Field Hockey Scores Most Convincing Win Yet

The Harvard field hockey team isn’t looking past any of its nonconference opponents leading up to its crucial first-place Ivy showdown with Princeton on Saturday. Rather, it’s blazing through them in convincing fashion.

Yesterday’s 5-0 victory over New Hampshire was the Crimson’s most complete effort of the season. Junior Mina Pell scored two goals and assisted on another in the game’s first 24 minutes to give Harvard (9-3, 4-0 Ivy) a quick 3-0 lead. Unlike earlier action this season, the Crimson did not let down with the sizeable advantage. That bodes well for the team’s ability to compete against the best.

“Putting 70 minutes together and having everyone contribute out there definitely gives you confidence going into tougher teams where you have to play a 70-minute game,” Pell said. “The fact that we’ve been playing the full game definitely gives us confidence going into BC and Princeton.”

New Hampshire (11-5) was no walkover opponent either. The Wildcats had won 11 of 13 games entering the day, including victories over No. 18 Boston University and UConn, the latter of which beat the No. 19 Crimson. But Harvard held off the Wildcats and crushed their hopes for a victory over a second nationally-ranked opponent.

“One of the things we expected of them was to be very fast,” said Harvard goalkeeper Katie Zacarian, who made six saves for the shutout. “We totally shut them down and controlled the speed of the game.”

Harvard took the lead 17 minutes into the match on a penalty corner. From the top of the circle, the Crimson tried an option where junior Liz Andrews found Pell at the left corner of the net. Pell crossed the ball and set up sophomore Tiffany Egnaczyk with an open net, which she did not miss.

A most crucial moment of the game came after the first score. In recent games, the Crimson had promptly given up corners, or often goals, soon after taking the lead. Freshman Jen McDavitt would have none of that this time, as she reacquired possession of the ball soon after the Wildcat restart, and ultimately earned Harvard the next corner.

Within two minutes of the first strike, Harvard scored a second penalty corner goal. This time, Pell finished the job herself, deflecting a Kate McDavitt shot into the net. The quick doubling of the lead dampened New Hampshire’s spirits.

“It totally dictated the momentum of the game our way, and we never let up,” Zacarian said.

With 11 minutes left in the half, Pell’s second goal of the game near-well iced it. She intercepted a misplayed defensive transfer, walked in on a breakaway and scored her second goal of the game to put the Crimson up 3-0.

Harvard still didn’t let down after the half, even with the 3-0 lead—a sharp contrast to the Crimson’s last game where it led 3-0 against Yale and never found the net again. Sophomore Shelley Maasdorp scored on a backhanded shot off a penalty corner just 2:42 into the second half, and senior forward Philomena Gambale capped the scoring 10 minutes later.

For the game, Harvard outcornered New Hampshire, 12-6. Pell said the team’s improved ability to draw corners has helped the team’s success on them through repetition.

New Hampshire could not respond after falling behind early.

“In the beginning, there was a lot of pressure on our goal, but as the score kept going up, they were broken down,” said Harvard captain Katie Scott. “They’re a skilled a team. They had opportunities to score, but they didn’t capitalize on them.”

With yesterday’s victory, plus Thursday’s win over No. 15 California, the Crimson should see its nationally ranking rise in the coming week.

Scott agreed that the team is looking as good as it has since she’s been at Harvard.

“It’s late in the season, and things are just really starting to come together,” Scott said. “Things we’ve been working on all season are falling into place.”

The Crimson will take a rest day tomorrow, before resuming practice on Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday’s game against No. 17 Boston College.

The Eagles (11-4) had a higher national ranking earlier in the season, but they’ve slipped as of late, and they’ll probably slip again after falling into third place in the Big East with a loss to Villanova this weekend.

Harvard beat BC 5-0 last season and 2-0 the year before that. The Crimson will look to make a statement against the Eagles in its final game leading into Saturday’s showdown at archrival Princeton that could well decide the Ivy title.

—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at remer@fas.harvard.edu.