Four-Goal Surges Down Crimson in Philly

The Harvard women’s lacrosse team lost to No. 9 Penn, 14-10, in the Crimson’s third game of Ivy League play Sunday at Barton Stadium in Philadelphia. The loss is Harvard’s second conference defeat, while the Quakers remain undefeated in league play.

The contest matched the Crimson (7-4, 1-2 Ivy) and its offensive force against the Quaker’s formidable defense. Penn (9-1, 4-0), the defending Ivy League champions, has held teams to 6.2 goals per game, while the Crimson leads the league in total scoring.

Spearheaded by junior leading scorer Kaitlin Martin—who scored two goals and notched an assist—six different Crimson players found the back of the net. Senior Caroline Simmons, junior Sarah Bancroft, and freshman Jess Halpern each contributed two goals, while captain Natalie Curtis added the first tally on the day.

The Crimson stayed neck-and-neck with the Quakers in the first, pulling ahead 5-4 on a Halpern score with 9:37 to go. But Penn’s offense began to break through when Quaker senior Chelsea Kocis tied the game at 5-5 with 8:15 left in the half, opening the floodgates as the first of four straight Penn goals to close out the half. The Crimson trailed 8-5 heading into the locker rooms.

Curtis was satisfied with her team’s ability to play with one of the top squads in the country.

“We came out fired up and it stayed really tight throughout the whole first half,” said Curtis, whose goal set the pace for the early play.

Penn’s offensive momentum continued into the second half. Harvard was first on the board with an early goal from Bancroft, but the Quakers responded with four quick scores to pull ahead 12-6 with 16:23 remaining. A suffocating zone trap caused trouble for the Crimson offense as it tried to mount a comeback.

“The tough zone trap made it difficult for us to get balls through the thirties,” Curtis said.

Harvard rallied with three goals in the final three minutes, but time ran out, as the Quakers closed out the game with a 14-10 victory. Harvard’s 10 goals equaled the highest tally scored against Penn this season.

Sophomore Katherine Martino made seven saves and played 48 minutes in an impressive showing against the Quakers’ tough offense. Senior Kathryn Tylander started the second half in goal, but was relieved by Martino with 18 minutes remaining. Yesterday’s win marked Penn’s eighth consecutive victory over the Crimson, although Harvard leads the all-time series against the Quakers, 18-17.

Harvard is coming off of a difficult stretch of six games in 18 days, two against nationally ranked opponents. The Crimson will face two more ranked teams in league play this year, No. 2 Princeton and No. 20 Dartmouth, taking on the former at Harvard Stadium next Saturday at noon. The contest will be the first game of a doubleheader, with the men’s team taking the field to finish out the day.