Field Hockey Splits A Pair of Weekend Games

The Harvard women’s field hockey team (8-8, 3-3 Ivy) split its two games this past weekend, defeating Dartmouth (7-9, 2-4) on Saturday before falling to No. 12 Boston College (11-7, 1-5 ACC) on Sunday.

BOSTON COLLEGE 5, HARVARD 0

Harvard was shut out during its last non-conference match of the season on Sunday against Boston College. The matchup was only the second time all season in which the Crimson didn’t manage to score a goal and was the team’s second-biggest loss of the season in terms of point differential.

“We’re really disappointed and are just trying to figure out what went wrong,” Harvard co-captain Caroline Code said. “We’re just trying to think about how we can better prepare mentally next time.”

The Crimson defense limited Boston College to only one goal in the first half, but faltered in the second half as the Eagles found the back of the net four times—three of them coming within eight minutes of each other. The Eagles displayed a balanced attack, with each goal in the contest coming from a different player.

Harvard senior goalkeeper Issy Davies recorded nine saves on the matchup, but couldn’t stem the onslaught of the Eagles offense, which attempted 29 shots—with more than half of them on goal—to Harvard’s two. The Eagles also outnumbered the Crimson in penalty corners, attempting 13 on the night—again to Harvard’s two—and finding success on one of them.

“We competed with Boston College but just couldn’t pull out enough goals,” Code said. “Of course, they’re very highly ranked, but that’s something to keep working on as the program gets better.”

HARVARD 4, DARTMOUTH 1

With about eight minutes left in the game, Crimson senior Dina Sinno launched a long pass to senior forward Elizabeth Jacobson, who was positioned right in front of the goal. In one smooth motion, Jacobson caught the pitch-perfect bullet and flicked it into the back of the net.

This senior-to-senior exchange, which capped off a dominant 4-1 victory for Harvard, capped the last home game for the Crimson. While the seniors have been crucial to the team’s success this year, Harvard coach Tjerk van Herwaarden sees the program flourishing for many years to come.

“When you look at the team, we can rotate the freshmen in as easily as we would rotate sophomores or juniors or seniors,” van Herwaarden said. “That’s a great sign the program is in great shape.”

Jacobson in particular was crucial to Saturday afternoon’s victory against Dartmouth. Although the game was tied 1-1 after the first half, the scoreboard failed to capture the pressured produced by the Harvard offense, which attempted ten shots in the period to Dartmouth’s five.

The second half was even more lopsided, with the Crimson firing 13 shots—three of which found the back of the net—to the Big Green’s four.

Two of those second-half goals came from Jacobson, who now has 11 goals on the season and 24 for her career, good for ninth all-time among Crimson field hockey players.

“[Elizabeth] has been a leader on the field and set the tone for the team’s whole work ethic,” van Herwaarden said. “Besides the goals, she’s been a leader for the whole program.”

Along with Jacobson, junior forward Marissa Balleza is also mounting an assault on the record books. A goal on Saturday in the 48th minute put her at 12 for the season and 33 for her career, tying her for second all-time in career goals.

With the win, Harvard is now 3-3 in Ivy League play, good for fourth in the conference. The Crimson’s final matchup is next weekend against Columbia, which the team must win in order to match last season’s four conference wins.