The field hockey team snapped its five-game losing streak Sunday with a 2-1 victory against Holy Cross. Jaclyn Torres ’17, a Herald arts and culture editor, and Gina Openshaw ’20 led the Bears’ (7-7, 2-3 Ivy) comeback effort with second-half goals, while goalie Katie Hammaker ’19 kept Holy Cross scoreless after its breakthrough in the 23rd minute.
The victory against Holy Cross proved a necessary tonic for a team coming off a five-game losing streak, including three consecutive losses in league play. Bruno’s final loss in that streak came Friday against Cornell, in which the Big Red scored six goals in 10 minutes on the way to defeating Brown 6-1. Katarina Angus ’17.5 scored in the final minute to stave off a shutout for Bruno, who otherwise failed to take advantage of several scoring opportunities.
Despite the lopsided scoring, Brown played a competitive match against Cornell, tallying eight shots to its opponent’s 12.
“I definitely think the score didn’t reflect the type of game we played against Cornell,” Torres said. “I thought we played really hard and they happened to capitalize on key moments and small little mistakes. There’s no one person to blame for the loss: They just did a better job of executing.”
Following Friday’s home defeat, the team held a meeting to boost morale and discuss its collective approach for the final few games of the season. “We talked about wanting to end the season on a positive note and have fun,” Torres said. “We wanted to fall back in love with the game again.”
The team’s meeting certainly boosted its confidence for Sunday’s game, as Bruno applied constant pressure to Holy Cross’ defense on the way to 20 total shots. But it was the Crusaders’ Rachel Lapar who scored the only goal of the first half, beating Hammaker in the 23rd minute.
“Even though we were down, we’ve been in that situation before and we kept our composure and kept going and pushing in front of the goalmouth,” Torres said.
Brown’s pressure would finally pay off in the 54th minute when Torres scored on a semi-blind shot for her team-leading sixth goal of the season. “I didn’t know whether it was going in or not, … but when I heard it hit the goal backboard I knew momentum had immediately shifted,” Torres said.
Indeed, Brown would ride the momentum from Torres’ goal, scoring again in the 57th minute when Openshaw scored on a penalty corner off a pass from Angus. Hammaker then shut the door on Holy Cross’ attack, recording seven saves on the way to victory.
