Key Game Against Maryland

Now comes the really hard part.

The Harvard women's lacrosse team got itself out of a little funk Wednesday with a 17-8 drubbing of the University of New Hampshire. The Crimson (7-2 overall, 2-1 Ivy) was coming off two less-than-impressive games--a loss to Loyola and a close win over Yale--and needed to show that it can still win big.

Harvard passed in flying colors, and so the real test comes tomorrow in the form of Maryland. The Terrapins are ranked number two in the country and they defeated the Crimson last year. For Harvard's sake, that had better not happen again. A third loss this year will make it very difficult for the Crimson to make the NCAA Tournament at the end of the season.

One of the keys for Harvard on Saturday will be offensive patience. During its only scoring drought against UNH--late in the first half--the Crimson attackers did not wait long enough for the set offense to create scoring opportunities, and Harvard was shut out for more than 10 minutes in the first half.

Harvard cannot expect Maryland to make many mistakes that result in fast breaks, so it must take advantage of every chance that it gets.

Around the Ivies and Nation: In other lacrosse news, Loyola is now ranked number one in the country, after its victory over Harvard. From the Ivy League, Princeton is slotted at third in the nation and is first the Ancient Eight. The Tigers are a perfect 7-0, including a win against Harvard.

Princeton also boasted having the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week last week, with senior midfielder Jenny Bristow winning the award on account of her seven goals and four assists.

The Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week went to senior Ellen Bruce of Dartmouth, who played an integral role in the Big Green's victories over ninth-ranked Penn State and 14th-ranked Pennsylvania. Dartmouth currently resides in fourth place in the Ivies, behind Penn, Harvard and Princeton.

Other Harvard News: Harvard's lone Honor Roll achiever last week went to senior attacker Sarah Downing, whose four goals and one assist helped Harvard edge out Yale.

Even though she hasn't won any Player of the Week awards, freshman goalie Kate Schutt deserves some mention. Jumping right from high school to the upper collegiate level, she hasn't skipped a beat, playing extremely well this season. Equally heartening is the fact that she hasn't let two one-goal losses faze her in any way.