A game-tying goal right out of the gate in the second half wasn't enough for the field hockey team to avoid a 3-1 loss to Vermont on Sunday. Leslie Springmeyer '12 scored 37 seconds after halftime, but a defensive breakdown cost Brown the game, 3-8, as the Catamounts (7-6) scored two goals in the next 4:42 to ruin a decent effort by the Bears.
"Obviously, we weren't happy with the result, but we weren't extremely disappointed by our play, either," Springmeyer said.
Victoria Sacco '09 said that the Bears executed well for most of the game.
"We really were focusing on our outletting and our passing through the backfield, and we actually followed our game plan pretty well for that," she said.
Vermont started quickly, taking 11 shots in the first half, but Brown goalkeeper Lauren Kessler '11 made six saves. The Catamounts found the back of the cage only once, when Kessler saved a shot by Maegan Luce, but Megan Maynard knocked home the rebound at 11:28.
The Bears failed to test Vermont goalie Kristen Heavens, finishing the first half without a single shot. Sacco credited Vermont's suffocating back line.
"We had some great opportunities where we got the ball up to that end of the field, but their last line of defense was really good at shutting down any of our attacking opportunities, (so) we couldn't get to their goalie," she said.
But the Bears remained confident heading into halftime down by only one goal, Springmeyer said, and she quickly rewarded their optimism. Just 37 seconds into the second half, Springmeyer stole the ball and tied the game.
"They were trying to transfer in the backfield and I disrupted it, and kind of took the defender 1-v-1," she said. "The goalie came out on me, and my original shot wasn't a good one, but I thought in my head, this goal is going in. I didn't want to let my team down, so I lifted it over the goalie, and it luckily went in."
The goal could have marked the turning point for the Bears, but instead the Catamounts seized the momentum and charged to victory. Vermont regained the lead only 2:22 later when Joanna Berger slipped behind the Brown defense, took a long pass from Lauren Burke, and fired a shot past Kessler. Maynard added her second goal 2:20 later to produce the final score.
"They were pressuring us very hard in our defensive end," Sacco said. "We were trying to get the ball outletted out, and they just kept pressuring any of the opportunities that we tried to take. Eventually they got through to the cage and were able to get some shots off."
The Bears didn't give in, taking nine second-half shots, but Heavens made five saves to protect Vermont's lead. Kessler made two more saves to finish with a total of eight, while Springmeyer led Brown with six shots.
"We never stopped fighting, which is a common theme with our team," Springmeyer said. "We never give up, and I think that'll definitely help us with the rest of our season."
The Bears will need all of their fight on Saturday when they travel to New Jersey to take on Ivy League power Princeton (9-2, 3-0 Ivy), looking to improve on their 0-3 conference record.
Though the game promises to be a challenge, Springmeyer said it would be a big lift to beat such a prestigious program.
"If we beat Princeton it would pretty much make our season," she said. "We have a good amount of days to prepare for it, and hopefully we'll come out strong."
