In one of the most evenly-matched games of the season, junior midfielder Kate McDavitt played a level above the rest of the women on the field in No. 19 Harvard’s 4-1 victory over the No. 16 University of California-Berkeley Golden Bears last night.

Fifty-five minutes into the match, with the score knotted at one, Harvard set up for its 13th penalty corner of the match. Junior back Liz Andrews took the ball from Kate McDavitt and flung it straight past the Cal netminder to put the Crimson ahead, 2-1, a lead that they would never surrender.

Though Harvard’s four goals would suggest that the Crimson (8-3, 4-0 Ivy) offense won the game, the stellar all-around defense was certainly the highlight of the match. The vaunted California (8-4) offensive attack, with its pinpoint passing and blistering team speed, came out ready to outrun Harvard.

But the Crimson’s defensive intensity would not let up, and short of one fluke goal by the Golden Bears, Harvard’s outstanding defense continually shut down every Cal scoring opportunity.

This win was Harvard’s first victory over a nationally ranked team after recent losses to then-No. 3 Wake Forest and No. 10 Northeastern.

“We were really glad to finally defeat a ranked team,” McDavitt said.

McDavitt was the star of the match Thursday night. After scoring the first goal of the match on a penalty corner rebound, McDavitt continued to shine, garnering assists on the next two crucial scores. The Crimson midfielder scored four points in the match, bringing her team-leading point total to 26 for the season, with eleven goals.

Harvard coach Sue Caples described McDavitt’s performance as inspirational.

“I thought Kate McDavitt played an outstanding hockey game. If everyone played hockey the way she did, on both sides of the ball, with that intensity, absolutely amazing,” Caples said.

A clear indication of a complete defensive effort is the number of penalty corners allowed by a team. While garnering sixteen penalty corners against the twelfth- ranked defense in the nation, Harvard only gave up two corners to California. In fact, the Crimson did not give up itsfirst penalty corner of the match until the 56th minute of the game, something rarely seen in a match of two high-caliber teams.

“Especially in the second half, we played really good team defense. We stopped the ball, and played really well from the top down,” Caples said.

With three of their next four games against nationally ranked teams, the Crimson’s win against California was a big step for a team that has struggled to play a truly complete game against top tier opponents. With a showdown against Princeton—winner of eight straight Ivy League titles—on the horizon, a performance like last night’s against Cal is a solid step to build upon.