Field Hockey Rolls Over Green

The Harvard field hockey team dominated Dartmouth this weekend to gain sole possession of second place in the Ivy League and keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive.

Sophomore Shelley Maasdorp provided all the offense that the Crimson would need, scoring two goals in the middle of the first period, en route to the 2-0 victory.

Her second goal was more impressive. Maasdorp intercepted the ball, cut her way around three defenders and, as she fell to the ground, lifted a reverse chip into the back of the net to extend the Crimson lead.

In addition to her acrobatic goal which extended the lead to two, Maasdorp scored her first goal on a free hit from just inside the top of the circle.

Freshman Jen McDavitt perfectly placed the pass to Maasdorp, who rocketed the shot into the right corner of the goal.

The Crimson (11-5, 5-1 Ivy) controlled the momentum throughout, taking 14 more shots and winning seven more penalty corners than the Big Green (10-6, 4-2).

Harvard struggled on its corners, failing to convert on all nine opportunities during the course of the game.

“I think we need to do a bit better on our corners,” Maasdorp said. “A lot of our corners were executed well, but Dartmouth just played well defensively.”

The Crimson victory was defined by near-misses.

“There were some really close shots,” said captain Katie Scott. “In the second half, all that was missing was the goal.”

Harvard limited Dartmouth to only four shots, all of which were brushed aside by junior goaltender Katie Zacarian.

The Crimson turned up the heat in the second half in an attempt to clamp down on an anticipated rally by the Big Green.

“I think we were expecting Dartmouth to come back very, very hard [in the second half],” Maasdorp said. “So we really all decided we were going to make sure they couldn’t come back.”

Harvard earned seven of its nine penalty corners and attempted 13 of its 18 shots in the period.

Despite the additional pressure, the Crimson was unable to extend its lead over the Big Green.

However, the effort prevented Dartmouth from rallying late. The Big Green was unable to muster more than two shots in the second half and never threatened Harvard’s lead.

The victory secured a Harvard second-place finish behind now nine-time defending Ivy champion Princeton. The Crimson could still secure a share of the Ivy title if the Tigers lose to Penn, but that is unlikely to happen since Princeton has lost one Ivy game in the past nine years.

Regardless, the Tigers have clinched the league’s automatic berth for the 16-team NCAA tournament, and the Crimson is on the bubble for an at-large bid.

Harvard was an at-large team in 2000 with a 12-5 record, but the Crimson cannot control whether that will be enough this season.

“All we can control right now is how we play and how we finish the season,” Scott said.

Seemingly irrelevant games suddenly have a significant impact on Harvard’s postseason chances. For instance, Princeton’s victory over No. 8 North Carolina yesterday dropped the Tar Heels under .500 for the season. North Carolina will now have to accomplish the unlikely feat of winning its ACC semifinal and final to finish .500 and qualify for an at-large berth. Another Tar Heel loss would open up a playoff spot for a bubble team like Harvard.

Scoreboard watching aside, the Crimson concludes regular season play this Saturday at home against Columbia.