Green Beans Laxwomen for Ivy Title

For the first time in six years, the Harvard women's lacrosse team is not the Ivy League champion.

Dartmouth now holds that honor, as the Big Green slipped past the Crimson, 10-9, before 700 spectators at Chase Field in Hanover, N.H., Wednesday to capture the Ancient Eight crown for the first time in the seven-year history of the league.

In the process, Dartmouth (12-2 overall, 6-0 Ivy) snapped the Crimson laxwomen's 19-game Ivy winning streak, which began in 1983.

"I'm just kind of recovering from the feeling," said Dartmouth Coach JoAnn Harper, whose team finished in second place last year, two games behind the Crimson. "Winning the Ivies has been a goal of mine for a long time. It's been the goal of our team all year long."

"I'm depressed," Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder said. "I'm particularly sad for our co-captains, Genie [Simmons] and Blair [Wardenburg]. We knew it was going to be rough this year. And I think it was Genie who said earlier in the season, `I sure don't want to be remembered as the captain who lost the Ivies.'"

Harvard, 12-3 overall, 5-1 Ivy and ranked seventh in the country before Wednesday's contest, jumped to a 5-4 halftime lead and went ahead, 6-4, early in the second half.

But Dartmouth roared back.

Three quick unanswered goals off draws in the middle of the period put the Crimson in a hole it could not dig out of.

"That was the turning point," Wardenburg said. "I think we all still knew we could win the game. But we were scared. There was a lot of pressure on us, and they had nothing to lose."

Harvard leading-scorer Kelly McBride--who had been held to two goals in the Crimson's last two games--flipped in four goals to lead her team in scoring.

But Dartmouth got an equally solid game from its top-gun, Julie Clyma, who pounded in five goals.

Perhaps the difference in this contest was the crowd--the largest ever in Dartmouth women's lacrosse history--and the relative experience of the two teams.

Last year, the Crimson and Big Green met under similar circumstances. Dartmouth, then owner of a 4-1 record, needed to beat Harvard for a share of the Ivy title.

But the Crimson, playing in front of a friendly Soldiers Field crowd, stormed past the Big Green, 12-6.

But most of the top players on that Ivy championship squad--including Ivy League Player of the Year Jennifer Greenley, top-scorer Lisa Black and the league's top goalie, Krickett Johnson--are gone.

And the Crimson has had to rely on freshmen and sophomores to lead its attack. And stop opponents' shots.

The Crimson did get a stellar performance from freshman goaltender Kelly Dermody Wednesday, as she turned back 12 Big Green shots.

"I think it was one of her best games," Kleinfelder said. "And I think she felt particularly bad afterward. Being a freshman, she's gotten to admire Genie, and she realized how much the game meant to her."

But the Harvard offense--which has scored nine goals or less only two times this year--couldn't outwit the Dartmouth defense.

"We don't have that much experience on the attack," Kleinfelder said. "I think it showed."

And then there was the crowd.

"Everytime they scored, the roar was deafening," Wardenburg said.

And now, the Crimson is no longer the champion.

"I think what the team has to remember is that it's been a great season," Kleinfelder said. "One loss isn't going to change that."

THE NOTEBOOK Harvard, the top-seed in the four-team ECAC Tournament hosts James Madison at 4 p.m. on Soldiers Field in the opening round today...Wardenburg scored two goals at Hanover; Leelee Groome, Kate Felsen, Bambi Taylor and Lisi Bailliere added one each.

Ivy League Women's Lacrosse Champions 1980  Pennsylvania, Yale 1981  Harvard 1982  Pennsylvania, Harvard 1983  Harvard 1984  Harvard 1985  Harvard 1986  Dartmouth