Laxwomen Take Road, Finish Off 3-1-1 Week

It was enough that the Harvard women's lacrosse team had to play Penn in Philadelphia last Monday. The Crimson was originally slated to face the Quakers in Cambridge, but that game in late March was rained out and re-scheduled for Franklin Field.

It was enough that Harvard--a natural-turf team--had to play on Penn's slick artificial surface, made more slick by a steady downpour.

It was enough that the Crimson--a daylight team--had to play under the lights in the evening game.

It was enough, but Harvard got by, dispatching Penn, 7-6, in the rain.

It was too much to ask of the Crimson to hop on a bus the next morning, take a two-and-a-half hour bus ride to Maryland and face Loyola, not a great lacrosse team, but a good one.

Harvard did the best it could, forging a 9-9 tie with Loyola on a nervy performance by freshman goane Loreen Costa. The back-to-back Penn-Loyola games were representative of the kind of spring break the Crimson had. The team played five games--against Princeton, Penn, Loyola, the University of Vermont and Temple--in 10 days.

As a tribute to the durability and talent of the club, the squad finished with a 3-1-1 record in that span, losing only to Temple, the nation's number-one ranked team.

In beating Princeton, 14-9, at home a week ago and Penn, the Crimson leapt to a 2-0 start in the Ivy League. Last year, the team failed to win the league championship for the first time in six years, abdicating to Dartmouth after a 10-9 loss to the Big Green in Hanover, N.H.

This year, Harvard intends to reclaim that title.

"I think in terms of the Ivy League, we're very strong," Harvard Captain Kelly McBride said. "We look for Brown to be a strong contender and we have to play them on the road."

"It's definitely looking good for us," Crimson attack Leelee Groome said. "[Winning the Ivy League] is something we're all striving for. Princeton and Penn may be our toughest competition."

Another goal seemingly in reach for the Crimson is an NCAA Tournament appearance. Last year, Harvard beat Maryland--the eventual tournament champion--in the regular season, but never got a chance to prove that that victory was no fluke. Because it didn't win the Ivy League title, the Crimson wasn't invited to the tournament.

Dashing

If the Crimson is to make that tournament this year, it may meet Temple. Noted for their strength, the Owls bullied past Harvard, 10-2, Saturday in Cambridge.

"They play a different style of game than we do," McBride said. "They take shots from 12 meters out and they really wing them."

"It was a tough game," Groome said. "We didn't play well. We panicked because we knew they were good. They showed a lot of poise around the net."

The Crimson next sees action Thursday when it goes on the road once again, this time to face the nationally-ranked University of Massachusetts in Amherst.