The field hockey team came from behind twice this weekend to beat Monmouth and Bryant on Warner Roof, running its record to 2-2. The two-game winning streak is the team's first since October 2006, washing away the stain of a two-loss opening weekend.
Though the results were the same, the Bears took different routes to victory. On Saturday, Bruno answered quickly after each Monmouth goal and pulled away for a 4-2 victory.
"Our goal today was to ... play with passion from the beginning of the game to the end of the game, and to take care of our basic fundamental skills," Head Coach Tara Harrington '94 said after the game. "I think we did all of that consistently for 70 minutes. We had great attack, we played good defense (and) we had great transfer opportunities through our midfield."
But the following day, intrastate rival Bryant scored two quick goals and then clung to the lead until the Bears scored twice in the final 10 minutes to pull out the 3-2 win.
"We came out a little flat, a little tentative, getting those goals scored on us," Harrington said. "We weren't doing the simple things that we needed to do to be in control from the beginning and we put ourselves in a tough position ... but what I am proud of is the fight to come back, never surrendering and scoring some great goals when we needed it."
On Saturday, Monmouth struck first 12:26 into the game, when Enza Mazza picked up a loose ball and beat goalie Caroline Washburn '12 to her left. But the Bears responded 1:51 later when Tacy Zysk '11 slipped a pass to the left post, where Kit Masini '12 tipped it home — a crucial comeback for a team that had lost its first two games.
"It was a real testament to the kids," Harrington said. "We were 0-2, we went down, and we didn't fold. We rallied back and we finished it. I'm very proud of them."
Brown had plenty of chances late in the first half to take the lead, but couldn't find the back of the cage.
"It was a really fun game to play because we had so many attacking opportunities," Masini said. "We'll just work in the future to make something out of (more) of them."
The Hawks retook the lead 2:54 after intermission when Mazza fed Meredith Violi, but the Bears again notched the equalizer less than five minutes later when Masini found Zysk on the left side, who beat Monmouth goalie Melissa Katz to the opposite corner.
"The goals the team scored today were quality goals ... that would score on pretty much anybody," Harrington said. "They were legitimate attacking opportunities."
Brown took the lead on a penalty corner at 15:36. After Leslie Springmeyer '12 pushed the ball in and tri-captain Michaela Seigo '10 stopped it, Katie Hyland '11 smoked it into the cage.
The last goal, coming with 9:13 remaining, was a beauty. Springmeyer's crisp centering pass found a well-covered Masini, who fell down, swept behind her back and backhanded the ball up and into the cage.
"It was a great ball from Leslie, and I don't even know exactly," Masini said. "I just kind of stopped it, I was on my knees, and tried a reverse (shot). It just kind of happened."
The Bears outshot the Hawks 26-16 but trailed 8-7 in penalty corners. Hyland and Masini led Brown with six shots apiece, while Washburn made five saves.
On Sunday, things went south for the Bears in a hurry. Bryant scored just 45 seconds into the game on a loose ball, then added a second goal 10:54 later when Tia Pydynkowski stripped a Brown defender and found Elise Boissoneau, who banged it home.
The Bears settled down and got a goal back at 23:45 when Springmeyer again fed Masini for the pair's third assist and third goal, respectively, of the weekend.
"There was never any sort of panic at all, but once you knock one in it gives you a little more confidence," Harrington said. "I really do feel like these kids felt and knew and believed that they would crawl back in the game, and we did."
The Bears went into halftime down 2-1 despite leading the Bulldogs in shots, 11-7, stonewalled by Kundayi Mawema's six first-half saves. Harrington said she focused on fundamentals during the break, stressing to her charges, "just doing the simple things to build the ball out of the backfield into our midfield, and then once (we) got into our attacking end vowing to really full-press them and keep the ball in our attacking end."
But for 25 minutes, the score remained 2-1 as the tension mounted. Then, after a Bryant defender committed a miscue on a Brown penalty corner, Hyland strafed a penalty shot that beat Mawema to her right, tying the game with 9:47 left.
Eleven seconds later, Boissoneau was yellow carded — unlike in soccer, an immediate suspension — leaving the Bulldogs a player down. With 6:29 remaining, Springmeyer fired a shot that bounced up and over Mawema's leg pad to finally give Brown the lead.
"I just beat my defender and got a shot off, and luckily the goalie wasn't set," Springmeyer said.
Kelley Harrison '13 notched the assist for her first career point.
Bryant had several chances down the stretch, but Washburn recorded two of her eight saves in the final six minutes to fend off a team that is in just its second year in Division I.
A week after notching her first career goal, Masini tallied three goals and an assist over the weekend. She and the team have both come a long way since last season.
"For me personally, it helped doing offseason (training) last year," she said. "We really worked hard on basic skills. ... We've had a really good preseason (and) everyone's excited about the year. The team is really clicking well; everyone's having a lot of fun together and working really hard."
The Bears will be tested on Saturday when they begin Ivy League play by travelling to New York to take on Columbia (1-2).
"We're looking forward to Columbia," Springmeyer said. "We only lost to them 1-0 last year, so we're looking to take it to them this year."
