our attack through the midfield,” Caples said. “We played a good passing game which was nice. There was good overlap on the outside. I think we played a really complete game.”

Freshman midfielder Kate Gannon gave Harvard its first insurance goal 11 minutes into the second half after converting a pass, from sophomore forward Jen Ahn, deep inside the circle. Gannon finished with six goals and three assists for her rookie year.

The Crimson’s third score, which came with 12 minutes left in the game, was created by quick work from Scott and sophomore Diana Bowen to move the ball upfield to sophomore midfielder Liz Andrews, who swiftly pushed the ball just inside the far post from several yards out. It was Bowen’s first career point.

“When [Bowen] got her chance she definitely proved that she could be out there, and she’s just always been improving and working hard,” Park said.

Harvard has played with consistency in its four-game win streak, a big improvement from immediately before the streak, when losses to Princeton and Dartmouth ended the Crimson’s NCAA and Ivy title hopes. Even in some of its victories, such as against Northeastern and Cornell the week prior to the Princeton loss, Harvard struggled in the first half.

“I think in the last four games we played stronger for the full 70 minutes instead of just for a half,” Park said. “So if we could rewind, we would have a better shot I’m sure.”

Injuries were a crucial factor in the development of the season. Sophomore forward Kate McDavitt, who was a second team All-Ivy player last season, was a fixture on the sidelines this year. Park was not available until the final games of the season, and senior back Natalia Berry was out of action following Harvard’s 2-1 loss at Michigan, in which senior Eliza Dick netted Harvard’s only goal.

“Having Kate would have added another dimension to our game to our team,” Caples said. “We missed her, we missed not having Jane for the season, losing Natalia halfway through. Loosing them took away some of our tools definitely. But other kids stepped up and increased their level of play.”

McDavitt made it two consecutive years that a Harvard player with second team All-Ivy credentials from freshman year has not taken the field in the subsequent year, making it more challenging for Harvard to build momentum from season-to-season. McDavitt, however, hopes to be back soon.

“Kate, she’s got some work ahead of her in her rehab,” Caples said. “We hope she’s healthy by the end of spring, so she can train for the summer. she’ll make a big difference for us.”

For Park to even make it back on the field, and even score a goal against Providence, was a success story in and of itself.

“I’m glad I got to get out on the field at the end of the season and get to play for a few more games before I go into the real world,” Park said.

The seniors, meanwhile, wished the team well for next season. The six seniors were all a crucial part of the Harvard team, which made its first NCAA tournament in nine years last season.

“NCAAs is always the highlight,” Turck said. “I wish the team the best for the upcoming years. I think they’ve got a great start. The seniors have worked very hard to get the program where it is.”