Field Hockey Snubbed by Selection Committee

The joking and chatting ceased. All attention was centered squarely on an image that, only moments before, was a background for shadow puppets created by the hands of jaunty field hockey players.

Projected onto a screen was the NCAA Tournament Field Hockey Selection Show, which was broadcast over the internet at 8 p.m. last night.

After Nance Reed, the Chair of the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Committee, explained the procedure for determining the participants in this year’s NCAA Tournament, John Williams, the NCAA Director of Championships, began to reveal what teams would receive invitations.

His voice came small out of the laptop speakers.

“Wake Forest, Boston College, Connecticut, Northeastern,” began Williams.

Reed continued, “Michigan State, Louisville, Michigan, University of North Carolina.”

When the tiny voice of Williams came out next, it sounded like he screamed, “Maryland, California, Penn State, Princeton.” With only four spots left in the tournament, the room became almost perfectly still.

“Old Dominion, Richmond, American and Duke University,” concluded Reed.

With those soft words, the Crimson field hockey team’s season came to a very sudden end. For Harvard’s six seniors, their collegiate athletic careers came to a conclusion.

“It was not a huge shock, just more of a disappointment,” tri-captain Jen Ahn said.

Automatic bids were extended to the six winners of conference championships. Two more bids were given to winners of play-in games featuring four more conference champions.

The final eight places in the tournament were reserved for at-large bids. The Crimson had received an at-large bid the past two years.

According to Reed, both primary criteria, including win-loss percentage and strength of schedule, and secondary criteria, such as late season performance, were considered to pick the eight at-large teams.

At 12-5, No. 16 Harvard needed those teams ranked highly to win their respective conference championships, thus freeing-up as many at large bids as possible.

When No. 18 Boston College beat No. 10 Connecticut on Sunday, the Crimson’s chances took a hit, and when No. 12 Richmond fell to No. 20 University of California-Berkeley yesterday, the door was all but shut on Harvard’s postseason dreams.

“The teams we needed to win didn’t,” coach Sue Caples said. “The bottom line in the end is: We didn’t do everything we could to get them to put us in the tournament.”

Citing close games with Richmond and Dartmouth, Caples explained, “We had a couple of tough losses, but we played at a very high level,” Caples said. “We will contend for the Ivy League crown every year.”

Caples said she was impressed with the team’s overall improvement this season, despite not making the tournament.

“We really have made tremendous strides and elevated the level of our program over the last four years,” Caples said.

The fact that the team will not be competing in the playoffs is not all bad, according to Caples.

“We will use it as a motivating force to work to get back there next year.” Caples said.

Though Harvard’s six graduating players will not close out their careers in postseason play, some were nevertheless able to appreciate their time competing for the Crimson.

“I don’t think it will hit me for a bit that it is over for me,” Ahn said. “But I look back and there are good memories and there’s not too much more you can ask for.”