On Wednesday evening, the field hockey team suffered a 2-1 loss at home to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Despite losing their eighth straight game of the season, the Bears' play was a big step in the right direction.
Victoria Sacco '09 scored her second goal of the season for Brown (0-8), who held its own against the Minutewomen (5-5). The Minutewomen nearly upset No. 4 University of Connecticut on Saturday.
"Last night was by far the best that we've played this season," said Head Coach Tara Harrington '94. "We kept plugging away with our game plan and sticking to the basics and doing the fundamentals well. ... The kids felt good about their performance. We certainly never feel good about losing, but we felt like there was a spark there that had been missing."
Much of the game was a defensive struggle played in the midfield. Brown managed to get off only five shots, but the defense held firm in limiting UMass to only nine shots.
"Our defense played very well all over the field, from our forward line to our back line," Harrington said. "We've really been working on the organization of our defensive backfield, our body positioning (and) footwork. (Against UMass) it really clicked. All of those things happened all over the field, from our forwards in recovery, right back to our sweeper. To see that was terrific."
The teams had a combined total of only seven shots in the first half, but the Minutewomen managed to break through. Erin Parker got a pass from Katie Kelly in front of the goal and fired a shot into the back of the cage at 20:57. The tally gave UMass a one-goal advantage it would carry into the intermission.
UMass came out hot in the second half, taking four penalty corners and launching five shots during a three-minute span that started seven minutes into the second period. Lauren Kessler '11, making her first collegiate start in place of Kristen Hodavance '08, saved three consecutive point-blank shots to keep the Minutewomen off the board.
"We got caught back on our heels a little bit," Harrington said. "It was a fast-paced game. ... I think we just got caught in a little lull, but we called a timeout (to) sort it out. (The players) collected themselves, kicked it back into gear, went right back down the field and continued to compete until the end of that game."
Brown struck back to tie the game on a penalty corner less than three minutes after the onslaught ended, with 21 minutes left in the game. Jackie Connard '10 passed the ball to the top of the circle, Sara Eaton '09 settled it and Sacco unleashed a shot that ricocheted off UMass goalie Sarah Williams' pads and into the cage at 47:08.
"Tying the game was a really great feeling because we needed it," Sacco said. "We were playing so well during that game and everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing. We thought that tying the game up gave us that chance of being able to get the win. Unfortunately, it didn't happen, but there were definitely positive things that happened during the game."
Sacco's blast turned out to be Brown's only shot of the second half. The UMass attack slowed down as well, but the Minutewomen seized their opportunity. With 9:22 left in the game, Lauren Gillespie tipped in a pass from Jamie Bourazeris for the game-winning goal.
Harrington said the team's strong play could mark a turning point for the Bears.
"Something's starting to click for (the players)," she said. "They did well against a great team yesterday. There is a confidence that we're going to go forward from yesterday and build upon that for the second half of our season."
Sacco agreed that the game built confidence. "The way we played yesterday definitely shows us that we have plenty of (ability) to improve over the rest of the season," she said. "I think that over the coming games you're going to definitely see some great things happen with our team."
On Sunday, the Bears will look to continue their solid play on a trip to Piscataway, N.J., where they will face Rutgers University.
