Crimson Narrowly Suffers First Home Loss

Coming off two straight losses on the road, the Harvard women’s lacrosse team returned to Jordan Field—the site of the team’s only victory this season—yesterday aiming to keep its perfect home record intact against the University of Connecticut.

The squad’s losing streak was extended, however, as the Crimson (1-4) succumbed to the Huskies (1-3), losing 12-11.

Tied at 11 late in the second period, both teams looked to make a defensive stop and leave enough time to notch the go-ahead score. UConn, in the end, managed to do just that.

Curling around her defender, Shannon Burke maneuvered to the right of the net and quickly zipped the ball around Harvard netminder Kathryn Tylander, scoring the eventual game-winning goal with two minutes left.

Then, after tight defense on the Huskies caused the ball to go out of bounds, Harvard regained possession with one last chance to even the score.

With less than 20 seconds remaining, sophomore Alexandra Jacobs took the inbound pass and sprinted down the right side of the field towards the goal. Pressured by defenders, Jacobs lobbed the ball to sophomore Lauren Bobzin. With a quick cut to the middle, Bobzin created enough space to fire a shot on the goal.

“I saw her with the ball and I thought [that] was it,” sophomore Natalie Curtis said.

The ball soared over two UConn defenders and slipped passed goaltender Kristen Haldeman.

The bench and crowd erupted; it seemed as if the game was headed to overtime.

But the goal would not count. The Crimson had too many people in the offensive zone. The call gave the Huskies possession and left under four seconds on the clock—not enough time to assemble another attack.

“It was so much harder to lose that way,” said sophomore Caroline Simmons, who finished the day with three goals. “Had we gone into overtime, we would have had the momentum.”

At the game’s onset, Harvard was in complete control. Curtis led the charge, scoring the Crimson’s first three goals, on her way to five on the afternoon. The first goal of the day highlighted the momentum with which Harvard started the contest. Following a defensive stop, Curtis scooped up a ground ball and ran coast-to-coast. With no one close enough to contest the shot, she continued head-on towards Haldeman and flicked the ball into the net. Following an equalizer by UConn, the Crimson went on a 4-0 run to extend its lead to 5-1.

A goal by Burke shifted the momentum in the Huskies’ favor. The goal touched off 4-0 run to tie the game at five, and another 4-0 run following halftime put UConn ahead 9-7. The two units subsequently battled to ties at 10 and 11 to set the dramatic final moments of the game.

Harvard now has over a week off it hosts Boston College on March 24.