September 12, 2009

BULLDOGS FALL TO HARVARD, 4-2, ON THE ROAD SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Boxscore

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- Despite goals from sophomore Courtney Landi (Kingston, N.Y.) and junior Elise Boissoneau (Ashburnham, Mass.), the Bryant University field hockey wouldn't be able to hand Harvard its first loss of the season, falling to the Crimson, 4-2, on the road Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs (1-3) were outshot by Harvard (3-0), 21-7, on the day while the home team got scores from four different players.

The Crimson came out quickly in the first half when Georgia McGillivray gave her side a 1-0 lead off a penalty corner just 3:06 into the contest.

Boissoneau evened the score with less than 10 minutes to play in the opening frame, when she collected the rebound of her own shot -- a strike that hit the left post -- and put it in past goalkeeper Cynthia Tassopoulos at the 25:41 mark to knot the game at 1-1.

But Kristin Bannon would make sure Harvard entered the half with the advantage. She hammered home a loose rebound from the middle of the circle with 2:41 remaining before the break to drive the score to 2-1.

Chloe Keating opened up the second half with a quick unassisted goal of her own less than 10 minutes in, taking control of a loose ball in front of Bryant senior goalie Kundayi Mawema (Harare, Zimbabwe) and giving Harvard a 3-1 lead.

Landi would get the Bulldogs back to within one 23:44 into the second frame when she took a pass from classmate Aly Czerniak (Holyoke, Mass.) and fired it into the left side of the goal, but that would be the last score for Bryant before Emma Keller nailed down a victory for the home side with an insurance goal with less than two minutes to play.

McGillivray paced the Crimson with seven shots on the day, while the Bulldogs were led by three from Landi. Mawema made 10 saves against the strong Harvard offense, while Tassopoulos stopped a trio of Bryant scoring chances.

The Bulldogs won't have time to linger on the loss, though, as they return to the field in just 24 hours. They will take on crosstown rival Brown University Sunday (Sept. 13) in Providence, R.I. at 2 p.m.