Field Hockey Beats Longtime Nemesis UMass for First Time in 17 Years

Four different Harvard players tallied goals as the Crimson recorded an impressive 4-2 victory over intrastate rival Massachusetts Wednesday at Jordan Field. The win was Harvards first over UMass since 1984 and only its second in 11 all-time meetings.

With five minutes remaining in the first half and the score tied at one, senior forward Heather Hussey took a pass from freshman forward Shelley Maasdorp in front of a crowded net and pushed it past UMass goalie Ashley Egland to give the Crimson (4-2, 1-0 Ivy) the lead and the momentum heading into the half.

The team used that momentum to dominate the Minutewomen (2-4) for most of the second half, applying constant pressure on the UMass defense before increasing its lead.

Maasdorp picked up her first career goal in the 12 minutes into the second half when she gathered a rebound from a Hussey shot just inside the circle then backhanded it into the cage from a distance through several defenders.

Nine minutes later, Hussey took advantage of one of Harvards numerous breakaway scoring chances with some fancy ball-handling to feed senior forward Eliza Dick and put the Crimson up 4-1.

It was just one of those things. We all clicked, said Hussey. Eliza was there, and it was a great give-and-go.

The Minutewomen tried to stage a comeback late in the second half, but the stifling Harvard defense and Crimson goalie Katie Zacarian kept the lead safe.

The Crimson defense stopped the UMass rush for the majority of the game, and nearly all of the Minutewomens scoring opportunities came off penalty corners. Both teams received five penalty corners on the day, with UMass enjoying more success than the Crimson. The Minutewomen ran a variety of well-executed option plays, resulting in both UMass goals and other scoring chances.

Zacarian broke up a UMass 2-on-1 break with eight minutes remaining and made a sprawling save on a penalty corner shot by two-time All-American Anke Bruemmer. Unfortunately for the Crimson, the ball bounced right to UMass freshman Heather Kenney, who found the net to round out the scoring.

For Zacarian, a native of Amherst, Mass., home of the Minutewomen, the win was especially satisfying.

Its always great playing against a team that Ive watched for so many years, she said. Beating and playing against a lot of my old rivals from high school is particularly fun.

For most of the game though, Zacarian could just sit back and watch as her teammates provided the offense.

That was definitely a great thing to watch from the backfield, she said of the Crimsons offensive outburst. [My teammates] had some great goals.

The Crimson opened the scoring 14 minutes into the first half when freshman forward Tiffany Egnaczyk dribbled around the UMass defense in the circle and sent a pass across the net to fellow freshman midfielder Kate Gannon, who collected her first career goal to give Harvard a 1-0 advantage.

The Minutewomen responded two minutes later on their first penalty corner. Bruemmer, coming off a three-goal performance against Indiana on Saturday, put a slapshot into the cage to knot the score at 1-1.

Then, after a period of back-and-forth play, Hussey put the Crimson ahead for good with her second career goal.

Harvard Coach Sue Caples, who was a captain and an All-American when she played for UMass in 1981, had nothing but praise for the Minutewomen, a perennial Northeast powerhouse.

We have tons of respect for their program, she said. Every year its a different UMass team, but it was UMass, and we beat them and thats great for our confidence.

Caples found the Crimsons impressive offensive showing to be a good sign for the weeks ahead. It was pretty exciting since weve been struggling to score, she said. Not that we havent had opportunities, but today we finished. Our team executed the game plan today, and thats really a great sign at this point in the season.

The Crimson returns to action on Saturday when the team travels to Yale to take on the Bulldogs in an Ivy League matchup.