W. Lax Hangs Tough Before Falling at UMass

The Harvard women’s lacrosse team didn’t return from its season opener at UMass-Amherst on Saturday with a win, but it brought back plenty of confidence.

Harvard played an excellent first half against the Minutewomen—who knocked off No. 15 Hofstra last week—and opened up a 3-2 lead early in the second. However, UMass (3-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10) then scored four consecutive goals to fuel a 9-5 win before 308 spectators at Richard F. Garber Field.

Co-captain Heather Hussey pointed to the Crimson’s strong first half as a reason for optimism.

“We were very good in the first half,” Hussey said. “We were dictating their play. I was really confident after the first half because UMass already had two games under their belts. They were very strong opponents and we had to respect them, but in the second half we had mental lapses and couldn’t capitalize on our attack. We weren’t playing within ourselves.”

“Overall we’re just going to look back on this as a bump in the road,” she continued. “We got it out of our system early on. Now our defense knows what we have to do to improve.”

Harvard junior Katie Shaughnessy pointed to the Crimson’s good effort throughout as a good indication of things to come.

“We definitely did play a good game overall, but we just didn’t take advantage of our opportunities,” she said. “We hustled a lot throughout the whole game. We didn’t lose for lack of trying. We just lost because of our shooting and not capitalizing on all of our opportunities.”

Harvard freshman midfielder Elaine Belitsos gave the Crimson an early lead with her first collegiate goal, as she beat Minutewomen goalie Cyndi Doyle on a free position chance with 23:50 to play in the first half.

UMass junior Lydia Robinson knotted the score at 12:25 with the first of her career-high four goals on the day. However, Harvard sophomore midfielder Jen Brooks put her team back on top three minutes later on an assist from junior Leslie Moroz.

Minutewomen junior Kelli Kurtz made sure the Crimson didn’t take that 2-1 advantage into the locker room, as she beat Harvard sophomore goalie Laura Mancini—playing in just her second career game—with just 37 seconds to go in the first half.

The Crimson took a 3-2 lead five minutes into the second when 2001 Second Team All-Ivy selection Erin Kutner notched her 10th career tally.

UMass took charge after that, scoring four goals over the next five minutes—including two by Robinson—to take a 6-3 lead it would not relinquish.

“We played great in the first half,” Shaughnessy said. “It was very evenly matched. But at the beginning of second they went on a run. That hurt our confidence, and we weren’t able to get it back.”

Shaughnessy—an honorable mention All-Ivy midfielder last season and the team’s leading returning scorer—and classmate Katie O’Brien each chipped in with second-half goals to aid the Crimson cause, but the Minutewomen added three more to seal the deal.

Shaughnessy said she was impressed with the play of Harvard’s freshman class on Saturday and that she expects it to help fill the void left by the likes of All-Ivy attacker Alli Harper ‘01.

“We have a really great freshman class,” Shaughnessy said. “A lot of players are going to make and already have made impacts. It’s one of the best freshman classes we’ve had in awhile.”

UMass’ four-goal victory didn’t show up in the key statistics. The Crimson held a 15-12 edge in ground balls and won nine of 14 draw controls. The Minutewomen, though, held a slight edge in shots on goal at 20-19.

“Our game plan was just to set the precedent for rest of the season,” Hussey said. “This season is a turnaround season. We want to be among the top 16 in the [national] rankings. UMass is a very respectable and good team, but that’s the kind of swing game that we need to win. We learned that we needed to be tougher mentally. That was a good, early wake up call.”

Mancini, who played just five minutes all of last season, made five saves in her first collegiate start, while Doyle stopped 14 Harvard shots in the win.

“I thought she did an awesome job,” Hussey said of Mancini, who became the team’s starting goaltender when junior Nora Guyer left the team last month. “That’s all we can ask of her. Sometimes we left people wide open in front of the crease, and that’s unfair to her. But this is a new defense, and we’re not all on the same page yet. Once we start playing as a unit, though, we’re going to be.”

Shaughnessy agreed.

“[Mancini] played great,” Shaughnessy said. “She’s really stepped up to the challenge. Her whole mentality is great, and her confidence level is high. She’s going to be a really important part of our defense all year.”

The Crimson hosts local rival Boston College on Wednesday to begin its home schedule.

“It’s good that we only have a few more days until our next game,” Shaughnessy said. “We’re eager to play again after this loss and bounce back.”

Game time is 3:30 p.m. at Jordan Field.

UMASS 9, W. LACROSSE 5

at Richard F. Garber Field, Amherst, MA

Harvard (0-1) 2 3 — 5

UMass (3-0) 2 7 — 9

Scoring: H Goals: Kutner, Brooks, Belitsos, Shaughnessy, O’Brien. H Assists: Moroz. M Goals: Robinson 4, Zelinger 3, Kain, Kurtz. M Assists—Kurtz, Emery, Pollack. Shots: H 19, M 20. Draw Controls: H 9, M 5. Free Positions: H 1-for-5, M 2-for-6. Saves: H Mancini 5, M Doyle 14.