Sophomore forward BETH SACKOVICH scored two of the Crimson’s three goals in its shutout win over Columbia on Saturday.

NEW YORK, N.Y.—In what may turn out to be the last game of its 2003 season, the Harvard field hockey team looked noticeably younger in wintry New York, New York.

Maybe it was the biting winds swirling within the open walls of Wien Stadium that so invigorated the players for the 10:30 a.m. contest.

Maybe it was the core of fans, relatives and Harvard alums that inspired the team by braving the cold to support the Crimson in its final regular season game.

Heck, one bundled-up, enthusiastic fan even brought a megaphone, much to the chagrin of the adjacent Columbia band.

There are a number of possible theories for Harvard’s newfound youth on Saturday.

But if you ask the players, they will come right out and tell you what it was, plain and simple.

It was Beth Sackovich.

Sackovich, the sophomore forward a year or so removed from Tower Hill School in Hockessin, Del., notched two goals—both assisted—in Saturday’s 3-0 victory.

But for the heretofore unheralded Sackovich—whose score merely solidified her seventh-best total on the team—she is just one in a pantheon of promising underclassmen that the Crimson has benefited from this season, and will be forced to call upon again with the graduation of particularly strong senior leadership.

“This year, definitely, many players have contributed to our success. It’s a testament to the hard work we’ve put into the season, and the growth of our younger members,” junior forward Tiffany Egnaczyk said. “[Beth’s] performance goes to show you how much we’ve all learned. It’s great to see new players stepping up and finishing.”

And with one look down the Crimson roster, it becomes obvious that new faces stepping up and finishing is exactly what this team is going to need.

Tri-captain leading scorer Kate McDavitt and assists-leader Mina Pell—the helpers on Sackovich’s two goals—are but two of many names that will be absent from the Crimson roster in 2004.

Harvard is going to rely upon long-time starters Kate Gannon, Shelley Maasdorp and Egnaczyk after successful junior campaigns in which they combined for 15 goals and seven assists within coach Sue Caples’ spread-out offensive attack.

But as impressive—if not more so, given their inexperience—are the sophomores.

Beth Sackovich and Jen McDavitt will return after their second-year effort with eyes firmly focused on improving the 13 total goals netted between them.

“We have a strong group of girls leaving, and yes, it’s going to be a hard transition,” Egnaczyk said. “But we have a lot of depth. You can go list all the juniors and sophomores and our very good contributing freshman class, and I’m sure we’ll have a strong spring season. There are leaders there.”

On the defensive end, however, where statistics cannot nearly begin to tell the entire story, the Crimson will take a serious hit in 2004.

Harvard will lose backs Diana Bowen and Liz Andrews, tri-captain goalie Katie Zacarian—the Crimson career record-setter in shutouts—and Ms. Intangible herself, tri-captain back Jen Ahn, the long-time physical and emotional anchor of the backfield.

Junior netminders Anne Haig and Aliaa Remtilla will present Caples with two options between the pipes, but Harvard will need some of those less-heralded names—even lesser-known than Sackovich—to step up and fill in the gaps.

“Obviously, our defense is going to be extremely hard to replace,” freshman midfielder Jennifer DeAngelis said. “Our seniors are just amazing. We’re all going to have to step up and work hard in the spring and summer to fill their places in the coming year. But overall, I don’t even know if they can ever truly be replaced.”

“They’re practically our entire defense,” she continued. “We’re just going to have to work through it.”

It’s a good thing, then, that the Crimson started their youth movement early.

On one wintry, November morning in New York, it’s a good thing that Beth Sackovich made them all look younger—even if it was possibly, for some of them, the last time.