NOTEBOOK: Field Hockey Can't Capitalize

The first two Eagles goals in Boston College’s 3-2 win over the Crimson last night came when Harvard was unable to rid the ball from the box.

Given multiple opportunities, the Eagles cashed in without thinking twice. Contrasted with the Crimson, who came up empty handed on numerous occasions, BC managed to overcome its deficit in shots on goal.

“We have to take our opportunities, we have to create more offense and then execute when we get it,” senior Shelley Maasdorp said. “I don’t know why we didn’t. I just don’t know.”

In the 19th minute, a centered pass found a BC player who tipped a shot that was stopped by senior goaltender Aliaa Remtilla. Remtilla attempted to smother the loose ball, but the swooping Eagles swarmed in and peppered the goal with shots. The Crimson defense could hold the deluge only so long, and Crystal Frates found the back of the net with a flick of her wrist.

Midway through the second half, BC again brought the ruckus before the cage. With too much pressure from the Eagles preventing the taxed Harvard defense from clearing the ball, Sara York got close and knocked a rebound home.

DID I JUST SEE THAT?

Perhaps the most spectacular goal of the year came in the eleventh minute of the second half. Junior midfielder Jen McDavitt intercepted a pass deep in BC territory, drove and spun, sending a pass to the right of junior midfielder Jane Sackovich. Lunging, Sackovich leveled a shot from her knees that skipped and shot forward into the lower left corner of the cage.

“That was a really spectacular shot,” sophomore midfielder Jen DeAngelis said. “The way she was falling and still able to hit it so hard, it was really amazing.”

SHOWDOWN SATURDAY

This is the weekend for Harvard field hockey. Sporting an undefeated 4-0 mark, the Crimson is at the top of the Ivy ledger, one-half game ahead of Princeton.

Following a 6-0 spanking of Yale, the Tigers fell to Dartmouth 3-1 in their next Ivy contest, and after brushing aside Columbia, Brown and Cornell, stand at 4-1 in the Ancient Eight.

Princeton has taken the last ten Ivy titles.

“We’re psyched, and we’re confident,” Maasdorp said. “We’re going to give it everything.”

I LIKE THE WAY YOU MOVE

Maasdorp was up to her old tricks last night, dribbling around defenders with flashy stick skills. Twice the senior broke through ranks of Eagles, charging nearly the full length of the field until she had a one-on-one with just the keeper. Both times Maasdorp was unable to beat the goalie. Still, with her score in the first three minutes, her 13th this year, she upped her Ivy-leading point total to 29.

—Staff writer J. Patrick Coyne can be reached at coyne@fas.harvard.edu.