Time to Catch a Little Spring Fever

If you've been looking for signs of spring since you returned from a golden, sun-baked break, you've probably come to the conclusion that modern medicine has now found a way to preserve even Old Man Winter.

But just because the lilacs aren't blooming and the robin red breasts aren't singing doesn't mean baby spring has arrived stillborn.

Behind the ITT this afternoon, the women's lacrosse team are set to face Boston College, and the sound of Crimson lacrosse balls whistling past opposing netminders should convince the skeptical that spring can't be far behind.

Hot off an impressive 4-1 Spring Break tour of the City of Brotherly Love, the laxwomen will get a chance to flex some lately-developed muscle in front of a home crowd that hasn't witnesed a Crimson defeat in almost two years.

More of the Same

Crimson lacrosse fans should see many of the same traits that characterized last year's 18-2 squad aggressiveness, control, and confidence--all of which developed as the spring tour progressed.

"After the Penn game, the tours opening contest the defense started to really click," said co-captain and goalie Charlotte Worsley yesterday. "We worked a lot the week after William and Mary, and at Penn we started playing as a unit; people were really helping out. We gained a lot of confidence."

Although the defense turned it around during the 8-7 victory over the Quakers early in the week, the offense took a bit longer, waiting until the following Saturday to get its act together.

Early in the week, Francesca Den Hartog and Maureen Finn dominated most of the offense, notching six goals apiece, for example, in the Crimson's 12-9 victory over Ursinus.

Last Saturday against Princeton, Den Hartog and Finn still came up with most of the Crimson's tallies, but the whole Harvard offense showed a marked improvement.

"It wasn't any one person playing well," said Finn, "Our connections were working better. We were looking for the open player and working with one another."

The only downbeat of the otherwise hip Spring Tour came Thursday, as the laxwomen fell victim to flu, injuries, and the Owls of Temple.

With Worsley and Jennifer Greeley sick and Den Hartog and Jennifer White sidelined with muscle pulls, the Crimson below full strength squared off against Temple, perhaps the toughest team in the country.

Yardling Cricket Johnson got the call to defend Harvard's net and did an admirable job, turning away 60 percent of the Owls' attempts as the Crimson succumbed to the hometown favorites 10-2.

"It was a real Freshman performance," Johnson recalled. "I messed some-up I shouldn't have."

This afternoon, against the Eagles, the Crimson are the hometown favorites, and although the National Weather Service is predicting snow, go down to the womens' lacrosse field behind the ITT, and risk the pneumonia. It may be easier to catch some Spring Fever than you think.