Women Drop Lax to Brown; Romp in Tennis, 8-1

First, the good news: women's lacrosse coach Debi Field said of her team's performance against Brown yesterday, "It was one of the best lacrosse games I've seen played since I've been here."

Now, the bad news: the Bruins played ever so slightly better than the Crimson, nipping the laxwomen, 8-7.

The first half was representative of the game as a whole. Sarah Mleczko scored three goals on her way to her second consecutive five-goal game, but Brown's Margerie Smith tossed in two of her own, leaving Harvard in possession of a slim 3-2 half-time lead.

The Crimson upped their lead to 5-2 early in the second period thanks to scores by Ellen Seidler and Mleczko. Bruins Robin Beil and Mercedes Bosch soon dispelled that advantage, though, driving home a goal each.

Mleczko the garnered her fifth of the day before Brown overtook the Crimson with consecutive tallies by Laurie Raymond, Bosch and Terry Tamase. But Harvard frosh Sue St. Louis knotted the score at 7-7 with less than four minutes remaining in the game.

Then, with less than two minutes to play. Bosch gave Brown the lead with her third goal of the half. The Bruins won the ensuing draw, and the Crimson obtained possession with about a minute to go, but Brown's defense held and Harvard was unable to get a shot off before the contest ended.

In spite of the adverse outcome, which left the laxwomen with a 3-3 season record, Field was not overly dismayed. "We outplayed them despite the breaks of the game. It was a superb game that really pulled everyone together," she said.