In the second half, the two teams played evenly--although B.C. scored off a corner pass that forward Shannon Murphy pumped past Crimson goalie Denise Katsias into the left-hand corner of the net.

Late in the contest, Harvard showed flashes of its first-half potency, when Ersek and Clifton led separate drives deep into Eagle territory and took shots that the B.C. netminder deftly turned back.

The Crimson's last chance to pull an upset came with just 30 seconds left in the game.

Midfielder Bambi Taylor rapped a shot off a corner pass and Clifton got her stick on the rocket, but it slid just right of the Eagle net and out of bounds.

Had Harvard played as well as it did yesterday against Princeton, it might be tied now for first place in the Ivy League with Penn.

But as it stands, the stickwomen have an uphill battle to the Ivy championship.

Green Dreams

A Penn loss at home against Dartmouth Saturday and two Crimson victories in its remaining Ivy games--at Brown Saturday and at Yale a week later--would put the stickwomen into a first-place tie with Penn and set the stage for a playoff so improbable that Harvard dare not dream about it.

Not yet.

But after yesterday's strong showing, anything seems possible.

THE NOTEBOOK: Prior to yesterday's contest, Kelly--who has played Harvard field hockey for four years--had never scored...Kasias finished with six saves...B.C. had eight shots and seven penalty corners.