Women's Lacrosse Drops to Terriers

The end of Spring Break hits all Harvard students hard.

Yesterday, the women's lacrosse team had its rude awakening.

After a moderately successful Spring Break tour, No. 13 Boston University jolted the Crimson 15-7 at Nickerson Field. Harvard, perhaps still on vacation, did not exhibit the requisite passion or hustle to emerge with a win.

"We did not come out with the mental toughness like we did against Yale," sophomore attacker Allison Harper said. "We have to find that mentality."

The early play looked promising for the Crimson as it grabbed an early 1-0 lead. However, Harvard would not find the back of the net until the waning minutes of the first half.

The Terriers barraged sophomore goaltender Keltie Donelan to score six unanswered goals in a 12:58 span. Terrier sophomore Rachel Lieber and senior Jean Cooney each bagged two in the outburst, putting B.U. ahead 6-1.

Harvard headed into intermission trailing 8-3.

The second half brought more misery for the Crimson, and Lieber once again served as chief tormentor.

Lieber scored an additional deuce to lead another Terrier outburst--this one of only four goals. B.U. now led 12-3 putting the game out of reach.

Lieber, coming off the bench, set a career high with her four goal total.

"B.U. was more aggressive and out-hustled us," Harper said. "They capitalized on our mistakes."

Freshman attackers Erin Kutner and Lizzy Frisbie scored twice for Harvard.

Captain Claudio Asano also tallied two goals for the Crimson in her third game back after co-captaining the Women's hockey team to its AWCHA national championship.

Already, the senior defender has made her presence felt. Asano now has seven goals in just three games, including a hat trick in a 10-9 loss to Yale.

"[Asano's] playing real well for us," Harper said. "She has the hardest shot on the team."

Junior midfielder Kim Weeks picked up the other goal for the Crimson, while a beleaguered Donelan made nine saves in a losing effort.

In addition to Leiber's four tallies, Cooney and freshman Ericka Hergendroeder both bagged hat tricks and an assist.

"Our offense was hurt by a lot of double teams, while they found the open players," Harper said. "We made too many offensive and defensive mistakes."

The loss damaged more than the Crimson's pride. Harper, one of the team's top attackers, spent the second half on the sidelines icing down her ankles. Later tests proved that she tore ligaments, and she is expected to miss a couple of weeks.

Freshman midfielder Heather Gotha also left the game with an apparently serious injury, but there was no official word on the extent of the damage.

These injuries are in addition to freshman defenseman Hilary Walton and freshman attacker Heather Hussey, who both missed the game with ailments.

The thoroughness of the B.U. loss effectively derailed any momentum the Crimson built over its Spring Break week of training in Philadelphia.

In the city of Brotherly Love, Harvard steamrolled over St. Joseph's 9-3, before dropping a spirited home contest against the Elis.

The Crimson will try to right itself on Ohiri Field this weekend as it hosts rivals Penn and Maryland. Harvard hopes to exhibit the discipline and intensity that were lacking yesterday.

Game times are noon on Saturday against Penn and 1 p.m. Sunday against Maryland.