For the Harvard field hockey team, a gut check isn't picking out core classes.

It was what happened to the Crimson Saturday against Cornell at Cumnock Field.

Late in the first half and early in the second, Harvard had a 1-0 lead, but the Big Red was putting on serious pressure.

The question was, could Harvard hold on to the lead? Or was the Crimson about to blow a lead, as it has done earlier this season?

Harvard passed the check. Sophomore Daphne Clark's second goal of the game iced the Crimson's 2-0 victory and threw away any misconceptions about the team's intestinal fortitude.

The win gave Harvard a win in its first Ivy League game, and evened its overall record to 3-3.

"They had a few lapses, but they brought themselves back," Harvard Coach Sue Caples said happily. "I felt pretty confident [that we would win] throughout the game-Cornell really never posed much of a threat."

Some of the players, on the other hand, weren't quite so sure, though.

"I was worried," captain Megan Colligan said, "because we had been playing so well [early in the game] that we would take it for granted. Going up 1-0 can be the kiss of death."

Harvard didn't waste any time setting themselves up for this possible jinx.

Only 2:15 into the game, the Crimson earned a corner shot chance. For those that don't know, this meant that sophomore Courtenay Benedict would stand at the baseline and pass it to a teammate-with all the defenders having to run out of the goal box to set up protection.

This would set up a perfect opportunity for a really hard shot. Thus, junior Carrie Shumway would stop the ball so that Clark, Harvard's Gatling gun, could let loose.

Unfortunately for Cornell, this doesn't give the defense enough time to set up the hay bales.

"[Cornell's] fly out was kind of slow," colligan said.

And so with this corner shot early in the first half, the game plan worked to perfection. Benedict to Shumway to Clark to net. 1-0 Harvard.