...But Laxwomen Fall Short at UMass

The traveling Maureen and Francesca show--better known in these parts as the Harvard women's lacrosse squad--had little trouble remembering the script yesterday in Amherst.

Only problem was the show's supporting cast forgot its lines.

And by the time the performance had come to an end, a less talented University of Massachusetts squad had handed the visiting troupe a disappointed 7-6 loss.

Not even the acrobatic actions of Maureen (two goals, two assists) Finn and Francesca (three goals, one assist) DenHartog could carry an uninspired Crimson squad to its third straight victory.

The talent-laden lax squad--seeing its first action since last weekend's 27-1 thrashing of Holy Cross--had trouble playing up to its potential yesterday. The Crimson's usually potent offensive attack could muster little challenge to the smaller UMass defense.

"It was a game we should have won and could have won." Captain Jeanne Piersiak said. "We just played poorly. I don't think we were really mentally ready."

And the Minutemen took advantage of several key Crimson mental lapses to post the one-goal win, which dropped the Harvard record to 4-3-1. The Crimson's three losses have come by a total of four goals.

Perhaps the most crucial error came early in the second half, when the Harvard defense allowed UMass to post three quick goals. A one-goal UMass halftime lead had become a 6-2 lead just five minutes into the final period.

With many Crimson minds still back in Cambridge (the laxwomen had only learned they would make the trip early yesterday morning), the Maureen and Francesca show then went to work. And with just 10 minutes left in the game, two goals from Finn and another from DenHartog had cut the score to 6-5.

The two squads then traded goals--with UMass's Sue Moryl putting one in at 5:26 and DenHartog adding her third of the day at 3:27--to reach the final 7-6 mark. The Minutemen held off several Crimson attacks in the game's final moments to preserve the win.

Harvard moves on to Providence Wednesday to take on a lowly Brown team, and then heads to New York this weekend to meet Cornell and Colgate.

THE NOTEBOOK: Aside from Finn and DenHartog, the Crimson's other scoring threat was Lisa Black, who added one goal in the first half.