The field hockey team (2-0) fought Sunday to defeat Miami University of Ohio (2-2), its second overtime victory under new Head Coach Britt Broady in as many games.
Brown’s 3-2 victory was a back-and-forth battle the entire game as the Bears shot 13 times with 10 shots on goal versus the Redhawks’ 16 shots and eight shots on goal.
The Bears came out strong defensively in the first quarter as they prevented the Redhawks from scoring despite their five shots and three penalty corners. On offense, Mikayla Walsh ’25 dove to push a pass from Imogen Govan ’24 into the net to put the Bears up 1-0 in the ninth minute.
After five additional penalty corners and six shots in the second quarter, Miami snuck one ball into the net in the 21st minute to tie the game. The Bears, despite several strong attempts, could not answer and allowed Miami to score again in the third quarter, putting the Redhawks up 2-1.
As the clock ran out in the fourth quarter, Govan scored a goal of her own, assisted by Chloe Sik ’25, during a clutch penalty corner. Govan’s goal tied the game at two apiece and sent it into overtime.
Brown dominated offensively in overtime, and in the 65th minute on a fast break, Lexi Pellegrino ’26 passed to Govan, who scored once again to give the Bears the win.
“Once we got possession and (Pellegrino) rushed up the field with the ball, I knew I needed to join the rush because it was going to be a really good opportunity to score,” Govan said. “Then she beat her defender, and I had nobody on me. All that was left to do was put the ball in the net.”
Neither of the Bears’ first two games could be decided in regulation, as they defeated Saint Francis on Friday 4-3 in double overtime. As a result of these first two games, Goalkeeper Jodie Brine ’23 and Govan were named the Ivy League defensive and offensive players of the week, respectively.
Broady, who came to the program after spending her past five seasons as the head coach of the University of California-Davis field hockey team, said she is excited about the team’s potential after the Bears’ hot start.
“I could not be more proud of this team,” Broady said. “My excitement on game day was to see how hard they fought. When things aren’t going their way, who are they going to be then? They answered my question twice this weekend. That was super thrilling.”
Broady notes that she came to Brown this season because of the high potential of Brown Athletics across the board, especially in the field hockey program. “We have really great kids (and) we have interest by incredibly talented recruits … the potential was so high I couldn’t say no,” she said.
Brine is equally excited about her team’s potential this season under Broady. Broady “has brought such a great new energy and professionalism to the team. That, mixed with all our new talent, is pushing us in the right direction,” she said.
Brine also pointed out the importance of beating a strong Miami team, who was ranked 24th in the country going into the game. “Rankings-wise and confidence-wise, this is going to help us so much,” she said. “Knowing that we can beat these two teams that we have the past few days, I really think we now have the confidence to beat anyone this season.”
