W. Lacrosse Falls to BC, Can't End Losing Skid

For three minutes in its game against Boston College last night, the Harvard women’s lacrosse team held the lead and with it the chance to end a 12-game winless skid. The Crimson’s hopes, however, could not endure in the chill April rain as a second-half rally from the Eagles (9-5) sent Harvard (2-12, 0-5) home from Newton Campus Field with a 13-8 loss.

Freshman attack Tara Schoen scored on a free position shot with 24:46 left in the second half to put the Crimson in control of a 6-5 lead. Schoen, who shot 1-for-7 in the evening, capped off a streak that saw Harvard outscore BC 6-1.

The Eagles monopolized the game for the majority of the first half, racking up a 4-0 lead. Two of those goals came from sophomore midfielder Katherine Wagoner, who led the BC offense with a total of three goals and three assists.

The Crimson struck with 11:34 left in the first half, as senior midfielder Elaine Belitsos scored on an assist from sophomore attack Liz Gamble. Gamble then stretched out Harvard’s run with two goals, one unassisted and the second from free position.

Only a goal from Eagles senior midfielder Carley St. Lucia interrupted the Crimson for the remainder of the half, as junior midfielder Allie Kaveney and senior midfielder Casey Owens tied the game, 5-5.

“We came out a little slow and called a time out,” co-captain defenseman Kelly Noon said. “After the time out, we came out really strong. We got draw controls, and we were winning possessions in midfield.”

It was in the midfield that the course of the game was determined. When Harvard took charge of it, it controlled the game—and when in the second half it slipped in the midfield, BC snatched back the lead.

In 14 minutes, the Eagles scored six unanswered goals to build an 11-6 lead. Midfielder Suzie Breaznell scored two in the run, and after Crimson sophomore midfielder Margaret Yellott broke the streak with an unassisted goal with 5:30 left, Breaknell rounded out her hat trick. Belitsos closed BC’s final margin to five with a goal from free position with 1:41 left.

“Our throwing and catching was really off, so we had a lot of unnecessary turnovers in the midfield,” co-captain Catherine Sproul said. “It was hard for our attack to generate a lot of goal-scoring opportunities when we couldn’t get it downfield to shoot.”

Fickle nature also had a hand in Harvard’s midfield woes. Inclement weather aggravated unfamiliar conditions, as the Crimson traded the familiar artificial turf of Jordan Field for BC’s natural grass, made sloppier and less predictable by a rainy day.

“They handled the weather better,” Sproul said. “I think it was definitely a really sloppy game.”

Failures to pass, catch, and communicate resulted inevitably in turnovers, as Harvard ceded control of the ball nine times in the second half.

“We had a lot of turnovers in the midfield. Those turnovers kept coming down to the defense and resulting in goals,” Noon said.

And when given opportunities to offset the Eagles’ offensive gains, the Crimson often didn’t capitalize on them. In a game that was largely a battle for possession, BC picked up eight draw controls in the second half to Harvard’s four.

“Not winning draw controls has definitely been huge,” Sproul said. “In lacrosse, the game is so settled and there are usually so few changes of possessions, you can hold on to balls until you get a scoring opportunity.”

While the Eagles’ advantage in possession time denied the Crimson opportunities to score, the imminent end of the season leaves Harvard with few remaining opportunities to win. The team travels to Cornell tomorrow and Brown this Wednesday for two final Ivy matchups.

“Our main goal is to end on a positive note. If we could go 2-0 for our last two games we could leave with a really good feeling that we were capable of finding it again,” Sproul said. “I think it’s still there, and this team definitely has the heart to get it back.”

—Staff writer Samuel C. Scott can be reached at sscott@fas.harvard.edu.