The field hockey team closed out the season with a 4-1 win over Yale on an emotional Saturday afternoon on Warner Roof. Leslie Springmeyer '12 recorded a hat trick and Victoria Sacco '09 scored the go-ahead goal to lead the Bears (5-12, 1-6 Ivy) to their second straight season-ending upset of the Bulldogs (7-10, 2-5) and send the senior class of Sara Eaton '09, Natalie Harrington '09, Ann LeClerc '09, Sacco and Tess Standa '09 out with a victory.
"It's great to finish my career with a win," Sacco said. "It's definitely a bittersweet feeling, though, having the four years go by so quickly, but it's definitely finishing on a really good note."
Springmeyer played a large role, scoring three goals and adding an assist to finish the season as the team's leading scorer with 21 points.
"All my goals, I took my time, thought them out and really executed them," Springmeyer said. "I'm glad I could have done that for the team to secure the win for us."
The game did not start well for Brown. Yale took the lead just 2:25 into the game when Ali Rotondo beat Brown goalkeeper Caroline Washburn '12 with a shot from the top left of the circle to the right corner of the cage.
"Giving up the goal in the first couple minutes was definitely tough," Sacco said. "Our coaches warned us that they do come out hard and fast in the first couple minutes of the game. They did catch us off guard in that one moment but it really didn't (affect us) for the rest of the game."
Displeased with organization and communication problems, Head Coach Tara Harrington '94 called a timeout 8:44 after the goal.
"We talked about good pressure, good communication, knowing when to kill the play or stop the ball," Harrington said. "And I think that after we had that timeout we started to sort it out (and) organize more ... We were winning the ball back, and then the momentum started to go our way."
The Bears tied the score with 13:03 left in the half when Springmeyer converted on a pass from Natalie Harrington, earning her the second assist of her career.
"I got a great pass from Natalie," Springmeyer said. "She had an amazing game. She eliminated a couple defenders, gave a perfect pass to me, and I was able to put it by the goalie."
Coach Harrington said that the players gained confidence as they found their footing.
"The kids knew that they would (tie the game)," she said. "I think it was just a matter of making the opportunities for ourselves, and they started to do that. It really started to click. We started to move the ball well. We had good awareness when we received the ball to find our upfield attacker."
Brown controlled play for the remainder of the half, running up a 14-8 advantage in shots, but could not take the lead, thanks to Katie Bolling's three saves for Yale. Washburn stopped one shot in the first half. Harrington said the team talked about "simple adjustments" at halftime.
"We went into this game with a couple key points, keeping the ball moving ... making sure that we were fronting and making good decisions to intercept, and then really attacking in numbers and with speed," she said. "We worked really hard all week on our counterattack."
But the tie-breaking goal for the Bears came not on the counterattack but on a penalty corner. Springmeyer sent the ball in, Michaela Seigo '10 stopped it and Sacco knocked it into the back of the cage 12:32 into the second half to give her team the lead in the final game of her career.
"It was an amazing feeling," Sacco said. "Definitely the highlight, finishing off my career on a really good note. It was a great corner play and was executed very well by every member of the team. It gave us that extra boost that we needed to get the win."
The Bulldogs fought back to earn three penalty corners in a row, but could not get a shot past Washburn. Finally, on the third penalty corner the Bears picked off the ball and generated a counterattack. Springmeyer found the back of the cage four minutes after Sacco's goal to double the lead.
"My second goal was kind of that perfect goal that you always imagine in your mind," Springmeyer said. "Tacy (Zysk '11) had two defenders on her and gave me the perfect (pass). I was one-on-one with the goalie, no one around me, and I was able to pull, move her and knock it right in the goal."
Springmeyer struck again 1:44 later after getting the ball right in front of the goal. Bolling had to dive to stop her first shot, but Springmeyer collected the rebound. The ball dribbled to the left of the sprawled goalie and into the cage for a commanding 4-1 lead with 16:34 left. Yale continued to challenge Brown down the stretch, running up an advantage of 8-2 in penalty corners in the half, but Washburn made eight saves to preserve the big lead and slam the door on the Bulldogs.
"We haven't had that (big a) lead in any of our games yet, so it's great to end the season with that," Springmeyer said. "I think this whole team deserves it."
After improving by four wins over last year, hope for next season shines brightly for the Bears. Harrington said that she believes success will follow a firm grasp of the fundamentals.
"I know that we will be fit, and I know that we will be strong, and I know that we will be mentally tough, and then the rest will take care of itself," she said.
Sacco knows the Bears will go far after she graduates.
"It's an amazing group of girls, and all of them have such great heart and dedication and really are passionate about the sport," she said. "You're going to see great things from this team in the future."
