The Harvard field hockey team butted heads with Brown through double overtime Saturday in Providence, R.I., but ended up with only a distasteful 2-2 tie.

The outcome was disappointing for both teams. As Brown coach Wendy Anderson said after the game, "it's a good thing the game ended in a tie, because neither team deserved to win."

Harvard squandered a 2-0 lead and also missed two penalty strokes which would have gift-wrapped the game for them.

All in all, it wasn't a pretty game.

Several balls flew around at waist level. More than one body fell to the turf. Two players received green cards for "unecessary roughness," specifically a slash and a cleat in the stomach. Loren Ambinder broke her nose in a head-on collision.

Brown scored both its goals on corner shots which resembled field goal attempts. Harvard scored one on a slap-shot.

Played on a roof-top arena which looks and sounds like the inside of a tuna-fish can, the game started encouragingly enough for Harvard, which quickly gained control of its right side of the field.

Fast Out of the Blocks

Two minutes into the game Harvard jumped to the lead. On a penalty corner, Kristen Fowler took a hard shot from the top of the circle. The ball broke by the goalie's pads and rolled behind her. Rachael Burke pounced on the rebound and deposited it in the net.

Minutes later, Harvard struck again. The Crimson deftly moved the ball up field and worked it towards Fowler standing just inside the circle. She unloaded a slap shot to give Harvard a 2-0 lead. Things were not looking very good for Brown.

"We have played much better than that this season," Anderson said. "We didn't come out with the same zip. Our mistakes cost us, especially on the penalty corner which led to Harvard's first goal."

Brown began to show some zip soon after Harvard's second goal, while the Crimson began to scramble around. Brown's hits began to break through Harvard's defense and Harvard's own hits and passes were deflected. Harvard's defense smothered two of Brown's penalty corners as the Brown pressure continued, but this success would come back to haunt the Crimson.

With about six minutes left, another penalty corner was called against Harvard. Brown tried something a little different this time.

Jacquelin Nicewarner lofted a shot over the out-stretched stick and glove of Lisa Yadao, settling the ball into the left corner of the net.

Anderson later explained that their normal shooter for corners and leading scorer, Patricia Beatini, had broken her hand in the Bears' last game. Brown couldn't run some of its corner plays with Beatini's hand demobilized, so the Bears turned to their flick play.

Round Two

At the beginning of the second half, Harvard was tentative, shooting into Brown players, getting turned on defense, and committing obstructions. But the tide turned halfway through the period, Harvard began to open the game up, connecting on longer and quicker passes.

Burke got two quick shots off, rattling Brown's defense and goalie Tara Harrington, who illegally fell on the ball. Harvard was awarded a penalty stroke, but Harrington managed to get a glove on Ceci Clark's shot.

That save was a big boost for Brown and more good fortune was on the way. A Bears' free hit deflected off a Harvard player, rolling downfield and out Harvard's end.

Brown then received another free hit in Harvard's territory, an area it hadn't reached in a while. Another deflected shot out of bounds gave Brown a penalty corner at 11:47.

Nicewarner reared her ugly head with another flicker. Yadao managed to block this one but as the ball hit the ground, half of Brown's players ran into the net and brought the ball along with them.

Kristen Monteiro was credited with the goal.

With the score now tied, Harvard began to carry the play. Starting from the 50-yd. line, Sarah Downing made an impressive rush down the left side, out-racing the only defender between her and the net.

The helpless defender threw her stick towards Downing. This illegal interference resulted in another penalty stroke for Harvard with 41 seconds on the clock. Harrington came up big for Brown, thwarting shooter Ambinder.

In the two overtimes Harvard played with much more composure, but failed to convert on any of its chances. The final buzzer sounded with Harvard in Brown's circle readying for a shot, but unable to get one off.

As far as the Ivy League race shapes up, its likely Harvard and Brown could still be the teams to beat.

"This throws a monkey wrench into Ivy plans. We could both still finish on top, but who knows about Penn and Princeton," Anderson said.