It was a tale of two halves for the field hockey team on Friday, but a strong finish was not enough for Brown to beat Villanova. The Bears (1-2) succumbed to the Wildcats (5-1), 1-0, in Villanova, Penn., after surrendering a goal less than three minutes before halftime.
"(The Wildcats are) a very, very fast team all over the field and they're very aggressive, and I think we just got caught back on our heels a little bit," Head Coach Tara Harrington '94 said. "Once we settled in and sorted it out, we had a much better second half, but unfortunately they capitalized and put one in the net in the first period."
It was the lone blemish on an otherwise sterling defensive effort. Brown held Villanova to 14 shots, and goalkeeper Lauren Kessler '11 made eight saves. Victoria Sacco '09 attributed it to a group effort.
"We've really been focusing on our pressing system this season," said Sacco, a defender. "It starts with the attacking forwards all the way back to the defense. Whenever we were all working very well as a unit with our press and really focusing on it, it helped to keep them out of our defensive circle."
Harrington praised the leadership of two senior defenders, especially Kessler.
"She's extremely vocal in our backfield; she's really helping settle our defense in and keep our defense organized," Harrington said. "I think two of our seniors, Ann LeClerc ('09) and Vicky Sacco, our left and right (fullbacks), have been very steady. They, too, have been a strong organizing force. Vicky's been going on the attack a lot. From the fullback position going on the attack gives you numbers upfield."
Brown's offense needed the help against a Villanova team that had shut out four of their first five opponents. The Wildcats used a swarming defense to hold the Bears to only 13 shots, and Villanova's Maura McCormick matched Kessler with eight saves.
"I think our forwards had a little trouble shaking their defenders, and their defenders were quick to get a first step to the ball," Harrington said.
Villanova held an 8-5 advantage in shots and a 4-2 advantage in penalty corners, but the game remained scoreless for more than 32 minutes. Villanova got on the board with 2:35 remaining in the half when Lauren Wuzzardo scored her third goal of the season, beating Kessler with a shot from the top of the circle.
"It's always tough to give up a goal that close (to halftime)," LeClerc said. "We just lost it for a second, and losing it for ... that quick second allowed them to score."
It could have been a crushing blow for the Bears, but the team refused to let up.
"It was definitely something that threw us off a little bit, going into the half being down," Sacco said, "But I think it ended up helping us for the second half to come out with a great deal of intensity and a lot of fire that really put Villanova on their heels for the second half."
Brown rallied for an 8-6 advantage in shots in the second half, getting a shot in the arm from a key late substitution giving the team a good chance to tie the game.
"We got Natalie Harrington ('09) into the midfield towards the end of the second half, and she was a really nice spark plug coming off the bench," Coach Harrington said. "She came into the game and really lifted the level of intensity when we really needed it. ... We did a good job at the end of the game of really gutting it out and trying to give us a couple more opportunities to score."
With under five minutes left in the game, Sara Eaton '09 took a shot that was saved by McCormick, but Brown got a penalty corner. McCormick denied the ensuing shot by Katie Hyland '11, then stopped a shot by Leslie Springmeyer '11 two minutes later to seal the shutout, leaving the Bears to wonder what might have happened had they played a stronger first half.
"I think we had a lot of fight, but it just came a little bit too late," LeClerc said.
The Bears will look to bounce back when they travel to Boston on Wednesday to face Northeastern (4-2) in their final tune-up before they take on Columbia in their Ivy League and home opener on Saturday.
"Northeastern is a really strong team, (and) they play in a really physical and tough league (the Colonial Athletic Association), but I definitely think we're ready for it," LeClerc said. "We had a lot of positive things that came out of Villanova. If we take those and move forward, then I think we'll be in pretty good shape for Wednesday's game."