Crimson Falls to Lacrosse Powerhouse Hopkins

The Harvard women’s lacrosse team received little southern hospitality this weekend on its trip to Baltimore, Md.

Taking on perennial powerhouse Johns Hopkins (3-2), the Crimson (1-1) came out flat on Saturday and was not able to recover from an early deficit, eventually falling to the Blue Jays, 15-10.

“I think it was just a frustrating game for everybody,” said sophomore Melanie Baskind, who led her team with four goals. “We didn’t really execute our game plan and got ourselves in a hole pretty early.”

But despite falling behind, 12-5, in the first half, Harvard came out on a tear to begin the second, netting four goals in 10 minutes to cut the deficit to three.

Junior Jess Halpern, the reigning Ivy League leader in goals scored, got things started, notching her first goal of the season five minutes into the period.

Baskind followed with her third goal of the game, this time taking a pass from freshman Danielle Tetreault and beating Johns Hopkins goalie Larash Cosette.

After being held to just a single shot over the first 90 minutes of the season, Halpern scored her second goal in three minutes, taking it unassisted for the score.

Less than a minute later, Baskind added her fourth score of the game, and suddenly the Crimson was within striking distance.

“We kind of decided that as a team we were going to pull it together and come back—and we almost did,” freshman Jennifer VanderMeulen said.

But the comeback was not to be.

The Blue Jays clamped down defensively, holding Harvard to a single score over the next 21:25 of play. Johns Hopkins also found its offensive stride again, netting three scores to close the game.

Blue Jay senior Candace Rossi accumulated her ninth point of the game, finding teammate Colleen McCaffrey to make it 14-10 with seven minutes to play.

But like the rest of her team, Rossi did most of her damage in the opening frame. Rossi found teammate Paige Ibello for the score to open the game. The Crimson kept pace, as VanderMeulen answered with a goal to even the score.

But McCaffrey and Rossi followed up with two score apiece, putting their team up, 5-2.

Baskind responded with her first collegiate score, but the Blue Jays went on a 4-0 run behind two more goals from Rossi and eventually went into the break leading, 12-5.

“Hopkins is obviously a very talented team,” said VanderMeulen, who finished with one goal on four shots. “I thought we came out a little timid and that hurt us in the first half.”

Part of the Crimson’s struggles resulted from trying to adjust to the aggressive style of play Johns Hopkins employed. The Blue Jays defenders doubled the Harvard attackers, making it difficult to find an open path to the goal.

Senior goalkeeper Katherine Martino picked up her first loss of the season in net, finishing with seven saves while allowing 15 goals.

One bright spot for the Crimson was the play of Baskind, a soccer standout who made her debut on the lacrosse field this season.

After tallying an assist in her first game, Baskind added four scores in her second game, helping to keep Harvard within striking distance.

“Mel was hustling all over the field today,” VanderMeulen said. “She really helped us all over the field.”

In addition to her four scores, Baskind caused four turnovers and won three draw controls. But despite her strong individual performance, the midfielder remained disappointed with the contest.

“You can’t really be too happy when the team doesn’t do well, but hopefully it’s a sign of things to come,” Baskind said.

Although the Crimson will return north, the team will still have to find away to win on the road, as its next two contests will take place outside of Cambridge.

“We need to come out stronger,” Baskind said. “The beginning of the game is very important—we definitely saw that [Saturday].”

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.