W. Lacrosse Fails to Break Streak

In the second half of the Harvard women’s lacrosse team’s game against Cornell on Friday, the Crimson had everything it needed to end its 12-game losing streak—except time.

The final whistle put an end to a second half in which Harvard (2-13, 0-6 Ivy) came tantalizingly close to upsetting the No. 17 Big Red (7-6, 4-3) at Schoellkopf Field, but fell by a final score of 7-5.

Down 7-1 early in the second half, the Crimson fought most of the way back, cutting into Cornell’s margin by scoring the last four goals.

“The game was close for a while but then was slipping out of our grasp,” senior midfielder Casey Owens said. “In the second half we knew we were going to have to step it up if we were going to have a shot.”

The Big Red’s prolific goal-production unit stalled shortly after halftime, leaving a void that Harvard was quick to fill.

Co-captain Catherine Sproul led the rally, which she opened with a goal assisted by sophomore attack Liz Gamble with 26:08 left in the half.

Sproul also converted a shot from free position into a point on the scoreboard with 15:17 left.

Senior midfielder Elaine Belitsos, Harvard’s other multiple-scorer in the game, notched her second with an unassisted shot.

“There was definitely sort of a momentum shift we haven’t felt in a little while,” co-captain defenseman Kelly Noon said. “It felt great to get a few quick goals, to hold them defensively and convert on turnovers.”

Collectively, the Crimson shot 4-for-15 in the half and limited the Big Red to only six attempts.

A major factor in Harvard’s .267 shooting percentage was Cornell freshman goalkeeper Ashley Blum, who made 12 saves, including nine in the second half.

“We definitely could have improved our shot selection,” Owens said.

Freshman midfielder Natalie Curtis scored her 18th goal of the season to bring the Crimson within two.

After Curtis’ score, however, less than a minute remained, leaving Harvard with inadequate time to finish what it had started and pull off the upset over host Cornell.

After the Big Red took possession on a turnover, it ran out the clock to clinch the win.

“If you had ten more minutes, you don’t know which way the game would have gone,” Noon said. “We needed a few more minutes at the end of the game.”

Ultimately, the gap was too wide for Harvard to bridge before time expired, as a strong first half insulated the Big Red against anything the Crimson could put together against it in the second.

Freshman Courtney Farrell seized the lead for Cornell after five minutes of game play with an unassisted opening goal.

Farrell struck twice more in the half, leading a Big Red offensive unit that controlled the half.

Sophomore Margeaux Viola added two unassisted goals of her own, and freshmen attack Margaret Schmidlapp and midfielder Amanda Linnerz each found the back of the net once. Cornell out-shot Harvard 16-9 in the first half of play.

The Crimson scored only once in the first 30 minutes of game time, when an unassisted goal by Belitsos with 22:16 left narrowed Cornell’s margin to 2-1.

Harvard turned possession over less frequently than the Big Red and posted a substantial advantage on draw controls (10-6).

With the loss to Cornell, time is running out for the Crimson’s hopes of ending the season on a bright note.

After tallying a baker’s dozen of consecutive losses, Harvard has its final and perhaps best shot at seasonal redemption Wednesday when the squad travels to Providence, R.I., to take on Brown (3-10, 1-5).

“It’s always been a really close game between us. With the composure we showed on attack and defense, if we can convert the skills we showed against Cornell into the game at Brown, we can definitely come out on top,” Noon said.

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