Laxwomen Want to Keep on Winning

It is difficult to repeat as champions in anything.

Ask the Boston Celtics. Ask the New York Giants. Ask the New York Mets.

But do not ask the Harvard women's lacrosse team.

From 1982-1985, the women captured four straight Ivy League titles. After tying with Dartmouth last season, the team is looking forward to winning another crown to get the streak back to its old ways.

Captains: Cindi Ersek and Leelee Groome

1987 Record: 9-4-1 overall, 5-0 Ivies

Current Record: 1-0

Home Games: Soldiers Field

Coach Carole Kleinfelder returns all but two players from last year's squad, which posted a 9-4-1 record (5-0 Ivy). In her 10th year in charge of the program, Kleinfelder hopes to capitalize on the experience of her players to propel it to the Ivy title, and perhaps to a higher national ranking than the lofty number eight achieved by the 1987 women.

"Penn, Princeton, and Dartmouth are all very strong this year. The league will be stronger than in the past," said Kleinfelder.

Senior Co-Captain Leelee Groome agrees with her coach that Penn, Princeton, and Dartmouth will provide the greatest challenge to the Crimson.

"I think we should sweep the Ivies," Groome said. "Our first goal is definitely to win the Ivy League."

Harvard will certainly miss the efforts of Kelly McBride, who graduated. McBride finished second on the team in scoring a year ago by tallying 35 goals and 11 assists for 46 points.

Fortunately for the Crimson, Kate Felsen--a four-year starter who led the team in scoring with 31 goals and 17 assists last year--returns to lead a potent Harvard attack. Felsen was a member of the 1987 U.S. National Team and was a second-team All-Ivy selection last year.

Joining Felsen on the offensive end of the field will be Co-Captain Cindi Ersek, and the sophomore trio of Karen Everling, Char Joslin, and Nicole De Horatius.

Ersek, who also captained the field hockey team in the fall, nabbed second-team all-Ivy honors last season by netting 15 goals and scooping up 26 ground balls.

Joslin, a three-sport athlete, was the third leading scorer in 1987 with 32 goals and 11 assists. Her performance placed her second in the voting for Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

Everling and De Horatius also had impressive rookie campaigns scoring 15 and four goals, respectively.

Junior Katie McAnaney and sophomore Maggie Vaughan will lead the defense. McAnaney, who was an All-America Honorable Mention, and Vaughan, who claimed first-team All-Ivy and the Rookie of the Year honors, should be helped by the experienced play of junior Lisi Balliere and sophomore Julia French.

"Attack is our strength, but the defense is also strong," Kleinfelder said.

Junior Kelly Dermody anchors the team for the third year in the Crimson cage. Dermody allowed only 19 goals in four Ivy League contests last spring.

So far this year, the team seems ready to pick up where it left off. Two weeks ago, the team went to Virginia to compete in the William and Mary Tournament. There, it played 11 games, each 25 minutes long, where the purpose was not to win, but rather to get some playing experience before the official opener against Penn.

"We started off slow, but finished strong," said Kleinfelder.

The experience the team gathered in that tournament should be helpful, since the Crimson did not have much time to relax after the weekend.

"The first four or five games are really big," said Groome.

Saturday, the women went to Penn and defeated the Quakers, 7-5.

The team plays host to Princeton, this Saturday, before the team heads off to Baltimore, the hotbed of lacrosse, to play Loyola College. Five days later, the squad faces Temple, the second-best team in the nation last year.

While the Owls may be unbeatable in basketball this year, the Crimson has a pretty good shot at pulling an upset over Temple.

"They are not as strong as they have been in the past," Groome said. "Penn played them twice already and lost once by a goal and tied the second time."

Harvard will also face Maryland--a solid lacrosse program--this year before closing out its season with Dartmouth 1988 WOMEN'S LACROSSE SCHEDULE

March Sat. 26  PRINCETON Tue. 29  at Loyola

April Fri. 1  at Trenton State Sat. 2  at Temple Sun. 3  BOSTON COLLEGE Tue. 12  at Vermont Fri. 15  UMASS Sun. 17  CORNELL Mon. 18  SOUTH AUSTRALIA Wed. 20  BROWN Sat. 23  at Yale Sun. 24  MARYLAND Tue. 26  at Dartmouth Sat. 30  at UNH

May Fri. 6  ECAC Sat. 7  ECAC

March Sat. 26  PRINCETON Tue. 29  at Loyola

April Fri. 1  at Trenton State Sat. 2  at Temple Sun. 3  BOSTON COLLEGE Tue. 12  at Vermont Fri. 15  UMASS Sun. 17  CORNELL Mon. 18  SOUTH AUSTRALIA Wed. 20  BROWN Sat. 23  at Yale Sun. 24  MARYLAND Tue. 26  at Dartmouth Sat. 30  at UNH

May Fri. 6  ECAC Sat. 7  ECAC