The Harvard field hockey team won its second straight yesterday at Jordan Field, beating Quinnipiac 1-0 in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Junior back Liz Sarles scored the game's only goal with 3:59 left in the first half and junior goalkeeper Jen Crusius earned a shutout, making three saves in her first career start as the No. 18 Crimson (7-2, 3-0 Ivy) snapped the Braves' three-game winning streak.
Though the final score was close, Harvard dominated most aspects of the game. The Crimson kept the ball in the Quinnipiac (5-6) end for most of the game, and outshot the Braves by a 17-4 margin. However, the stellar play of Braves goalkeeper Sarah Mathers, who made 13 saves, kept the game close.
Harvard, unable to convert on several critical scoring chances throughout the game, had to fight off a desperate rally by Quinnipiac in the game's final minutes, including a penalty corner with no time on the clock, to preserve the win.
In the early moments of the game, Quinnipiac had the better scoring chances. Braves midfielder Heather Cady had a break early in the contest, setting up the first penalty corner of the game, but junior forward Kate Nagle broke up the play.
Minutes later, Quinnipiac had one of its best scoring chances of the game when Harvard was unable to clear and the Braves crowded the net. It looked as if Quinnipiac had a chance with Crusius drawn way out of the net, but tri-captain Katie Schoolwerth was able to clear the ball out of harm's way.
From then on, the first half was dominated by the Crimson. Led by Nagle, tri-captain Dominique Kalil, and freshman midfielder Kalen Ingram, Harvard had a number of scoring opportunities. The Crimson obtained one penalty corner after another, but Mathers repeatedly kept the Harvard players from scoring.
"[Mathers] was good," Harvard Coach Sue Caples said. "But we didn't help ourselves by trying to shoot through her."
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