Surging Laxwomen To Test Fortunes vs. Catamounts Saturday at Ohiri

After Wednesday's solid defeat of a top-ranked Yale squad, the Harvard women's lacrosse team can only be satisfied with its impressive performance.

And the team can only look with glee and anticipation at the performance of one of its youngest but most promising members--freshman attacker Sarah Downing.

In previous games, the rookie spotlight seems to have shined most brightly on other recruits. Francie Waslton, who netted three goals in the first two Ivy competitions, and erstwhile-icewoman Joey Alissi had already begun to assert their roles as freshman offensive performers.

But yesterday afternoon, Harvard proved it has one more cannon in its youthful arsenal, as Downing exploded for five first-half goals, humbling the Elis as Harvard took an early 6-1 lead.

And, even after Yale tightened up its pressure on Downing, they could not contain her completely. With Yale creeping back into the game in the final frame, Downing blew the game open for good, canning Harvard's seventh goal with 10 minutes left to play and locking the game up for the Crimson.

"From my previous performances, I didn't expect to do that well," Downing said. "They seemed to be moving off [Liz Berkery], so the opportunities were there."

Those opportunities, Downing said, had been hard to find earlier this season. Coming off an impressive performance at Phillips Exeter Academy, where she recorded a mammoth 60-plus goal season during her senior year, Downing said that her Harvard lacrosse career had, up to this point, been a "humbling experience."

The Polls

NCAA polls are notoriously deceiving. As of yesterday, the Bulldogs were ranked number six in the country, while Harvard had dropped to number 10 after losing to New Hampshire, 8-7, on Ohiri Field.

But, with the Crimson's solid humbling of the Bulldogs, Harvard can undoubtedly make a claim to being one of the top teams in the East and certainly in the Ivies.

The Crimson will meet their next toughest Ivy competitor, number-nine Brown, in Providence, R.I. on April 24.

Catamounts

The Crimson, however, does have more immediate concerns, including a showdown tomorrow at Ohiri Field against Vermont.

While the Catamounts ranks were diminished by the graduation of nine seniors, Vermont Co-Captain Katharine Campbell can shoot well and is versatile within the crease, while midfielder and Co-Captain Amanda Kirkland plays a strong offensive and defensive game.