Laxwomen Cruise Past Eagles; Joslin Scores Four in 15-2 Win

No contest.

That is what took place yesterday at Ohiri Field as the defending Ivy League champion Harvard women's lacrosse team devastated Boston College, 15-2.

It was the season opener for both teams and while it may not have been perfect for the Eagles, the Crimson couldn't think of a better way to kick off its season.

"It's a fantastic way to start," said senior Char Joslin who had four goals for Harvard and played outstanding defense.

"It's a good start," said Ceci Clark, who also had an excellent defensive outing, "but it wasn't much of a challenge."

And a challenge it wasn't.

Harvard began to dominate early in the game, scoring five goals in the first 10 minutes to take a 6-2 lead at the end of the first period.

Unfortunately, Harvard also lost a player early in the game. Junior midfielder Lila Rifaat had to be escorted off of the field with 10:47 left to play in the first period after injuring her knee. There was no word as to whether or not she will be able to play Saturday in the team's first Ivy game against Penn.

The agressiveness of Harvard's defense held B.C. to only one goal in the first period, scored by Jennifer Barone. And the Eagles were forced to play without the contributions of one of their key offensive threats, Tracey Harris, who is out with an injury.

The Crimson came out blazing after halftime, scoring three goals in one minute. Becky Gaffney scored, assisted by Julie Clifford, less than 30 seconds into the second period. Joslin came back to score an unassisted goal only 10 seconds later. Joslin scored again, this time assisted by Lynn Frangione, at the 24-minute mark.

Complete destruction was inevitable.

Freshman Liz Berkery assisted Karen Everling on a reverse bounce shot with 21 minutes left in the game. But the freshmen on the squad did more than assist, much more. Freshman Tara Uhler scored on a foul shot at the 15-minute mark, while the other young players who came in had a major impact defensively. "The important thing was that everyone got a chance to play," said Joslin. "The freshmen were incredible."

Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder had nothing but praise for her players after the game, but she was more pleased with Harvard's performance in the second half than with that of the first.

"They're young and they are coming along fine," Kleinfelder said. "The second half was much better--the girls showed much more poise and were more patient."

The Crimson is looking forward to opening its defense of its title against the Quakers.

"Everyone played great today..." Joslin said, "but we are going to have to step it up for our next game. Even though we scored a lot of points, we need to work on our offense--we need to be more organized."

Crimson, 15-2 Crimson, 15-2 at Ohiri Field Boston College  1-4--2 Harvard  6-9--15

Goals--BC Jennifer Barone 1, Alexandria Denney 1. H Char Joslin 4, Julie Clifford 2, Karen Everling 2, Becky Gaffney 2, Julia French 2, Rachel Schultz 1, Tara Uhler 1, Jennifer Walser 1.