Harvard Goes Down To Unbeaten Huskies

After scoring 15 goals over its first four games of the season, the Harvard field hockey team was held to just a single shot on goal last night, as it was shut out by the fifth-ranked Huskies from the University of Connecticut.
The Crimson (3-2, 0-1 Ivy) got off to a slow start, surrendering five goals in the first half. But Harvard came back stronger in the second half, letting in just a single shot thanks to defensive adjustments and a change in attitude.
“[In the second half] we stepped up and played a little looser and were able to go after it better,” said Crimson head coach Sue Caples.
The Huskies (8-0, 1-0 Big East) were led by four-time Big East Offensive Player of the Week Loren Sherer, who netted her 12th and 13th goals of the season in the first frame.
Sherer’s first goal came just four minutes and four seconds into the game, scoring off a penalty corner from Allison Anjulo. Connecticut struck again 22 seconds later, this time off a tip from a center cross.
After another penalty corner resulted in a Husky goal just after the eight-minute mark, Connecticut held a 3-0 advantage. Sherer scored again at 9:40 for the Huskies’ fourth goal in the game’s first ten minutes.
Connecticut’s final score of the first half came at 18:49, and the Huskies rolled to a 5-0 halftime lead.
“It was a great experience playing such a talented team,” said co-captain Elizabeth Goodman-Bacon, who felt the tough matchup would improve her team’s play in the future.
“The speed of the game should raise our level of play,” Caples said.
Despite a rough start, freshman goalkeeper Cynthia Tassopoulos recorded 23 saves, six more than she made in her first four games combined.
“[The high number of shot attempts] was expected from such a strong team as UConn, but I felt like our defense really stepped up and minimized [Connecticut’s] opportunities to score,” Tassopoulos said.
Both Goodman-Bacon and Caples felt last night was Tassopoulos’ strongest performance of the season.
“It was really outstanding,” Goodman-Bacon said. “She really had our backs in there.”
Tassopoulos, a native of Dallas, Texas, has started in goal in each of the Crimson’s five games.
“[Tassopoulos has] shown a lot of good leadership back there,” Caples said.
In addition to a strong performance from the Harvard netminder, last night’s game showed Harvard could make effective adjustments. After allowing four goals within the first 10 minutes of play and five by the end of the period, the Crimson changed its press in an attempt to contain the Connecticut offense.
And for the most part, it worked. Not only did the team allow just a single goal, but also its changed style of play presented it with more offensive opportunities.
Sophomore Carly Dickson tried to get things going offensively for the Crimson in the second half, leading her team with two shot attempts.
“I thought it took us a while to get used to [Connecticut’s] high-paced game, but we made the proper adjustments in the second half and played a noticeably better game,” Tassopoulos said.
It was not until the last five minutes of the game that the Huskies added their final goal, this time from Robin Kleine.  
Harvard started the season on a high note, earning three early non-conference victories before dropping its Ivy League opener against Yale, 4-3, last Saturday.
Harvard hopes that last night’s strong second half play can carry over into its Ancient Eight home opener against Penn this Saturday. Specifically, the Crimson aims to employ a more organized attack.
“We’re looking to find a rhythm early with our offensive attack and take the experience of playing a top team in the country into the rest of our season,” Tassopoulos said.
Harvard’s next opponent, the 2-4 Quakers, should provide less of a challenge than No. 5 Connecticut. However, as Harvard enters the heart of its season, the team is not shying away from tougher matchups.
“We’re excited to play more teams like UConn,” Goodman-Bacon said. “We’re just sort of getting into our season.”