The Harvard women's field hockey team seems to be taking lessons from the men's soccer squad nowadays. Yesterday the stickwomen battled a stronger opponent in Dartmouth and came away with a gutsy 1-1 tie down at Soldiers Field.

Sad News

Now for the sad news. It wasn't Harvard's day as far as the all-important category of penetration time went, as Dartmouth controlled and pressured for more time than the Crimson throughout the contest, and thus will get a higher seeding than Harvard in the New England field hockey championships next month.

The stickwomen encountered a similar situation when they tied Cornell at Ithaca ten days ago; only on that occasion Harvard had the greater penetration time.

A Meaningless First Stanza

Despite the Woodswomen's control of the game in the first half, the Harvard defense, anchored ably by goalie Ellen Seidler and sweeper Chris Sailer, held Dartmouth in check for a scoreless stalemate at halftime.

Early in the second half the Crimson clicked for its temporary lead. A scrap in front of the Dartmouth cage eventually rolled the ball over to star forward Sarah Mlezcko. The talented sophomore then rapped a shot which deflected off a Dartmouth defender and into the net for a 1-0 Harvard lead.

The Tables Turn

With that the momentum changed and now it was Harvard pressuring more and Dartmouth penetrating less. With less than five minutes remaining, Dartmouth scored its tying goal and added on its winning penetration points.

On defense Field cited the outstanding play of Sailer, who teamed well with ever steady Seidler to hold Dartmouth to one goal. Offensively the standouts once again included Mlezcko and high-scoring junior Gwill York.

Field couldn't help but shake off the squad's tie today, as she looked forward to Revenge Time on Saturday. The stick-women will host Princeton this weekend, the same team which ruined their chances for an undefeated season last year with a 1-0 victory in the New Jersey rain.

"They should be very good this year, especially because of their coach, Vonnie Gros, who also coaches the women's national team," Field said.

Wait 'Til next week

Harvard, 3-1-2 on the season, has already lost its undefeated slate, but wouldn't a win unaffected by penetration time on Saturday make everyone forget about last year and start thinking about post-season tournaments?