Field Hockey Pushes No. 3 MSU To Its Limit in NCAAs

The No. 14 Harvard field hockey team lived up to its expectations and put the nation’s third-best team on its heels in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday.

But the unfortunate reality for the Crimson was that it fell just short of translating a convincing 20-2 second-half shot advantage into a comeback from a two-goal halftime deficit, as Michigan State ended Harvard’s NCAA run with a 4-3 victory.

The Crimson (12-6) did become the only team other than No. 1 Old Dominion to score three goals against the Spartans (22-2), and the only team besides defending national champion Michigan to outscore them in a half.

Despite its offensive success—two goals by junior Liz Andrews on penalty corners and another goal from junior Mina Pell—the Crimson still felt it should have scored more on its home turf.

“Our team was very comfortable with the situation out there,” said Harvard coach Sue Caples. “It took a few minutes in the beginning, but then we dominated and possessed the ball. We did everything except put the ball in the net.”

Harvard won eight penalty corners in the second half, but could not cut into its 4-2 halftime deficit until Andrews hit the back of the net on the final one with 1:37 left. The score snapped a streak of 22 straight games in which Michigan State goalkeeper Kirkaldy had allowed two or fewer goals.

Caples called timeout to set up a last-gasp rally, but the Crimson failed to maintain any possession of the ball deeper in the Spartans’ end as time ticked away.

The Harvard offense had several near-misses prior to Andrews’ second goal. The Crimson’s biggest obstacle proved not to be Michigan State goalkeeper Christina Kirkaldy, the national leader in goals-against average and save percentage entering the day, but rather the Spartan defenders.

On three occasions, Spartan players packing the net and made defensive saves after Harvard had gotten the ball behind Kirkaldy. Kirkaldy herself made just four saves, including a couple one-on-one stops against Harvard senior Philomena Gambale.

The Crimson executed its game plan without fail in the second half by maintaining possession and quickly forcing turnovers deep in the Spartans’ defensive end after losing the ball. Michigan State sustained little second-half offense other than two penalty corners.

“We did a great job of not letting the ball out of their defensive 15 and that made a big difference,” McDavitt said. “We played more of an even game the first half with them, and then we dominated the second half. It was do-or-die.”

The first half was more closely played than the 4-2 result might have indicated. Through the first 30 minutes, every time Michigan State scored, Harvard answered within seven minutes.

The Crimson lost the game by surrendering two goals in the half’s last five minutes.

Michigan State went ahead 3-2 on a well-executed penalty corner, as leading scorer Annebet Beerman took the initial drive and Michelle Carstens deflected the ball up over Crimson goalkeeper Katie Zacarian.

Just a few minutes later, the Spartans brought the ball deep into the Harvard end and lobbed a high, troublesome ball towards Zacarian. When Zacarian failed to clear the ball after making the initial save, Spartan Cynthia Martin crashed the net and finished for the 4-2 lead.

“Michigan State has a great offense,” Zacarian said. “They were in the right place at the right time, all the time. They are quick. To their credit, they did a great job being in a good threatening space. They capitalized on their opportunities.”

Caples said she had talked to the team about not conceding early, but Harvard did just that. Right from the opening whistle, the Crimson passed the ball back and turned it over.

Within 70 seconds, Harvard surrendered its first corner. Within seven minutes, Harvard had surrendered its second corner and Michigan State’s first goal.

“We needed to make sure we came out strong in the first half and not try to play catch-up,” McDavitt said.

Harvard finally sustained some momentum 12 minutes into the second half and won its first corner, which Andrews converted to make the score 1-1.

Upon tying the game, Harvard went on the defensive again. At the 16-minute mark, the Crimson surrendered a breakaway, but Zacarian cut it off. In a similar situation two minutes later, Zacarian made the initial save and stretched out to stop the rebound from going in, but she couldn’t quite close the door on the far corner.

Harvard’s second goal was set up as Pell received the ball in front of the net from Gambale. With her impenetrable back to her defender, Pell powered the ball inside the far post to tie the game 2-2 at the 28:43 mark.

Because the Crimson could not tie the game in the end, this year’s NCAA tournament went down as another postseason learning experience instead of a victory celebration. But with only two seniors graduating from this year’s team, there will be plenty to build on.

“Tournament experience is really great, we love being here, and we’re going to be right back in this position next year,” Zacarian said. “[Next year] will be here soon enough, and we’ll be able to come back again with all we’ve learned and our progress, so we’re excited.”

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

Michigan St. 4, Field Hockey 3

at Jordan Field

NCAA First Round

Harvard (12-6) 2 1 — 3

Michigan St. (22-2) 4 0 — 4

Scoring: M, Keyser 7:18. H, Andrews (Egnaczyk, Ahn) 13:48. M, Michelle Hunh-Ba 21:18. H, Pell (Gambale) 27:43. M, Carstens (Beerman) 31:24. M, Martin 33:44. H, Andrews (Egnaczyk, Ahn) 68:43. Shots: H 5-20 25, M 9-2 11. Penalty Corners: H 2-8 10, M 4-2 6. Goalies: H, Zacarian (3). M, Kirkaldy (5). A: 487.