Tall Ball Falls Short

WEST CHESTER, Pa.--It's the equivalent of football's Hail Mary. Lacrosse does not bless it with a name. It's a pass, a catch and a goal.

If it works, it looks beautiful. Lisi Bailliere and Karen Everling made it work twice here yesterday, and twice was almost good enough to give the Harvard women's lacrosse team its first national championship.

Thanks to Bailliere and Everling, the Crimson staged a dramatic comeback before time expired in the championship game of the NCAA tournament, and Penn State escaped with a 7-6 victory.

Call it a heavenly heave. Everling lobs a long pass over the opposing defense and Bailliere races under it, catches it in front of the opposing goal and scores.

That's the way it works in dreams. And that's the way it worked twice yesterday.

Bailliere's first goal came with 18 minutes left in the second half. She beat her defender, Tami Worley, and raced under Everling's pass, which seemed to scrape the sky before it fell into the web on Bailliere's stick.

Bailliere charged and shot...goal. Harvard narrowed Penn State's lead to 6-4.

Bailliere's second goal was even more dramatic. With three-and-one-half minutes left in the game, Bailliere slipped past Worley and caught another Everling pass.

Bailliere charged again...another goal. The Crimson sliced Penn State's lead to 7-6.

Call it a "tall ball."

"Karen and I have been doing this all year and it really hasn't worked out," Bailliere admitted.

But yesterday, it almost gave Harvard a victory. In the second half, Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder instructed Bailliere to guard Worley. This meant Worley, noted for her high-powered offensive game, had to guard Bailliere.

"I don't think [Worley] was very good defensively," Bailliere said. "Basically I just ran down the field. I'm more of a defensive player. For me to go down and play attack--it might have surprised her."

Call it greetings from the sky. The ball falling, Bailliere catching it and Worley looking perplexed. Hello, goodbye.

"I knew she was fast," Worley said. "I knew she went to goal hard. I knew she was a threat."

Kardiac Kids

Bailliere's dramatic goals symbolized Harvard's comeback. With just over four minutes left in the first half, Penn State held a 6-1 lead.

Teams are never supposed to give up. Not in a scrimmage, not in a game and especially not in a national championship game. But given the score, the opponent (Penn State is the nation's number-one ranked team) and the weather (unbearably hot), Harvard might have been forgiven for easing up a little.

But not Bailliere, who ran dead sprints down the field. Huff, puff and score.

"Lisi sparked us with her speed and her ability to catch those long passes," said junior Char Joslin, who scored the Crimson's fifth goal with 12 minutes remaining in the game.

"She gave us huge impetus. Credit the team with a lot of guts."

Penn State was impressed. The Nittany Lions saw their commanding lead withered to one goal.

"I don't think we let up," Penn State defender Stephanie Myers said.

"They just pumped themselves up more."

Harvard never lost confidence. Even when the Lions pumped in goal after goal, the Crimson had hope.

"We didn't panic," Bailliere said. "At halftime we were down only three goals. We knew we could make up the difference."

Take away the game's first 19 minutes and Harvard wins decisively, 6-1.

But nothing can be erased--not those first 19 minutes and not the smiles on the faces of the Nittany Lions.

Penn State is the NCAA champion.

"We had a great second half," Kleinfelder said. "It was just too late."