Field Hockey Edges Cornell, Falls to UNH

The Harvard field hockey team split its two weekend home games, defeating Cornell, 2-1, on Saturday before losing to New Hampshire, 1-0, in overtime on Sunday.

Following two first half goals, the Crimson managed to hold off a second half surge from the Big Red on Saturday afternoon at Jordan Field. The 2-1 win was the team’s second Ivy League victory of the season following losses to Penn and Brown.

The win was especially big as Harvard (8-5, 2-2 Ivy) moved to within one game of first place in the Ancient Eight after handing Cornell (8-4, 3-1) its first conference loss of the season. There is now a four-way tie at the top of the standings with Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Princeton all sitting at 3-1 with three conference contests left to play.

“Cornell came in 3-0, and we knew we had a chance based on the scouting and how we’ve been playing so far this season,” said Harvard coach Tjerk van Herwaarden.“We had some unfortunate losses against Penn and Brown, and [now] the Ivy League is completely wide open. We had a mission to beat Cornell and regain our status in the Ivy League.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE 1, HARVARD 0 (OT)

Harvard had a quick turnaround following its big Ivy League victory when the team played host to New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon at Jordan Field. The Wildcats (5-10, 2-1 America East) were also coming off an important conference victory after defeating Vermont, 5-1, on Friday.

“UNH will be a great opportunity to get back at the way we would like to play games,” van Herwaarden said prior to the game. “I think [it] will be more of a technical-played game, which is typically something we deal very well with.”

Neither team was able to score in the 70 minutes of regulation, despite seven shots on goal by New Hampshire. The Crimson struggled to establish offensive momentum and was unable to register a single shot on goal.

In the fifth minute of overtime, Wildcat sophomore midfielder Lindsey Nerbonne dribbled to the top of the circle and fired the ball towards the inside right corner of the net. The unassisted shot finally made its way past junior goalkeeper Issy Davies, giving the visitors a 1-0 victory.

HARVARD 2, CORNELL 1

Following its two recent Ivy League losses, Harvard faced what was essentially a must-win contest against Cornell on Saturday afternoon.

The first half saw both teams struggle to maintain possession, but the Crimson was able to get on the scoreboard after senior forward Catriona McDonald put a pass from freshman midfielder Hannah Wellington into the back of the net for her second goal of the season.

Following the tally, the Big Red managed to create a few scoring chances against Davies. In the 24th minute, however, a shot from outside the arc by Harvard senior Noel Painter gave the Crimson a 2-0 lead going into halftime. The Los Gatos, Calif. native leads the team with seven goals this season.

“The ball got rejected by Cornell,” Painter said. “I happened to be at the right place at the right time, stopped it, and then I just hit it into the corner.”

Harvard completed many long passes to begin the second half, but a penalty corner in the 50th minute got Cornell on the scoreboard. Big Red senior midfielder Ann DiPastina took the corner, which was centered by junior midfielder Taylor Standiford and then scalded past Davies by junior back Marisa Siergiej.

“In the second half, it was a little harder,” Painter said. “We were on our heels a little bit, but I think at the end of the day, we got the win, which is all that matters.”

The Big Red was able to keep the pressure on the Crimson for the rest of the second half, with the team registering six more shots and attempting four more corners before the final horn sounded.