Strong Defense Helps Vermont Continue Ivy Streak

Junior back Francine Polet scored for the second game in a row, but it was not enough for the Crimson to overcome Vermont in a 3-1 loss at Moulton Winder Field yesterday afternoon.

It was Harvard’s second 3-1 defeat in a row after Wednesday’s game against Providence, and it was Vermont’s fourth straight win against Ivy League opponents.

“We didn’t really step up the way that we had hoped to,” co-captain Devon Shapiro said. “They just came out harder than we did and did a great job capitalizing on all of their opportunities.”

The Catamounts (8-4) took control of the game early, knocking in a penalty corner 13 minutes into the contest.

Less than a minute and a half later, Vermont junior Maegan Luce scored an unassisted goal on the Crimson (5-4) to make the lead 2-0 in the Catamounts’ favor.

While Harvard was able to get seven shots in the first period, the first buzzer rang without a Crimson point on the board.

The Catamounts did not let their two-score lead prevent them from playing hard offense, and just two minutes into the second half, Luce knocked in another score, this time assisted by fellow junior Megan Maynard.

The crowd of 300 in Burlington did not get to see a Catamount shutout, though.

Harvard’s Polet capitalized on a penalty corner with 15 minutes left to play, her third goal of the season.

The late Crimson rally ended there, however.

Vermont was Harvard’s first opponent in a five-game road series that includes visits to Ivy rivals Cornell and Yale.

The next opponent for the Crimson is Northeastern this Wednesday afternoon, when Harvard hopes to reestablish a win streak and improve to a .500 road record.

“We all know we have a lot of work we need to get done,” Shapiro said. “Both Northeastern and Cornell are going to be tough matchups.”

The team’s spirit has not been fazed by the thought of a long road trip, and Harvard’s other co-captain, senior Jana Berglund, thinks it should be no harder than a home set.

“We’re not too scared about away games,” she said. “It’s always nice to play at home, but it all depends on how we prepare ourselves and how hard we come out against the other team.”

With a 5-4 record thus far, the Crimson is still looking much better than at this point last year, when the squad was 0-9.

—Staff writer Paul T. Hedrick can be reached at phedrick@fas.harvard.edu.