Ivy Foes Top W. Lacrosse

Over spring break, the youthful Harvard women's lacrosse team got its first real tests of the season. Neither one was an A.

On March 22, Harvard fell to Princeton in New Jersey, 11-2, and on the following Saturday Penn topped Harvard, 10-9, at Ohiri Field. The No. 15 Crimson's record fell to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Ivies.

Before spring break, Harvard defeated lowly-regarded Boston College, Boston University and UMass by a combined total of only seven goals. Against its Ivy foes, however, the Crimson found the going rougher.

Against Princeton, Harvard kept the game close early. Late in the first half, the Crimson trailed by a slim 3-2 margin, powered by goals from senior Liz Schoyer and freshman Ashley Birch.

The Tigers, however, tallied two quick scores at the end of the half and erupted at the beginning of the second. Pretty soon, the game was a blowout.

"It was 3-2, then 4-2 and then we had a dumb foul at the end of the half," said junior Keren Gudeman. "It felt like a close game and that we were in it, but they came out quick at the start of the first half."

Princeton is the defending Ivy League champ, but the team also lost many of its top players to graduation, so the consensus around the league was that the Tigers were as vulnerable this year as they have been in the last four. However, Harvard was unlucky enough to have met them after losing a close overtime game to No. 4 James Madison and still looking for their first win.

The next Saturday, Princeton fell to Dartmouth 10-8, dropping to No. 12 in the nation.

"They came out psyched--they're always a strong team and are good competitors, no matter what," said freshman Genevieve Grandison.

After a week of training in Atlantic City, Harvard played host to Penn in hopes of gaining its first Ivy win. The result turned out to be much like the Princeton game--although the Crimson played well for stretches, key lapses led to the loss.

"Part of our problem is that we just didn't connect as a team this past Saturday," Gudeman said. "It took us a while to get going."

The Quakers roared out to a 5-1 lead in the first 20 minutes of the contest before co-captain Daphne Clark answered with a goal of her own to finish the half.

Harvard momentum would carry over to the second half, when junior Holly Rogers scored two consecutive goals to bring the Crimson within one, and freshman Jeanne Ficociello hit the equalizer six minutes into the period.

Harvard and Penn traded goals over the next 10 minutes, but with the score tied at seven with five minutes to go, the Quakers tallied three consecutive scores. The Crimson tried to come back in the last minute, with sophomore Laura Dahmen and Gudeman scoring, but it was not enough.

After the game, Penn rose to a No. 12 national ranking, tied with Princeton.

Except for the game's first 20 minutes and a five-minute span in the second half, Harvard played a pretty good game. But the Crimson's inconsistency turned out to be its demise.

Much of the problem lies in the fact that the team is so young, with eight players new to the varsity. This shows up most on the transition from defense to offense, when a missed pass can turn a scoring opportunity into a chance for the other team.

"So many of us are new, and we're still working hard to be able to know each other on the field," Grandison said. "I don't think that we have clicked yet. We're getting better, but it will be sort of an evolving thing."

Of the Crimson's nine goals, five came from defensive players (two from Rogers and Gudeman, one from Clark). More than anything, that's a sign that the structured set offense--when these players can safely rush through the are without having to worry about guarding their goal--is working better than the quick-strike transition offense.

Tomorrow, Harvard is scheduled to host No. 8 Yale at Ohiri Field, but the recent snowfall will probably change those plans. The team is currently looking to see if it can play on B.U.'s or B.C.'s astroturf field; if all else fails, the game may be postponed.