W. Lax Loses Heartbreaker

For 40 minutes on Saturday, the ever-rising Harvard women’s lacrosse team was playing above Cornell, the No. 6 team in the nation.

But in the final third of the game, the Big Red harshly brought the Crimson back down to earth.

Harvard (7-7, 1-5 Ivy) held leads of 7-4 at the half and 8-5 with 16 minutes left that quickly dissipated as Cornell (12-1, 6-1) scored four unanswered goals to win 9-8. Harvard had won three straight prior to Saturday’s defeat, including an 8-5 win over No. 20 New Hampshire on Wednesday.

“This was a heartbreaker,” Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder said. “We could have won this game.”

Cornell’s Jaimee Reynolds, the second-leading scorer in the Ivies, did most of the damage. Reynolds assisted on the second Big Red goal of the second half and scored the other four. She converted on all three of her free position shots in the half. The last of them tied the game, 8-8, with 11:14 left.

Off the ensuing draw, Cornell brought the ball downfield again, and passed it patiently around the circle for two minutes while Harvard held back. Reynolds finally made her move at the 9:14 mark and walked in for the game-winner.

After nearly a full half of play in its own end, the Crimson mounted a strong attack in the desperate final minutes.

Senior midfielder Heather Gotha had a clear shot on Cornell goalkeeper Ashley Charron with just over two minutes left but sent it wide. In the final seconds, junior midfielder Katie Shaughnessy worked the ball up for a shot at the buzzer, but she didn’t have time to do more than fire straight on Charron, who made the save with ease and ended any Crimson comeback hopes.

Harvard was left wondering how it could score seven goals in the first half but just one in the second. Kleinfelder felt that the team’s off-the-ball movement just wasn’t there in the second half, and that allowed Cornell to trap at midfield. Harvard had just five shots in the second half after firing 11 in the first half.

And when Harvard did get the ball upfield, the attack didn’t hold on to the ball for long, so the Crimson defense was still constantly tested on the other end. Cornell showed why it was one of the top-ranked teams in the country by keeping its legs to the very end.

Another reason for the turnaround was Cornell’s quick change in net. The Big Red started with Carrie Giancola, who gave up five goals in seven shots, before switching to Charron, who stopped four of seven shots.

Mancini made 11 saves for Harvard in the defeat. She kept the Crimson lead as Cornell was beginning to take control, but she couldn’t handle Reynolds’ onslaught.

Senior defender Erin Kutner was the surprising leading scorer for the Crimson after scoring three of the Crimson’s first six goals in the game’s opening 21 minutes. On each occasion, Kutner ran the ball upfield and Cornell marked all of the attackers, leaving Kutner with open shots inside, and she converted every time.

Despite being disappointed with the loss, the Crimson was still pleased with the progress it had made this season from its season-opening defeat to Massachusetts. In light of the team’s recent winning streak and close defeat against Cornell, Kleinfelder said her team is the best she’s had in six seasons.

“This team has really turned this program around,” Kleinfelder said.

Harvard next faces Brown on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“I wouldn’t want to be Brown [on Wednesday],” said Kutner, citing Harvard’s improvement through the course of the season.

The Harvard-Brown game will decide who finishes in sixth or seventh place in Ivies. Last year’s Crimson team was the first in school history to place as low as seventh.

A victory will not only earn Harvard sixth place, but also a likely spot in the ECAC tournament along with four other Eastern teams above .500 that fall short of NCAAs.

Cornell 9, W. Lacrosse 8

at Jordan Field

Cornell (12-1, 6-1 Ivy) 4 5 — 9

Harvard (7-7, 1-5 Ivy) 7 1 — 8

Scoring: H Goals: Kutner 3, Walton, Belitsos, Shaughnessy, O’Brien, Clark. H Assists: Christino 2. C Goals: Reynolds 4, Fischer 3, Averson, Quinn. C Assists: Reynolds. Shots: C 26, H 16. Draw Controls: H 9, C 6. Free Position Shots: H 1-of-3, C 3-of-5