Columbia Outlasts Crimson in Overtime

Having its best start to the season since 2005, the Harvard field hockey team (5-12, 2-5 Ivy League) couldn’t have found a more heart-breaking way to end the season.

After a comeback that fell just short in overtime in its home finale against New Hampshire, the Crimson traveled to New York City to face Columbia (9-8, 3-4) in its Ivy League and season finale. This time, Harvard yet again fell behind early and another comeback couldn’t stop the Crimson from ending its season with two consecutive overtime losses.

“Even though it was a loss, I thought it was a good game to end the season on,” freshman Cynthia Tassopoulos said. “We really went out there and fought our hardest and played a strong game.”

Following a trend Harvard has developed in the latter part of the season, the Crimson fell behind early to the Lions. A Columbia penalty corner shot was blocked, but the Lions’ Maggie O’Connor corralled the rebound and notched her first goal of the season to put Columbia ahead, 1-0, just three minutes into the contest.

Harvard’s defense kept Columbia in check for the rest of the half but failed to convert on several of its own opportunities.

“We came out slow, which has been a problem for us all year long, but I think it showed our character as a team that we were able to take them to overtime and end on a competitive note,” sophomore Allie Kimmel said.

The Crimson was applying pressure midway through the first half and received two penalty corners within twenty seconds during the 22nd minute of play. Harvard failed to cash those chances in, and the Lions followed with a quick timeout and some substitutions that iced the Crimson’s gaining momentum.

Following a clutch save by Tassopoulos, Harvard brought back the pressure late in the first half and earned a penalty corner with 19 seconds left in the first half. Co-captain Kristin Bannon got the ball to sophomore Carly Dickson, but Dickson’s shot was blocked as time expired, preserving Columbia’s 1-0 lead heading into halftime.

After the Lions’ quick start to the first half, the Crimson would be sure to open the second half with one of its own.

Harvard gained a penalty corner less than two minutes into the second half, but sophomore Georgia McGillivray’s shot was blocked. But McGillivray would soon find redemption as another Crimson penalty corner seven seconds later saw passes from Bannon and Kimmel find McGillivray, who put the shot through to the back of the net to bring Harvard to 1-1.

Following another Dickson shot that was blocked by the Lions’ defense, Columbia would threaten with three consecutive penalty corners within a minute later in the second half, but two Tassopoulos saves preserved the tie for the Crimson.

With ten minutes left in the game, Columbia’s Julia Garrison was able to manage two quick shots on Harvard’s defense. After the first was blocked, Garrison took a pass off a penalty corner and got a clean look at goal, but her shot sailed wide.

Garrison got a green card late in regulation for pushing around some of the Harvard defenders, but she would manage another shot with just over a minute left in regulation. The Crimson weren’t willing to give in so soon, and another Tassopoulos save, her seventh of the game, sent the match into overtime.

The Crimson got the first shot in overtime, but Kimmel’s attempt at the 73:16 mark sailed wide of the goal. After several minutes of fighting for possession, Columbia was awarded a penalty corner, and a pair of passes from the top found its way to the Lions’ Julia Garrison. Garrison made up for her earlier miscues and shot it past Tassopoulos at the 75:02 mark to secure the Lions victory, 2-1.

“We spent a lot of time earlier in the season learning our game strategy as a young team,” Tassopoulos said. “I think over the offseason we will work on individual skills and strength and some of the little things that will turn those closer games into wins next season.”

Both squads entered the game tied in the Ivy League standings, but Harvard finishes the season tied with Penn for sixth in the League while Columbia finishes fifth.

“We have a really young team, and a lot of us were thrown into Division I play really quickly,” Kimmel said. “I’m really excited [in the offseason] to build on our experiences this season, grow as a team, and continue to have the upperclassmen step up.”