Freshman forward Marissa Balleza racked up a game-high six shots on goal against Yale on Saturday and scored a tip-in in the second half for her first career goal as Harvard field hockey defeated the Bulldogs, 3-2.

For the first time in five years, the Harvard field hockey team came away with a win against archrival Yale. The Crimson (2-2, 1-0 Ivy) opened up Ivy League play in convincing fashion this weekend at Yale, winning 3-2 over the Bulldogs (1-4, 0-1).

Despite the close margin of victory, Harvard took control of the game for most of its duration. In the waning minutes of the game Yale mounted a late surge; but, it proved to be too little too late for the Bulldogs as the Crimson extended its winning streak to two.

“This being our first Ivy League game that we played this season, we tried to put everything on the field,” junior forward Noel Painter said. “It really paid off, and we outplayed Yale for the entire game. It was a very exciting win for us.”

Coming fresh off of a breakthrough game that included four goals against Holy Cross the previous week, Harvard’s offense did not take long to best the Yale defense. At 27:29 in the first half, Painter took advantage of sharp passing following a penalty corner to score her second goal in two games.

“The ball came down from the left side of the field to [senior forward] Bridget McGillivray [and] she took it and passed it to me,” Painter said. “I was right outside of the circle, and my shot hit off of [Yale goalie Emily Cain] and into the net.”

While the remainder of the first half passed without another goal, the Crimson kept its offensive pressure high. Several superb saves from Cain kept the game within reach for the Bulldogs despite Harvard greatly outnumbering the Bulldogs in both shots (11-7) and penalty corners (7-2).

The stalemate did not last long past the halftime break, however. Within two minutes of beginning second half play, Crimson junior forward Kaitlyn Boudah found the back of Yale’s net for her first goal of the season, extending the lead to 2-0. Once again, Harvard capitalized on a penalty corner—following two blocked shots off of the set piece play, Boudah took control of the ball and managed to send it past Cain.

In the meantime, on the other side of the field, Harvard goalie senior Jenn Hatfield effectively silenced the Bulldogs’ prolific offense, which had produced three goals on average in its first four games of the season, including a 6-0 shutout of Sacred Heart.

“I think [Hatfield] had a terrific game,” sophomore back Elizabeth Jacobson said. “There were several plays where she made awesome saves.”

Hatfield notched five saves during the game and played a crucial role in keeping the momentum with the Crimson.

Thanks to Harvard’s strong defense, Yale only managed to score its first goal with fewer than 15 minutes remaining on the clock. A foul on the Crimson resulted in a penalty strike for Bulldog senior forward/midfielder Erica Borgo, which she managed to send past Hatfield to cut Harvard’s lead to one.

The Crimson immediately responded by taking advantage of a penalty corner to extend its lead. Freshman forward Sarah Finnemore made a pass to Jacobson, who then sent a shot towards the net. Freshman forward Marissa Balleza found the ball in front of the net and reflected it for a score, notching her first goal in her Harvard career.

“[Balleza] drove it in with a reverse hit,” Jacobson said.  “She took it right in; it was a really great goal for her.”

Yale scored a late comeback goal off of a penalty corner with no playing time left on the clock. Senior midfielder/back Georgia Holland managed to find the back of the net with an assist from Borgo and senior midfielder Emily Schuckert, but the Harvard win was sealed.

The team believes that Saturday’s victory will provide crucial momentum carrying on into the in-conference season.

“[Saturday’s game] was a great start to the Ivy League games,” Jacobson said.  “We tried hard all week trying new systems and focusing on playing as a team and a unit, and that’s what we managed to do. This [win] is going to help us show everyone what we can do, and hopefully we can just keep getting better as a team.”