The field hockey team played 66 minutes at even strength with No. 20 Providence College on Wednesday, but a defensive letdown made all the difference in a 6-2 loss. The Friars (10-8) scored four goals in a 3:24 span in the middle of the first half to ruin a generally strong effort by the Bears (3-10) on a cold and blustery afternoon on Warner Roof.
"We did play well today, the majority of the game, but we have to play well for the entire game, and that's what I expect of the kids," Head Coach Tara Harrington '94 said. "We need to really work hard to come with that consistency and that high intensity for the entirety of the match."
Brown struck first just 1:35 into the game, when Victoria Sacco '09 scored on a penalty corner for the second straight game. Taking an early lead against a tough team may have surprised everyone but the Bears, who made it a team goal.
"We were together in the middle of the field and we decided, score within the first five minutes," said Leslie Springmeyer '12. "That just boosts up the whole team, so it's always great to score first."
The Bears rode that momentum to control the first 15 minutes of play, but the Friars would not be denied for long. They tied the score at 15:25 on a nifty play. PC star Nellie Poulin lifted a shot that Brown goalkeeper Lauren Kessler '11 reached up to knock down with her glove, but the ball fell to Ashlyn Hudson, who slipped a shot past a diving Kessler just inside the left post. From there, PC was off to the races. The Friars scored again 49 seconds later, then 1:39 later, and then added the fourth goal 56 seconds later, with Poulin scoring twice to give the Friars a devastating 4-1 lead with 16:11 left in the first half.
"We weren't deciding quickly who had the ball, and then quickly recognizing, stepping up and taking away the dangerous players," Harrington said. "We went into this game saying that one of the key things we had to take care of was PC's forwards, because they are extremely dangerous, extremely fast and really get good touches on the ball. That short little spurt where we were indecisive really hurt us."
But the Bears recovered and prevented the Friars from taking a single shot on goal for the remainder of the period. Springmeyer said that once the team regrouped and got back on the same page, they got back in the game.
"I think as a team we just lost a little bit of hope, and it took all of our teammates helping each other out, supporting each other, and then we started getting back in the flow of things, and I think we kept on fighting until the end," she said. "I think definitely in the second half we were in it and dominating most of it."
That came from the adjustments the team made at halftime. Harrington said that the Bears recommitted to their original game plan of getting fierce pressure and remaining in front of their opponents, passing quickly to keep the Friars on the move and attacking PC's strong forwards when they received the ball to prevent them from running wild.
"We were really giving PC a hard time getting out of their backfield," she said. "They weren't able to move as quickly or advance as quickly down the field."
PC added to its lead just 9:21 into the second half, but this time Bruno answered. Just 1:42 later Springmeyer, situated near the left post, collected a long pass from Nora Malgieri '10 at the top of the circle and beat the diving goalie with a shot to the middle of the cage.
"Nora did a great job of eliminating the defender, and gave a crisp pass to me, and I got it in the net," Springmeyer said.
The Friars added a final goal at 21:02, but the Bears limited the damage with an aggressive press that could have changed the game.
"Tactically we were in the spaces that we needed to be to not let them out of their backfield or their midfield, and we were able to counterattack quickly because our pressure did such a great job," Harrington said. "And I think if we had stuck to that the whole game it would have been a completely different score."
Brown held PC to just a 15-10 advantage in shots and actually led in penalty corners, 4-2. Kessler and her replacement, Caroline Washburn '12, each made one save, while Sacco and Springmeyer led a balanced offense with two shots apiece. But Harrington reserved special praise for Natalie Harrington '09, a senior making her first start of the season.
"She's been really consistent with being a force with the ball," the coach said. "She's really fast and really plays with a lot of heart and helped us generate a lot of attacking opportunities down our right side in the second half."
Still looking for its first Ivy League win after four losses, Bruno will face a stiff test when co-Ivy leader Cornell (9-4, 4-0) comes to Warner Roof on Saturday at noon. The Bears know how important the game is as a chance to make a statement.
"We talked about, as a team, really working hard on our communication, our rest and our accountability going into Saturday," Coach Harrington said. "And I definitely think that Saturday is going to be a great match. I think that our kids are getting better every day, and we're progressing as a program. Saturday is an Ivy home match, and I think that we really have it within our ability to have a great game from beginning to end."
