"We're both going to score against Yale," says Clifton, who like Kelly has knocked in one goal this year.
Kelly's goal--a blast off a corner pass from Clifton that propelled the Crimson into a 1-1 tie with 16th-ranked Boston College--was her first ever.
Clifton's score--the only Harvard tally against UMass--was her fourth lifetime goal. In her sophomore year, Clifton scored three times, twice against Cornell.
While Kelly and Clifton weren't playing much in past seasons, they were helping the team and former Crimson Coach Edie Mabrey in other ways.
"Edie would always make us peel oranges at halftime," Clifton says.
While they're orange peeling days are over, so--save for one game--are their field hockey careers.
"I never thought I'd play field hockey for four years, much less be captain," Clifton says. "But the reason I kept coming back were the players. They're a great bunch."
As captains, Kelly and Clifton have had a special task--to encourage and lead a team composed primarily of sophomores and freshmen.
But the task certainly has been worth it.
"We're going to be sad leaving them," Kelly says.
Both captains regret that they will not be around next year when the young Crimson team--with a year of tough play behind it--will be one of the favorites to capture the Ivy crown.
"They have every right to be cocky next year," Clifton says. "They're going to be awesome."
While this year's team has been somewhat less than awesome, it certainly has shown sparks of greatness.
And nothing less than a great effort will be needed to beat Yale, which is coming off a 1-0 victory over Holy Cross and a 4-0 rout of Fair-field.
But with Kelly and Clifton leading the charge, the Crimson just might sack its chief Ancient Eight rival--and come home with the silver medal in the Ivy League.
THE NOTEBOOK: For her goal against B.C., Kelly was named Honorable Mention Ivy League Player of the Week...Although tied for second in the Ivy League, Harvard sports the worst overall record among its league rivals. Only Brown--with a 4-8-2 overall mark--approaches the Crimson's .346 winning percentage...Yale goalie Nada Sellers has eight shutouts on the year, four more than Harvard net-minder Denise Katsias.