Co-captain Elizabeth Goodman-Bacon and the Crimson strove to break a three-game losing streak on senior day last night, but fell to UNH in overtime. The seniors bolstered a rapidly-improving Harvard squad, as the team came from behind twice to force overtime against the Wildcats. The Crimson has just one game remaining in its 2009 schedule.

It may have been senior night for the Harvard field hockey team last night at Jordan Field, but it was the underclassmen who gave the Crimson an opportunity to win the game.

Down 4-2 to University of New Hampshire (12-6, 3-2 America East) in the second half, Harvard sophomores Carly Dickson and Allie Kimmel scored two goals in the match’s final 24 minutes to send the game into overtime.

Alas, the Harvard comeback would not be completed, as UNH scored a golden goal in just the 7th minute of overtime to give the Wildcats the 5-4 victory, dropping Harvard to 5-11 (2-4 Ivy) in the team’s final home game of the season.

“It’s a game I’ve sort of thought about since coming in as a freshman in preseason,” senior co-captain Elizabeth Goodman-Bacon said. “That was a great game to end on.”

Kimmel got the comeback started for the Crimson in the second half. After UNH goalie Katherine Nagengast strayed from her post to knock away a Harvard breakaway, Kimmel scooped up the ball and lobbed it over the goalie’s head to bring the Crimson within a single goal.

Dickson evened the score seven minutes later off a penalty corner. The sophomore received a pass from co-captain Kristin Bannon at the left side of the field. After tapping it to herself just feet in front of the circle, Dickson booted it past the Wildcats goalie for her second score of the game, knotting the score at four with less than 15 minutes remaining.

“They really put pressure on us,” UNH coach Robin Balducci said. “They really put us back on our heals.”

But tying the score would not put an end to Harvard’s worries. Before the end of regulation, the Crimson would be forced to withstand three penalty corners and a shot from UNH that forced Harvard goalie Cynthia Tassopoulos—who finished with eleven saves—to hit the turf to knock the ball away.

“Cynthia continues to hold the fort down back there,” Crimson coach Sue Caples said. “She’s learning how to command her circle.”

But Harvard’s strong defensive play at the end of regulation would not carry over into the extra period.

After a turnover at midfield, the Wildcats set up a breakaway. Meg Shea crossed the ball in front of the net for Whitney Frates, who tipped it past Tassopoulos for the game-winner in the seventh minute of overtime.

The Crimson might have been able to escape with a win, were it not for the team’s typically slow start. Harvard surrendered two goals in the game’s first six minutes, forcing the team to come from behind throughout the contest.

“As we continue to improve and grow as a team, we’ll settle into a game earlier and won’t be playing from behind the eight-ball in the first five minutes,” Caples said.

If going down 2-0 early were not bad enough, the Crimson’s leading scorer, junior Chloe Keating, left the game in the 13th minute with what appeared to be an injury to her right leg.

For a stagnant Harvard offense that had scored just four goals in its past three games, losing the junior forward and her .6 goals per contest appeared to be a bad sign.