By Jonathan Raymond
A strong, evenly played first half gave way to a second half where Harvard proved to be too much for the women’s field hockey team yesterday, as the Huskies lost 2-0.
The team controlled possession throughout the first half, outshooting Harvard 4-2. The Huskies’ inability to find net in the first half was their undoing, as the Crimson scored twice within a span of five minutes midway through the second half.
“We dominated the first half, but we only got four shots on goal,” said head coach Cheryl Murtagh. “You can’t win games if you don’t get shots; if you don’t get penalty corners.”
The Huskies failed to capitalize on a flurry of activity in front of the net as the first half came to a close. This plagued them again shortly into the second half, when Harvard successfully stopped back-to-back penalty corners.
The game remained scoreless until the 56th minute when Harvard freshman midfielder Chloe Keating was given a wide open shot after a pass into the circle. She found the back of the net, lifting the Crimson up 1-0.
“That one goal killed us. We leave a player wide open in the circle, you can’t do that,” Murtagh said. “I do think that made a difference, especially for us right now where we’re not putting the ball in when we should.”
The goal proved to be a huge momentum shift in favor of Harvard, and the Huskies were unable to respond. Five minutes later, sophomore midfielder Kristin Bannon scored the second Harvard goal, with Keating tallying the assist.
A tough late stretch in the second half overshadowed an otherwise well-played game by the Huskies.
“We had a good passing game. I thought we were finding the free player pretty easily,” Murtagh said. “I thought our defense was good in the first half.”
Still, the team needed more tenacity on the offensive side, she said.
“We had some penalty corners, but we didn’t get those second and third shots,” Murtagh said. “You need to get shots on goal, but then you need to follow up shots. You have to put pressure on teams.”
Senior goaltender Liz Centofanti, who tallied two saves in the match, said the loss was especially rough.
“We just didn’t come out in the second half like we had hoped to and perform,” she said. “It’s a pretty tough loss. Actually, it’s a very tough loss for us right now.”
The Huskies will look to rebound this weekend as they resume conference play at home against Delaware and Towson. The games are key to getting the season back on track.
“We have some conference games this weekend, which are huge for us,” Centofanti said. “We’re 0-2 in the conference now and to get back to .500 in the conference is going to be huge for us. We must win those games.”
To accomplish this, Centofanti said the team will be looking to make some adjustments.
“I think we need to come out a little bit stronger and maintain more intensity throughout the whole game,” she said. “We just need to come out and put the ball on the net and play better defense and put together a better game.”
Murtagh said she will be looking for someone to take the lead on offense.
“It’s up to them. We have some good forwards that can score but nobody seems to want to step up right now,” she said.
The Huskies are now 4-7 (0-2 Colonial Athletic Association) on the season. They will face off against Delaware Friday and against Towson Sunday. Both games are at Sweeney Field at 2 p.m.
