After an uninspiring performance, field hockey (2-5, 1-1 Ivy) was defeated by No. 10 Harvard (6-1, 2-0 Ivy) in a 4-0 shutout loss.
“We were disappointed in our quality of play,” Head Coach Britt Broady wrote in a statement to The Herald. “We had just battled against No. 6 Ohio State and had a strong performance. Harvard is a good team, but we handed them the win by not competing for the duration of the contest.”
Although the Bears failed to score a single goal in their first in-conference loss, things did not start off so dismal on Saturday, as Bruno managed to move the ball around the field and create opportunities in the first quarter. In this time, the Bears had two promising shots at the Crimson defense, though neither found the back of the net. Harvard, on the other hand, demonstrated tremendous offensive aggression, firing five shots at the Bruno defense in the first quarter alone.
But just as things seemed to be trending in the Bears’ favor, Harvard’s offense persisted. Crimson midfielder Fiene Oerlemans scored with just ninety seconds left in the first quarter after a beautiful assist from Bronte-May Brough. And in the second quarter, Brown’s offense looked lethargic, finding just one shot, which was off the mark.
Harvard, meanwhile, sustained their offensive momentum. The Crimson capitalized on the Bears’ defensive mistakes and found opportunities, slashing two additional shots at Brown in the second quarter, one of which went in. Off an assist from Emily Bronckers, Harvard’s Kate Oliver scored a quick goal, extending the Crimson lead to 2-0 at halftime.
The Bears came out of halftime firing, finishing with three shots in the third quarter, the most in one quarter all game. But to the Bears’ dismay, none of the shots found the net.
Instead, the Crimson defense made things challenging for Bruno, forcing the Bears into awkward positioning and tough shots — all of which were wrapped up by Harvard goalie Tessa Shahbo.
Kiersten Smith ’28 snuck behind Harvard’s defense toward the end of the third quarter and fired the ball at the net, but it was quickly wrapped up by Shahbo. Minutes later, Imogen Govan ’24.5 made an impressive steal, but was pushed out of the interior during the subsequent effort toward the goal, silencing the home crowd’s hopes of a Bears comeback.
Heading into the fourth and final quarter, the Bears were down 2-0. But despite the deficit, Brown failed to find a sense of urgency.
Offensively, the Bears were lackluster, missing opportunities and not moving the ball well. Defensively, Brown lacked composure, allowing the Crimson to comfortably rotate the ball around the field and get into attacking positions which Harvard continued to exploit. Harvard’s Lara Beekhuis and Sage Piekarski both scored goals for the Crimson in the fourth to extend the lead to 4-0.
Piekarski’s late goal yielded Harvard an insurmountable lead and delivered the Bears a crushing home loss.
Nevertheless, the Bears remain hopeful for their upcoming in-conference matchup against Dartmouth. “Our team has a great amount of potential,” Broady wrote. “But as my college coach often said, ‘potential means you ain’t done it yet.’ This weekend, against Dartmouth, our focus is on ourselves.”
The Bears will take on the Big Green on Friday at the Goldberger Family Field in Providence. Friday’s contest will begin at 4 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Cooper Herman is a senior staff writer covering sports and arts & culture. He is a sophomore from Alexandria, Virginia studying Economics and International and Public Affairs.
