Notebook: Corners Prove Decisive in UConn's Win

The penalty corner lived up to its name last night.

Two of the three Connecticut goals came by means of the corner, and with a 14-4 edge in the category, the No. 6 Huskies (8-0) were able to consistently keep the No. 18 Harvard (4-2) defense scrambling.

In the Crimson’s first five games, only once did it not possess the advantage in corners—the game against Penn on Sept. 11, when the Quakers held an 11-8 margin. That game also marked Harvard’s lowest total in the stat.

But last evening, it seemed that the Crimson must have done something to offend the referees, as time and time again questionable fouls were called and dubious penalty corners were awarded to UConn.

“That’s part of the game, so you’ve just got to play with whatever the referees [give you] and whatever the calls are,” senior forward Tiffany Egnaczyk said.

When asked about the glut of penalty corners awarded to the Huskies, senior goalie Aliaa Remtilla said, “You mean the penalty corners that should have actually happened? I mean, I’m not going to criticize the reffing, but I don’t know that all of [the penalty corner calls] were necessarily valid calls.”

THEY GAVE UP THREE, BUT....

Last night marked the first time the Harvard defense was taxed in earnest.

UConn rolled into town averaging almost 23 shots per game and knocking in close to four-and-a-half goals per contest.

“We knew before [the game] that inside the circle they let it rip,” Remtilla said.

Despite a very persistent Crimson defense, the Huskies got off 19 shots. Prior to last night, Harvard had not allowed more than nine shots in any of its games, and was averaging six shots against.

“They’re the best team we’ve faced so far, so that’s definitely why we faced so many shots,” Remtilla said. “I think that our defense did a really good job, though.”

Remtilla turned in an excellent performance, preventing the high-octane UConn offense from really lighting it up.

Flying all over the turf, kicking balls away and making diving stops, the senior net minder made a season-high ten saves.

“She had a great game, her timing was there,” coach Sue Caples said. “She came out and played the ball well.”

Though the keeper was not the only one making the great saves.

Four minutes into the second half, junior forward Beth Sackovich made a heroic effort to prevent a Husky shot that seemed certain to float into the net from striking home.

Captain midfielder Kate Gannon and junior midfielder Jane Sackovich also pitched in with defensive saves as well.

OH HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN

One of the Ivy League’s most impressive streaks was snapped, and another even more remarkable run looks to be in jeopardy, when Princeton fell to Dartmouth 3-1 last Saturday.

The Tigers—the ten-time defending Ivy champs—had its 32-game conference winning streak snapped with the loss and fell to 1-5. The last time Princeton was downed by an Ivy rival was Oct. 9, 1999. Thanks to a punishing schedule, which has included matchups with No. 1 Maryland, No. 6 UCONN, No. 11 Northeastern and No. 14 Delaware, the Tigers have won only one of their first six contests, a 6-0 victory at Yale.

At this point, the Big Green are the only team 2-0 in the conference. But following a 4-1 loss to Kent State on Sept. 4 and a 2-0 loss to Central Michigan on Sept. 5, Dartmouth looks vulnerable.

All this is good news for the Crimson, which hasn’t had any piece of an Ivy title since 1991.

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