Losses are tough for any athletic team. But none bites as deeply as one to Harvard, the biggest rival for any Bulldog squad, no matter what the sport.

The field hockey team (3-9, 2-2 Ivy) lost a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon at Jordan Field in Boston, Mass., when Harvard forward Tami Jafar tallied the game winner eight minutes into double overtime to give the Cantabs (2-10, 2-2 Ivy) a 3-2 win. In Sunday’s action against Boston University (8-5) at MIT’s Jack Barry Field, the Bulldogs took an early 1-0 lead, but the Terriers scored four second-half goals to come away with a 6-1 win.

Harvard forward Gretchen Fuller tallied two goals in the first fifteen minutes to give the Crimson an early 2-0 lead. With just 24 seconds left in the first half, the Bulldogs were finally able to answer. Captain Heather Orrico ’07 passed to back Emily Palilonis ’07 on a penalty corner to give the defender her first goal of the season and put the Elis within one.

“It was definitely a close game,” forward Ashley McCauley ’10 said. “But we didn’t start quite as hard as we would have liked.”

The Crimson led Yale in shots 13-2 in the first half, but the Bulldogs matched Harvard 5-5 in the second. Forward Harriet Thayer ’08 scored at the 58-minute mark off a pass by forward Cat Lindroth ’08, but the game remained knotted at 2-2 for the rest of regulation and the first overtime.

In the second overtime, goalkeeper Elizabeth Friedlander ’07 stopped a shot by Harvard forward Devon Shapiro off a penalty corner, but the Elis were unable to clear the ball. Friedlander made one final save before Jafar knocked the rebound past her.

Orrico said that it was a fairly even match, but the Bulldogs came out on the wrong end of the final score.

“I was really proud of the way that we battled back,” she said. “It could have gone either way. We’re disappointed in the outcome, but we fought really hard so that’s something to be proud of.”

Goalkeeper Elizabeth Friedlander ’07 finished with eighteen saves. The Crimson had 12 penalty corners to the Elis’ 4.

The following day against BU, it was the Bulldogs who came out strong as Thayer scored on a fast break assisted by forward Lindsay Collins ’07 to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead at the seven minute mark. But Terrier forward Lizzie Perreault tied the game twenty-five minutes in, followed by a goal by teammate forward Amy Seaman.

BU dominated the Bulldogs in the second half, scoring three goals in a span of just over two minutes to finish with a 6-1 victory. After the three-tally spurt, rookie goalkeeper Charlotte Goins ’10 relieved Friedlander, who made seven saves, to play the final fourteen minutes. She finished with one save and extended her scoreless streak to 66:52. The Terriers outshot the Elis 21-3 and took 15 penalty corners to the Bulldogs’ two.

After four straight road games, the Elis will return home for a three-game stretch starting this Saturday against the University of Pennsylvania. The Quakers, Yale and Harvard are now tied for third in the Ivy League standings.

Orrico said the game against the Terriers was disappointing but showed the Bulldogs what they need to improve on.

“We really need to work on coming out consistently,” she said. “Some days we show up, and some we don’t. That’s been kind of our Achilles heel this season. But we have four games left, and we’re hoping to go four for four.”