Despite Furious Rally, Bobcats Scrape Past Crimson in Overtime

In the fourth game of the season, the Harvard women’s lacrosse team sought to break .500 with a victory on the road at Quinnipiac, facing the Bobcats on their new turf surface in the Lacrosse/Field Hockey Complex in Hamden, Conn.

Quinnipiac, however, successfully christened its new field, beating Harvard 16-15 in a game that would not be decided until the final 12 seconds of overtime.

Down 14-11 at the end of the second period, junior Liz Gamble initiated a Crimson 3-0 run, scoring on a free position shot with 2:40 left in the frame. Sophomore Tara Schoen brought Harvard (1-3) within one with an unassisted goal.

The tying goal was scored off a broken play. With 46 seconds left, Gamble managed to slip an unassisted goal past the Bobcat goaltender, sending the game into overtime.

“We ran a play designed for Kaitlin Martin,” Gamble said. “But the play kind of fell apart and left me open for the score.”

In overtime, neither team managed any offense until the final moments of the competition, when Katy Delagi scored the first goal for Quinnipiac (1-1) with 56 ticks remaining on the clock. Again, Gamble would secure a crucial goal for the Crimson, tying the contest with 36 seconds left.

However, Jennifer Larson would provide the Bobcats the penultimate tally in overtime, firing the ball past goaltender Kathryn Tylander to seal the victory.

Despite the outcome, the game started well for the Crimson.

Schoen, less than two minutes into the period, scored off an assist from sophomore Caroline Simmons to give Harvard the early 1-0 advantage. After the score, the Crimson and Quinnipiac traded goals, with neither team amassing a lead larger than one point as the first frame ended.

Ahead 6-5 at the onset of the second period, the Bobcats struck first.

But again, Harvard found itself trading goals with the Bobcats in the second half. Quinnipiac would score a few goals, causing the Crimson to constantly play catch-up, a trend that Harvard failed to break and that ultimately proved to be its downfall.

But the results of this season are not due to lack of effort.

In the shortcoming at Quinnipiac, the Crimson managed to outshoot the Bobcats, 41-30. Schoen and Gamble both led all players in scoring, tallying six and five goals, respectively.

However, the team is far from perfect. Thursday’s game marks the third road loss—out of three road games—and the second loss in a row. Harvard has much work to do to right its wrongs.

“We need to get a lot more psyched up at the beginning of the game,” Simmons said. “We can’t commit to playing for the full sixty minutes of the game.”

The disappointing 13-game losing streak in the 2004-2005 season is still fresh in the minds of many players.

“We won’t accept another season like last,” Gamble said. “We didn’t see people fighting back last season when we’re down, [but] now we do.”