Hines, who has been a lynchpin of the Crimson offense all season with her unselfish play, said she is always looking for the open player.
“I definitely look to pass because we have a lot of people who can convert on offense. There are a lot of girls who have just a great stick in the middle,” Hines said.
With just 2:27 remaining in the game and the Crimson trailing the Big Red 10-8, Hines again answered the call, setting up a chance to send the game to overtime with an unassisted goal that cut the Big Red lead to one.
“It was an important goal because it kept the team energy alive. I felt really confident because were on a couple goal streak,” Hines said.
Although the Crimson eventually came up short, many of the players were encouraged by the way the team held their composure throughout the game.
“It is hard to lose by one, but we played really well as a team today,” Gamble said. “As a team we felt it was a really good game to end on.”
Tylander attributed the loss to the team’s inability to stay focused for the entire game.
“I think it was another instance where we didn’t play 60 minutes of the game. We had a great first half defensively and a great last 10 minutes offensively but we lost our way somewhere in the middle,” Tylander said.
While the Crimson only tallied one victory against an Ivy League opponent this season—last Saturday at Columbia—players were proud of the strides they made as a team and are optimistic for the future.
“I definitely think that this season put us on the map. The teams that we lost to by one or two goals, we definitely would have been crushed by in the past,” Hines said.
The team will lose three seniors next year, but will gain the services of eight recruits.
Gamble said that the elevated play of the rising juniors and seniors combined with the added freshman will make the team a serious contender in the Ivy League.
“We are going to be a dominant force next year, and no team can look past us,” Gamble said.
—Staff writer Nathaniel A. Smith can be reached at nsmith@fas.harvard.edu.