The field hockey team suffered a heartbreaking 2-0 loss to Harvard on Saturday on Warner Roof. In the first half, the Bears (2-7, 0-3 Ivy) produced what Head Coach Tara Harrington '94 called "some of the best field hockey that we've played as a team," but they went into halftime down 1-0 to the Crimson, leading to a frustrating final loss of 2-0 that left them wondering what could have been.
"We played well today and we were definitely the better team," said Ann LeClerc '09.
The Bears began the game with a bang, challenging the Crimson with their most aggressive attacking so far this season. Brown employed the bold strategy that Harrington said the team was emphasizing in preparation for the game. The strategy involved the defense joining the midfielders and the forwards in creating offensive pressure - something that had faltered in previous games. Developing this connection between all three lines, Brown outshot Harvard by a margin of only 7-6, but had a crucial 6-3 lead in shots on goal.
But the Bears were not able to capitalize on any of their chances, a product of both misfortune and strong play by Crimson goalkeeper Kylie Stone. Bruno's best chance came in the fourth minute on a penalty corner, when Abigail Taft '12 redirected a shot by Victoria Sacco '09 from the top of the circle near the front of the cage, but Stone stopped the ball before it could reach the cage to rob the Bears a golden opportunity. Brown created other chances, recording the most shots on goal in a half this season, but it came up empty.
"In any sport, (controlling) tone and tempo are great, but you've got to convert, and we did not," Harrington said.
Harrington said the team knew that committing so many players to the attacks would be risky if Harvard had produced a counterattack. Their new aggressive strategy finally came back to bite the Bears in the final minute of the first half. It all broke down in the blink of an eye when Leigh McCoy and Maggie McVeigh quickly brought the ball upfield. McCoy sent a crossing pass from the left side across the cage to McVeigh, who knocked it past Brown goalkeeper Caroline Washburn '12 to give the Crimson the lead with just 14 seconds left on the clock.
"We weren't recovering hard and we got caught a few men down, and they just slipped in the back door, and we weren't ready for it," LeClerc said.
Harrington said the play should have never happened.
"We should have stopped the play at the 50 (yard line)," she said. "We should have made a quick foul and stopped the play, and we didn't."
The Bears went into halftime with a 1-0 deficit despite their strong play.
"We really felt strongly that we could get back in it, but we came out of halftime flat," Harrington said.
Harvard came out gunning in the second half, racing out to a 9-3 advantage in shots. Harrington said that the key difference for the Bears was that they failed to secure the ball after passes.
"Harvard always hunts in pairs," she said. "When we were receiving and it was falling off our stick, there were two Harvard kids there to always receive the ball."
The offense broke down when the passing links buckled, and the team was forced to become more defensive because the Crimson picked up so many loose balls, Harrington added.
Still, Bruno kept Harvard from breaking the game open, surrendering only one goal on a fluky play. With just over 10 minutes left, McCoy took a crossing shot from the low right side that deflected off a Brown player and found the back of the cage to produce the final 2-0 score.
Washburn made four saves and Katie Hyland '11 added a defensive save, while Leslie Springmeyer '12 led a balanced offense with two shots on goal.
The Bears will have to shake off the disappointment of the Harvard game quickly, as they travel to Fairfield, Conn., to take on Sacred Heart today at 4 p.m.
"We'll take the good stuff out of this game and just try to string everything together so we can play a full 70 minutes," said LeClerc.