Photo of Chloe Keating courtesy DSPics.com

WORCESTER, Mass. -Junior Chloe Keating scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Harvard field hockey team in a season-opening 4-1 win against Holy Cross Saturday afternoon at Hart Turf Field.

Sophomore Carly Dickson registered two assists, while freshman Emma Keller and sophomore Allie Kimmel recorded the first goals of their collegiate careers. The Crimson (1-0) outshot the Crusaders (0-2), 12-8, and limited Holy Cross to three shots on goal. Harvard held an 8-4 advantage in penalty corners.

Rookie Cynthia Tassopoulos recorded one save and had an outstanding game to pick up a victory in her Harvard debut. She made several nice plays to force Holy Cross shots wide.

Tassopoulos got plenty of help from her teammates, as the Crimson built a three-goal lead in the first half. The team, led by the starting back line of Elizabeth Goodman-Bacon, Pilar Curtis, Kim Goh and Georgia McGillivray, limited the Crusaders to one second-half shot on goal. Curtis made a defensive save in the first half.

Keating got the Crimson on the board less than 12 minutes into the season, deflecting Dickson's shot from the top of the circle past HC goalie Kelly Casey. Keating helped Harvard double the lead about nine minutes later. She fed Keller in the middle of the circle, and the rookie's low shot to the right made it 2-0. Curtis kept it that way with a defensive save, blocking a shot by Rachael Miers before it could cross the goal line.

Kimmel made it two goals in barely five minutes and three in 14 minutes with her tally, assisted by Dickson. The three-goal edge did not last long, however, as Crusader Alanna Sikorski found the back of the cage off a penalty corner to send the game to halftime with the Crimson up, 3-1.

Harvard outshot Holy Cross, 8-5, in the opening half and held a 4-2 edge in corners.

The score remained the same for much of the second half, until Keating pushed the lead back to three goals with just under seven minutes left to play. She found the ball in a crowd and beat Casey with a shot to make it 4-1.

The Crimson held a 5-4 edge in shots and another 4-2 advantage in corners in the second half. Casey finished with four saves for the Crusaders.

Harvard will again remain in Massachusetts for its next game. The Crimson will take on UC Davis in a neutral-site game Wednesday night in Amherst, Mass.