Northeastern took a 4-3 loss to Harvard at the Crimson's Jordan Field Wednesday. The Huskies fall to 6-6 with the loss.
Northeastern saw the game's first offensive chances, and earned the first penalty corner of the game. Ashley Bascetta fired a shot on net, but the effort was blocked by Crimson goalkeeper Kylie Stone.
Northeastern continued to press the attack in the game's first 10 minutes, and almost got on the board when Meg Sweeney sent a hard pass in to Katie Ruth on the back post, but Ruth could not redirect the ball on net.
The Northeastern defense was strong early on, and Harvard's few offensive opportunities were snuffed out by Jillian Wilkes and Anne-Reike Stuhlman. Harvard struck first however, with a goal against the run of play off a penalty corner. Harvard's Georgia McGillivray sent a shot straight towards the Northeastern cage, and the ball caromed off an NU defender and slipped past Huskies goalkeeper Colleen Duffy.
Northeastern evened the game soon after when Ashley Bascetta found an open Kayla Barker at the top left of the circle. Barker fired a long-range shot past Stone that found the lower right corner, evening the game at 1. Northeastern continued to control posession for the majority of the period, and generated a number of good scoring opportunities, but could not break the tie. After the game, head coach Cheryl Murtagh highlighted Northeastern's inability to score despite spending more time on offense as a key factor in the loss. "I think Harvard put one in, one shot, one goal, and we had the ball down in [Harvard's] end the whole time. We can't allow things like that." The Huskies' best opportunity came on a penalty corner with time expired in the first half, and Ashley Bascetta put another strong shot on net, but Stone again made the save. The Huskies outshot the crimson 12 to two in the first half, but could not go into the locker room with a lead, due largely to 8 first-half saves from Stone.
The Crimson struck early in the second half on a shot from Chloe Keating at 39:54 to take a 2-1 lead.
Northeastern continued to press the attack, and had a number of good opportunities to find the equallizer at the 20-minute mark in the second half, with a hard shot from Malloy missing the mark, and a penalty corner that went unconverted.
Harvard counterattacked well, generating good offense after withstanding Northeastern's offensive attempts by quickly starting fast breaks. A diving save from Duffy was all that stopped Harvard from extending their lead.
The Crimson eventually did add to their lead on a Tami Jafar strike off a Leigh McCoy.
Harvard extended their lead to three when McCoy tallied Harvard's fourth goal at 10:54.
Ashley Bascetta gave the Huskies life when she scored off a penalty corner at the 10-minute mark. Stuhlmann controlled the Carolyn Malloy entry pass, and settled the ball for Bascetta. Bascetta sent a pass to Stuhlmann on the right side of the circle, who sent a return pass right back to an unmarked Bascetta. The senior co-captain buried the shot from close range to narrow the gap to 4-2.
Northeastern then pulled to within one on a textbook penalty corner. Malloy's entry pass was settled by Stuhlmann, and Bascetta's shot caromed off a Harvard defender and rolled in just inside the right post.
The Huskies had few chances to find the equalizer in the time left after Bascetta's second strike, and ultimately ran out of time.
Northeastern falls to 6-6 with the loss. The Huskies resume conference play Friday when they play at Delaware, and travel to take on CAA opponent Towson Sunday.
Field Hockey Box Score (Final)
Harvard Field Hockey
Northeastern vs Harvard (Oct 08, 2008 at Cambridge, Mass.)
Northeastern (6-6) vs. Goals by period 1 2 Tot
Harvard (5-5) -------------------------------
Date: Oct 08, 2008 Attendance: 180 Northeastern........ 1 2 - 3
Weather: Clear, cool Harvard............. 1 3 - 4
Northeastern Harvard
Pos # Player Sh SOG G A DS Min Pos # Player Sh SOG G A DS Min
------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------
GK 77 Duffy, Colleen...... - - - - - 63 GK 22 Stone, Kylie........ - - - - - 70
3 Sweeney, Meg........ 1 1 - - - 29 2 Jafar, Tami......... 2 1 1 - - 53
4 Griffin, Bridget.... - - - - - 70 3 Harpstead, Abbie.... - - - - - 70
6 Barker, Kaela....... 1 1 1 - - 70 4 Polet, Francine..... 2 - - 1 - 70
7 Bascetta, Ashley.... 6 5 2 1 - 70 5 Curtis, Pilar....... - - - - - 53
11 Malloy, Carolyn..... 6 3 - 1 - 66 7 Dickson, Carly...... 1 1 - - - 70
14 Aldridge, Pam....... 3 - - - - 70 8 Bannon, Kristin..... 1 - - 1 - 70
16 Wilkes, Jillian..... - - - - - 70 10 McGillivray, Georgia 1 1 1 - - 70
19 Stuhlmann, Anne-Rei. - - - 2 - 70 12 McVeigh, Maggie..... 4 2 - 1 - 59
21 Hewlett, Montana.... - - - - - 40 16 McCoy, Leigh........ 1 1 1 1 - 60
24 Ruth, Katie......... 2 1 - - - 56 24 Keating, Chloe...... 2 2 1 - - 66
---------- Substitutes ---------- ---------- Substitutes ----------
17 Clayman, Annie...... 3 3 - - - 29 11 Warren, K.J......... - - - - - 21
26 Cobby, Beth......... - - - - - 40 15 Ohanian, Kristin.... - - - - - 11
29 Sewell, Samantha.... - - - - - 7 21 Kimmel, Allie....... - - - - - 28
Totals.............. 22 14 3 4 0 Totals.............. 14 8 4 4 0
Northeastern Harvard
# Player MIN GA Saves # Player MIN GA Saves
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
77 Duffy, Colleen...... 59:56 4 4 22 Stone, Kylie........ 70:00 3 11
29 Sewell, Samantha.... 10:04 0 0
Shots by period 1 2 Tot Saves by period 1 2 Tot
------------------------------- -------------------------------
Northeastern........ 12 10 - 22 Northeastern........ 0 4 - 4
Harvard............. 2 12 - 14 Harvard............. 8 3 - 11
Penalty corners 1 2 Tot
-------------------------------
Northeastern........ 3 5 - 8
Harvard............. 1 4 - 5
SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL Time Team Goal Scorer Assists
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. 13:29 HARV McGillivray, Georgia (1) McVeigh, Maggie; Bannon, Kristin
2. 15:34 NUFH08 Barker, Kaela (2) Bascetta, Ashley
3. 39:54 HARV Keating, Chloe (2) Polet, Francine
4. 56:08 HARV Jafar, Tami (3) McCoy, Leigh
5. 59:56 HARV McCoy, Leigh (4) (unassisted)
6. 60:27 NUFH08 Bascetta, Ashley (5) Stuhlmann, Anne-Rei.
7. 67:45 NUFH08 Bascetta, Ashley (6) Stuhlmann, Anne-Rei.; Malloy, Carolyn
PLAYER CARDS:
GC-NUFH08 #14 (54:26)
