Campus & Community

Field hockey hits its stride

2 min read
Harvard's winning field hockey
Harvard’s Kate Nagle ’01 (left) Jane Park ’02, and Philomena Gambale ’03 celebrate Park’s goal against Yale. Harvard won 3-0. (Staff photos by Rose Lincoln.)

Crimson field hockey is rolling right along this year, with (at press time) an 8-3 record on the season and a perfect 4-0 in the Ivy League. A week ago (Oct. 11) Harvard shut out visiting Northeastern on a goal by freshman Kate McDavitt with 6:17 to go in the game. The home team dominated the statistics, outshooting the Huskies 18-2, but Northeastern played a strong defense. The tie was broken when sophomore Philomena Gambale sent a lead pass into the middle where McDavitt converted for her sixth goal of the season.

The following Saturday (Oct. 14), the hot Crimson squad blanked Yale 3-0, again at Jordan Field. After a scoreless first half in which both teams had scoring opportunities, Harvard finally broke the 0-0 tie when junior Jane Park converted a pass from senior Maisa Badaway nine minutes into the second stanza. Five minutes later, freshman Mina Pell put a shot on goal that one of the Yale defenders blocked with her body and Harvard was awarded a penalty stroke. Katie Scott put the shot past Yale goalkeeper Krissy Nesberg to put the Crimson up 2-0. Another Pell shot was similarly blocked with 31 seconds remaining in the game, and junior Katie Turck scored on the ensuing penalty stroke to make the final 3-0.

Freshman keeper Katie Zacarian recorded her second straight shutout, making nine saves. Harvard, ranked 19th in the nation, played 13th ranked Boston College last evening (Oct. 18).

Kate McDavitt scores
Oct. 11 1-0 shutout of the Huskies.