Women's Lacrosse Wins

Jordan field is already paying off for the Harvard women's lacrosse team.

The Crimson (2-0, 0-0 Ivy) seemed more than at home in its new digs as it dispatched Boston College (1-2) 13-9 to capture the home opener.

"It's a big win for us," said junior co-captain Ali Harper. "It's really important for us because it sets the tone for the entire season, and to win in front of our home fans is a bonus."

Junior midfielder Lauren Corkery and sophomore attacker Lizzy Frisbie knotted hat tricks, while Harper and sophomore defender Hilary Walton each had a pair in the offensive display.

Freshman goaltender Nora Guyer was also impressive between the pipes.

Guyer allowed just six goals and collected 10 saves, denying the Eagles that elusive go-ahead goal after B.C. rallied to tie the game midway through the second half.

With the game deadlocked 7-7 and B.C. gaining momentum, Corkery exploded for a pair of goals 37 seconds apart to put the Crimson ahead 9-7 and stop the Eagle run.

"Lauren's two goals midway through the second were huge," Harper said. "The first obviously gave us the lead, but the second was even more important. The two-goal cushion was really important"

Just minutes later, Harper converted on a pass from Corkery to widen the lead to 10-7 before the Crimson tightened the defense to hold off a last minute B.C. charge.

After B.C. knotted the game 7-7 with 20 minutes remaining in the second half, Harvard allowed just one goal in the next 18 minutes to close the door on the Eagles' hopes for an upset.

Walton added an insurance goal with 2:18 remaining in regulation to put the Crimson up 12-8 and silence B.C.'s last whimper of hope.

Harper added another with 1:03 left on the clock and rounded out the Crimson scoring.

Harvard outplayed B.C. throughout most of the game, but the Crimson had trouble finishing off the Eagles in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score would indicate.

The Crimson jumped to an early 2-0 lead less than two minutes into the game with goals from Frisbie and sophomore midfielder Gretchen Puttkamer.

As they would do all day, however, the feisty Eagles battled back to knot the game 2-2 midway through the first half.

Harvard appeared to blow the game wide open at the end of the first half with a four-goal run that put the Crimson up 6-2 heading into halftime.

Junior midfielder Courtney Leimkuhler gave the Crimson a 3-2 lead before Frisbie and freshman attacker Sara Burg added a pair 52 seconds apart to give Harvard a commanding 5-2 lead.

Walton capped the Crimson run, scoring 20 seconds before halftime to put the Crimson up 6-2 on goal assisted by junior midfielder Meg Austin.

The Eagles, however, would not roll over.

B.C. came storming out after halftime, unleashing four goals in under four minutes to tie the game 6-6.

"Our biggest weakness is that we start games strong and then have lapses," Harper said. "We let them come back instead of pounding goals in and finishing them off. If we could do that, we'd be golden."

Unlike yesterday against the Eagles, Harvard will need to be as good as gold if it hopes to continue its winning ways when it opens its Ivy League schedule next week.

The Crimson will host Brown next Wednesday in the Ivy opener.

The Bears defeated Harvard, 10-8, last year in their only head-to-head match-up of the season.