Friday, Sept. 6, William and Mary field hockey (0-4, 0-0 CAA) lost to No. 8 Harvard (2-0, 0-0 Ivy) 6-0 at Busch Field in Williamsburg, Va.
The Tribe — which fell to unranked Richmond (3-1, 0-0 A10) 7-1 in its 2024 home opener Sept. 1 — looked to bounce back on familiar soil against the Crimson in upset fashion. Despite being ranked eighth in the country, the Green and Gold entered Friday’s matchup leading 2-1 in the programs’ head-to-head history.
However, from the start of the first period, it quickly became apparent that Harvard outmatched the Tribe in almost every aspect of the game. Sophomore midfielder Lara Beekhuis got the scoring started for the Crimson in the fourth minute, giving Harvard an early 1-0 lead, courtesy of an assist by junior midfielder Fiene Oerlemans. Just over three minutes later, the visitors almost struck again, taking two shots within six seconds that were blocked by Tribe graduate student goalkeeper Maddie George and sophomore defender Mackinzie Brown, respectively. In the 11th minute, Harvard freshman forward Emily Bronckers increased the Crimson lead to two with her first goal of the season.
In the second quarter, Bronckers continued to be an unstoppable force against the Green and Gold. Thirty seconds into the period, she found the back of the net for her second goal of the game, stretching Harvard’s lead to three. The remainder of the half was quiet for both teams, thanks to three more saves from George and one from junior midfielder Emme Schwartz.
As the first half came to a close, Harvard led the game in shots 12-0 and penalty corners 3-0. With little offensive action, the Green and Gold entered the break desperate to kick-start its scoring in the second half.
Unfortunately, the only offense that came out swinging in the third period was the Crimson’s. Just over two minutes into the second half, senior forward Lucy Leel scored her first goal of the 2024 season, extending the visitor’s lead to 4-0. Leel continued to attack the net in the following minute, but failed to score on her next two shots following another George save and a miss wide. In the 36th minute, George knocked down another Harvard shot on goal, this time courtesy of junior forward Kate Oliver. In the 38th minute, Harvard tacked on one more, this time thanks to junior defender Bronte-May Brough for her first goal of the season.
In the final period of the matchup, Harvard showed no sign of slowing down. However, thanks to seven saves from George in a hectic five-minute window, the Green and Gold’s deficit remained at five. In the 51st minute, William and Mary junior defender Amelia Morgan’s shot on goal was blocked before it even made it to the net. To make matters worse, in the 55th minute, senior forward Sara Silarszka scored another goal for the Crimson, extending the late-game lead to six.
Though William and Mary ended the game outmatched 26-1 in shots and 4-1 in penalty corners, George recorded an impressive 15 saves.
Sunday, Sept. 8, the Green and Gold suited up against its second ranked opponent of the week, this time against No. 18 Old Dominion (4-0, 0-0 Big East). ODU — who entered Sunday’s matchup fresh off of a dominant 9-0 win against Queen’s University on Friday — entered Busch Field looking to continue its scorching 2024 season start in Williamsburg against a struggling Tribe squad.
Sunday’s matchup started in a similarly unfortunate manner for William and Mary. After three minutes of stalemate, ODU senior midfielder Rina Tsioles fired a shot on the Green and Gold net. Despite a solid save by George, junior attack Sanci Molkenboer was able to wrangle in the miss and score the Monarchs’ first goal of the game, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. The rest of the quarter saw more empty Monarch shots, thanks to two more George saves. After 15 minutes of play, however, the Green and Gold found itself in an early deficit once again.
The Tribe’s defense saw no improvement early in the second. In the 20th minute, senior forward Tess Jedeloo scored the Monarchs’ second goal of the game, courtesy of a Molkenboer assist. Like the first period, both offenses went quiet in the final 10 minutes of the half. As both teams entered the break, the Monarchs outmatched the Tribe 11-0 in shots and 4-0 in penalty corners.
Just like the two previous periods before, the Tribe defense was most vulnerable in the first five minutes of the third quarter. Jedeloo struck again, this time courtesy of assists by senior midfielder Frederique Zanderbergen and Tsioles. Despite being down 3-0, William and Mary put up its first shot in the period but failed to score on the attempt.
In the fourth, the Tribe finally scored its first goal of the week. Following a Monarch penalty, senior midfielder Pyper Friedman converted on her penalty shot, cutting the Green and Gold deficit to three. However, with less than three minutes of play, senior midfielder Sian Emslie scored another Monarch goal, giving ODU a 4-1 lead.
Despite the rough week, William and Mary looks to secure its first win of 2024 against Liberty (2-1, 0-0 Big East) Friday, Sept. 13 at the Liberty Field Hockey Field in Lynchburg, Va.