'Cliffe Laxers Toppled Twice; Fall to Williams, Dartmouth

The Radcliffe lacrosse team needed just a little more time to escape two losses Saturday. But they didn't get it, and fell to Williams and Dartmouth at Hanover, New Hampshire.

The laxwomen dropped their first game to Williams, 13-5, but almost salvaged a tie with Dartmouth before succumbing, 6-5.

Time RanOut

In the closing moments of the Dartmouth game, captain Carlene Rhodes had the ball in open field in front of the goal. But time ran out.

"It was like a completely different team on the field," coach Debi Field said yesterday, describing how the laxwomen's play varied between the two games.

"The team was psyched up more for Dartmouth than for Williams," Field continued. "Williams just snuck three or four quick goals on us and it affected our morale and the tempo of the game."

Rhodes said that the Dartmouth game was so exciting she forgot about the Williams game. "The team looked really fired up," Rhodes said yesterday.

"We got the first goal and the score was tied at the half," Rhodes continued. "And we scored the first goal after halftime."

The two teams then traded tallies, until Dartmouth came up with two in a row and clinched the victory.

Earlier in the day, Dartmouth had handed Williams an 11-9 loss.

"I was really happy with the effort, with the exception of some lapses on defense," Field said.

Not all the defense was weak. Field cited Nancy Zweng, who played "unbelievably" on defense in the Dartmouth game. On the attack side, Field said Anne Johnson played "exceptionally well. She was moving through and clearing space for the rest of the attack."

Margie Williams, Johnson, Rhodes and Carrie Minot were among the scorers for the laxwomen.

These two losses put the lacrosse team's record at 0-10, and there is only one more regular-season game, which will be played against Worcester State.

The season ends with the New England tournament, to be played on May 22 and 23. Brown, Williams, and Bridgewater State will be the laxwomen's rivals in the tourney.