Harvard Holds Off Terriers in Overtime Thriller

Although the Harvard women’s lacrosse team emerged victorious over Boston University by a score of 11-10 yesterday afternoon, the Crimson seemed to do everything in its power to drive its fans crazy along the way.

There was the stuttering, hesitant offensive performance in the second half that drew anguished cries of “Just shoot it!” from the crowd. There was letting the Terriers (3-6) go on a 5-2 rally to tie the game at 9-9 with just minutes left in regulation. And, with seconds remaining in the second overtime period, there was the breath-stopping juggling match just in front of the Harvard net.

And yet, despite all this, the Crimson (5-4) looked as comfortable on the field as it has all season, with five players turning in a pair of goals each in a surprisingly broad-based showing.

The winning goal came from junior attack Catherine Sproul in the first overtime period, with a free-position goal that found the bottom corner of the BU net with 1.1 seconds showing on the clock.

Freshman goalkeeper Kathryn Tylander held onto Harvard’s lead through the second overtime period, with two crucial saves in the last 45 seconds to bring her tally for the day to 13 saves.

“Tylander is a catalyst for the team,” said sophomore midfielder Alison Kaveney, who scored one goal for the Crimson. “When she makes a great save she gets us...roaring and ready to rumble.”

Though the Crimson only trailed for a minute and a half at the outset of the first half, victory was never a foregone conclusion. Each time Harvard opened up a lead, the Terriers came charging back.

BU scored the first goal of the game only 38 seconds in, but was shut down by the Crimson for the next 13 minutes, during which time Harvard jumped to a 3-1 lead.

Junior midfielder Casey Owens answered the Terrier goal in the third minute with an unassisted goal.

Kaveney scored in the twelfth minute. Throughout the game she played a key role on both ends of the field and in getting the ball from one end of the field to the other.

“[Kaveney’s] one of the fastest players on the team,” said Tylander. “She sees the field really well.”

That point was followed 30 seconds later by a goal from senior midfielder Jen Brooks off an assist from freshman midfielder Caroline Hines.

Setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon, the Terriers quickly eviscerated the Crimson lead to tie the game at 3-3.

Harvard went on a 4-1 run with goals from sophomore midfielder Elaine Belitsos, Brooks, Sproul and freshman midfielder Margaret Yellot to end the half up 7-4.

Yellot quickly registered another goal in the second minute of the second half, but the Crimson proceeded to allow four unanswered Terrier goals over the next 12 minutes to tie the game again at 8-8.

“They were getting lots of good opportunities,” said Tylander. “They were causing lots of turnovers and getting a lot of ground balls.”

Harvard regrouped with a timeout, during which coach Sarah Nelson appeared uncharacteristically animated.

“The coaches did a great job of energizing us this game,” said Kaveney.

Harvard regained control with a goal from Owens in the 19th minute, bringing the Crimson to a 9-8 lead that lasted for 10 minutes.

In the dwindling minutes of the second half, the officials assumed an unfortunately large role. A questionable foul call at midfield led to a Terrier drive that resulted in a goal in the 29th minute of the half.

“Referees are kind of like the weather,” said Tylander. “It’s not really something you can control.”

All three overtime goals, including goals from Belitsos and Sproul, resulted from free position shots.

Harvard will face Penn (6-5) in Philadelphia on Saturday.

—Staff writer Nathaniel A. Smith can be reached at nsmith@fas.harvard.edu.