Women's Lacrosse Starts Difficult Stretch with BC Matchup

UPDATED: April 20, 2016, at 1:18 a.m.

Co-captain Audrey Todd, shown here in a home contest against Princeton, is a key member of a Harvard attack that came within a goal of beating No. 15/17 Penn. However, as the Crimson heads into a slew of matchups with top teams, it will largely rely on its 17th ranked defense to pull the upset. By Hayoung Hwang

Harvard women’s lacrosse is in the thick of an eight-day span in which it plays three ranked opponents. But with crosstown rivals Boston College paying a visit on Wednesday night, Crimson players insist that they are up to the challenge.

“Our coaches have been emphasizing that we really need to play together as a cohesive unit,” sophomore midfielder Julia Glynn said. “We need to limit our mistakes and capitalize on theirs.”

Overcoming the Eagles will mean ending a five-game losing streak against them, as Harvard has not emerged victorious in the series since a 2010 win. A victory in 2016 can also give the Crimson a much needed boost after last weekend, when the team suffered a difficult last-minute loss at No. 15/17 Penn.

In that contest junior attacker Marisa Romeo netted a free-position shot to pull Harvard within one goal of the Quakers with just 33 seconds left of play. However, the Crimson missed the opportunity to take Penn to overtime, walking away with a nail-biting 8-7 loss.

Though Harvard (7-4, 3-2 Ivy) could not end its 18-game losing streak to the Quakers on Saturday, the team hopes to bring its recent slide against No. 14/16 Boston College (9-2) to a halt. Last year, the Eagles denied that objective by securing a comfortable 19-13 win over their rivals.

With a big game looming on the horizon this weekend against conference foe No. 16/18 Cornell, the Crimson will also look to gain momentum with a midweek triumph.

“Our goal is to play our best against BC tomorrow night,” junior attacker Maeve McMahon said. “BC and Cornell are somewhat similar in aspect of the game, so it’s definitely helpful have these two back to back.”

To overcome Boston College, the Crimson will have to reverse its fortunes against ranked teams, as it has not earned a single victory against such an opponent so far this season. Losses to No. 11 Princeton and No. 14 Penn were the squad’s closest calls, as both matches were determined by a single score.

Against out-of-conference opponents, Harvard has not been able to draw as close, losing to both No. 5 Syracuse and No. 8 Stanford by nearly double digits.

The Eagles, meanwhile, are ranked and on a two-game winning streak. Senior midfielder Sarah Mannelly has been instrumental for her team recently, tallying 14 points over the past two games.

The New Canaan, Conn. native notched two goals and a career-high five assists in her team’s 14-9 win over Dartmouth. Before that she had scored five goals and assited two in a 15-10 victory over Virginia Tech.

The preseason All-American is 23rd in the nation in assists per game with 1.73 and 27th in points per game with 3.80. Mannelly has been at the top of her game when creating opportunities for her teammates, and she is a dangerous player to watch in Wednesday’s matchup.

“Our defense has limited some of the best attackers in the country this season,” McMahon said. “That experience will definitely help us defend her tomorrow.”

On the other end of the field, the Crimson looks to capitalize on an Eagles defense that is not ranked in the top-50 in the nation.

Romeo and Glynn will be the top threats for Harvard. Romeo leads the team with 24 goals on the season, while Glynn has a team-high 16 assists. The two players are tied for most points on the team with 35.

Still, the major key to the Crimson’s success on Wednesday will be the defense, led by co-captain goalie Kelly Weis, whose saving percentage of 50.3 percent is good for 12th best in the nation.

To pull the upset, Harvard will need its defense, ranked 17th in the country, to step up against a Boston College attack that is ranked 19th nationwide (the Eagles score an average 12.47 goals per game).

Junior defender Marina Burke and co-captain and fellow defender Tory Waldstein, who are tied for the team lead with 15 caused turnovers this season, will need to be major contributors in this effort.

“Our defense and goalie Kelly Weis have been playing incredible this season,” Glynn said. “We will need them to continue that tomorrow to secure a win."

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: April 20, 2016

A previous version of this article misidentified the author.