Fresh Faces, Fresh Start

With a full season ahead of it and a new head coach at the helm, the Harvard women’s lacrosse team started off exceptionally strong, defeating Holy Cross, 19-2, in its first game.

The Crimson (1-0) faced off against the Crusaders (0-2) yesterday afternoon in the season opener at Jordan Field. Coming off of a 5-11 season plagued with injuries and inconsistency, Harvard was looking to come out of the gate quickly in order to set a different tone from last year.

Last season, the Crimson met Holy Cross in its season opener and was barely able to scrape by with a win, 14-13. But Harvard showed a new face yesterday, dominating the entire way and capturing an impressive victory, 19-2.

“Going into this game we knew that we needed to make a statement,” senior captain Natalie Curtis said. “We certainly made a statement...We knew exactly what we needed to do.”

“We knew how to control our game and how to control the pace of our game,” she added. “There were no surprises.”

Harvard’s success was in no small part due to the addition of a new head coach, Lisa Miller. Miller recently left Syracuse, where she turned the women’s lacrosse team into a national powerhouse and captured the 2007 Big East Coach of the Year award. With high expectations, Miller wasted no time as she implemented drastic changes to the Crimson program. Some of her tactics were criticized as she cut several new recruits and a few veterans from the program. But there is no denying results, and a 19-2 blowout in her first game with Harvard is certainly a positive omen for Miller and the team.

“I’m pleased with the way we started,” Miller said. “I thought we were pretty focused and pretty disciplined and we put the ball away. Do we have some things that we need to work on? Yes. But I like the way they played.”

The Crimson controlled the entire game, rarely allowing Holy Cross to have any scoring opportunities. Harvard kept the ball primarily in its attacking zone which allowed the goal count to skyrocket. Sophomore Sara Flood posted an impressive three goals and two assists and junior Sarah Bancroft also put three away. Seniors Caroline Simmons, Lauren Bobzin, and Natalie Curtis each picked up two goals as well.

Perhaps the most encouraging sign for the Crimson’s prospects for this season was the emergence of freshman Jess Halpern.

In her first collegiate game, Halpern scored an impressive four goals and notched one assist. She was able to sidestep and juke every defender that stepped in front of her, showcasing lightning quick feet that always seemed a step ahead of the other team, which led to her many scoring opportunities. Her gaudy numbers are even more impressive considering she was sidelined for a large portion of the second period.

“I think that we just played really well,” Halpern said. “We executed everything that we wanted to. We worked on the little things. And we knew if we worked well at the little things—catching, passing, and the transition—than we would be able to win.”

Senior goalie Kathyrn Tylander was perfect in her 30 minutes of play, making six saves before she was swapped out for sophomore Katherine Martino. With the Crimson up, 18-0, near the end of the game, the team allowed the Crusaders to score two quick goals, denying the chance of completing the combined shutout. Flood ended the scoring by tallying Harvard’s 19th goal with only 12 seconds remaining in the game.