Maasdorp’s incredible speed and superior ball-handling skills have placed her on the map in the Ivy League—even more so than her flaming red hair.

“Shelley has great skills, obviously, and great game sense,” said Caples after No. 20 Harvard’s 3-2 loss to UConn on Sept. 18. “She knows what to do with the ball.”

Creating on the ball is an essential element in Maasdorp’s game, as evidenced by her team-high five assists in a rookie season that earned her Second Team All-Ivy accolades. This year, Maasdorp is second on the team with three assists, all tallied in a 3-0 victory over Yale, a game she labels as her personal highlight.

A catalyst in the circle, Maasdorp has been instrumental in drawing penalty corner calls for a Crimson team that has capitalized on its strong corner unit.

“It’s always in the back of our minds that if we’re in the circle and we don’t have a direct shot, get a corner,” Maasdorp said. “Corners have become a very strong focal point of our game.”

In fact, Harvard has scored at least one goal in every game off a corner. In the Crimson’s 3-2 losses to both UConn and Wake Forest, all its goals were the result of corners.

A testament to her creativity, Maasdorp manages to find a way to charge right through defenders, whereas others might balk at quadruple and quintuple teams. She creates space where others would not imagine it possible, and her unique playing style has benefited the team.

“The way I play is very different, which is good in the way that the other team doesn’t know what they’re getting,” Maasdorp said. “But sometimes my own teammates don’t know what they’re getting either.”

The adjustment to distinctly different types of play is ongoing on both sides, but it has proven to be a symbiotic relationship for the bioanthropology concentrator and the rest of the team.

New Continent, New Role

Harvard has presented Maasdorp with a new perspective on the game, both in philosophy and field position, with a move from sweeper to midfielder.

After a rookie season filled with adjustment to American referees and game structure that coincided with the daily travails of freshman life, Maasdorp is keyed up for the new year.

Firing on all cylinders for the first time in two years, Maasdorp’s goal for the season is to remain healthy. She spent her senior year of high school sidelined by a torn ACL, giving her the opportunity to study the game from a different angle.

Then, after an ankle injury, Maasdorp was also slowed by a nasty case of shin splints at the beginning of last year. Finally healthy, she is able to concentrate on integrating her playing style into the Harvard dynamic.

After playing with the same high school team for six years, Maasdorp could predict her teammates’ next moves, not by a set game plan but through knowledge of their natural strategy. Acclimation to Harvard has presented the dual challenges of a new team and a more fixed movement than the “spur-of-the-moment” Zimbabwean approach.