W. Lax Tames the Bears

Don't let the short skirts and charming smiles fool you. The women's lacrosse team, behind its gentile and easygoing exterior, harbors a tenacious and ferocious will to win.

On wind-blown Ohiri field yesterday, Harvard (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) hammered out a tough 11-10 win over Ivy League rival Brown (2-1, 0-1), avenging last year's 10-8 loss in Providence.

"The game was a great win for us," said Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder, who returns for her twentieth season at the helm. "It feels good to get off to a good start by winning our first Ivy League game."

Harvard's 3-0 start is its best since the 1997 campaign, and the Crimson looked dominant in the early going.

Freshman attacker Sara Burg opened up the Harvard assault with a blistering score one minute into the game. The Bears answered her effort on a free position goal only two minutes later to knot the score at 1.

After several changes of possession, the offensive floodgates opened for the Crimson with juniors leading the way.

Junior attacker and captain Alli Harper went on a tear scoring two goals in four minutes to bring the Crimson lead to 3-1. Junior attacker Lauren Corkery followed suit with a goal to bring the score to 4-1 in Harvard's favor.

On the day, Harper and Corkery posted three goals each to lead all scorers. For the season, Corkery leads the Crimson with seven goals and Harper is second with six goals.

"Alli and Lauren played very well," Kleinfelder said. "Brown didn't have a chance of stopping us in the early going."

The Crimson continued to attack the net relentlessly and would have built a more commanding lead, but Brown goaltender Niki Caggiano came to life and began turning away most of Harvard's shots.

In a two-minute sequence in the first half, Brown's sophomore netminder rejected four Harvard shots, including a point blank rocket off a free position.

However, the Crimson onslaught proved too devastating, and freshmen Leslie Moroz and Katie O'Brien tacked on two more goals before the half to give the Crimson a 6-3 lead at the break.

"We are definitely a more confident team this year," Harper said. "We have a new outlook on our season because of this renewed confidence."

As the second half began, the setting sun and howling winds brought cooler weather to Ohiri Field. With the falling temperatures, the Crimson also appeared to lose steam.

Harvard's defense, led by captain Jeanne Ficociello, lost its dominant luster as it opened the door for Brown's attackers.

Brown attacker Rebekah Rottenberg scored a goal on a free position to start the second half and followed her strike with another score a few minutes later.

Harvard's lead, at one time four goals, was whittled down to one as Brown took advantage of Harvard's fatigue to tighten the score to 8-7.

"We suffered from a mental and physical lapse in the first part of the second half," Harper said. "We began taking poor shots and the shots we put on goal just weren't going in."

As the second half wound down, Harvard was in danger of letting the game slip away. It was clear that the Crimson needed some rallying point and source of momentum.

That source of momentum came in the form of freshman goaltender Nora Guyer.

Over the final minute and a half, as the Bears poured on the offensive intensity, Guyer rose to the occasion to stop three potentially game-tying shots.

"Nora has great poise for a freshman," Kleinfelder said. "She doesn't rattle easily and really kept us in the game."

Guyer, in her humble manner, defers the credit for the phenomenal defense to her teammates.

"The defense came up big and helped me out a lot. I couldn't have done it without them," Guyer said.

The Crimson, behind Guyer's strength in goal, held off the Bears for a gritty 11-10 win.

Harvard will now take its undefeated record on the road as it battles five-time defending national champion Maryland over Spring Break.

When asked about how she's viewing the upcoming match versus the national champions, Harper responds with a smile.

"It's our chance to be number one," Harper said. "We have to nothing to lose and everything to win."

And with the tenacity that lies behind those carefree demeanors, the Crimson can be expected to give the national champions a good fight.