Stickwomen Conquer Lowell, Field, 3-0

After trouncing Fairfield, 7-1, Saturday, the Harvard field hockey team continued its success on the road by shutting out Lowell yesterday, 3-0, despite playing on dismal field conditions.

Junior midfielder Char Joslin scored twice to pace the Crimson, while freshman Sandra White tallied the other Harvard goal.

Joslin's first goal, which provided the margin of victory, came midway through the first half off a deflection following a short corner.

The Crimson's other two goals came close together at the end of the game. Joslin scored again with roughly 10 minutes remaining, while White extended the lead by deflecting a drive from the right side of the field with just three minutes left.

Harvard Co-Captain Katie McAnaney said the bumpy field made it difficult to control the ball because of sporadic changes in the ball's movement.

Despite the conditions, Harvard (now 3-1) played a strong game by moving the ball well, making good connections and preventing counterattacks.

Harvard dominated play in the first period, keeping Lowell from clearing the ball out of its half of the field except on four or five occasions.

Despite this pressure, the Crimson was able to come through with only one goal off of 17 shots.

In the second half Harvard controlled the game by swinging the ball from their favored right side to the left. The team used the back pass effectively today and committed fewer fouls.

Harvard increased the pressure in the second half and improved the number of shots on goal by being more aggressive.

Sophmore midfielder Erin O'Brien and White had some great combinations, keeping the ball from penetrating the Harvard zone.

Junior forward Sharon Landau and freshman link Kristen Fowler also played well together, while freshmen Becky Gaffney and Ceci Clark had good games.

Co-Captain goaltender Denise Katsias, who wasn't tested much throughout the game, had to make only one good save.

Lowell defended against the aggressive Harvard attack by constantly bunching right in front of its goal.

The three-goal shutout combined with an increasingly healthy squad will boost the team's confidence going into a tough part of the schedule.

Junior sweeper Lynn Frangione is back in the lineup, and sophomore Anne van Dykum is on the mend.

Harvard hosts Connecticut at Soldiers Field Thursday at 3 p.m. UConn, a contender for the national championship, is much stronger than Fairfield and Lowell, and may be better than Northeastern, the team which last defeated the Crimson.

Today's game warranted a zone defense because of the poor field conditions, but UConn will require a solid, quick man-to-man defense.

After facing the Huskies, the team will fly to Philadelphia on Sunday to play Pennsylvania--an equally strong team which is just coming off a 5-0 shutout against Dartmouth in Hanover.

In addition to the Quakers, Harvard will have to worry about playing on artificial turf, a faster surface unfamiliar to the team. In preparation for the game, the squad will practice on turf at Boston University this week.