Seven Unanswered Goals Extend Four-Game Skid

Facing its fourth consecutive ranked opponent, even the unexpectedly sunny weather wasn’t enough for the Harvard women’s lacrosse team (7-5, 1-3 Ivy), as it fell to a difficult 18-9 loss against Princeton (10-0, 4-0 Ivy) at Harvard Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

“We played pretty well the first half, but we fell apart in the second half,” captain Lauren Bobzin said. “But it was great to show we could play with one of the best teams in the country.”

For the entirety of the first half it was anyone’s game. Harvard started off strong by getting on the scoreboard first on two quick goals from Bobzin and junior Kaitlin Martin—Martin’s team-leading 30th goal of the season.

But the Tigers answered with three quick goals to take a 3-2 lead. All three goals came from a feeder from the behind the net to a player who quick-sticked the ball in.

The most bizarre goal of the game came when the teams were tied 3-3.

Freshman Jess Halpern was at the top of arc and looking to pass to a teammate who was cutting through the middle. The ball went past the teammate and past the Princeton goalie into the back of the net to give Harvard a 4-3 advantage.

The rest of the half remained neck and neck. When one team would score, the other would answer almost immediately. The Crimson reached halftime of the close contest trailing 7-6.

“I thought in the first half we did a good job controlling the tempo,” Bobzin said. “We played with them. They scored, we scored. We didn’t really make any mistakes.”

Harvard began the second half just as it had the entire first stanza—neck and neck with the Tigers. Princeton scored first, but Harvard answered quickly.

But less than 10 minutes into the half, Princeton went on a surge of seven unanswered goals, four coming from Princeton offensive threats junior Holly McGarvie and freshman Lizzie Drumm.

“Princeton came out hard in the second half and we didn’t retaliate,” Martin said. “We needed to come out and push as hard as we did in the first half.”

With the Tigers up 16-8, the Crimson got on the board for the final time. With five minutes left to play senior Natalie Curtis launched a goal into the back of the net.

Coming into the game, Harvard knew that playing Princeton was going to be an uphill battle. The Tigers are undefeated and are ranked No. 2 in the country.

“Being No. 2 in the country, we knew that Princeton was going to be a tough challenge,” Martin said. “They don’t just have one great player; they have multiple players with great skills.”

Part of the Crimson strategy in the game was constantly substituting Halpern and freshman defender Penelope Smith.

“The substitution gave her [Halpern] a rest for Smith, who is a strong defender,” Bobzin said. “So it made us stronger all over the field.”

In the first half, Harvard accomplished the things it set out to do from the beginning. The Crimson made good transitions through the midfield and kept control of the ball.

“We were really working on getting the ball through the middle,” Martin said. “We took care of the ball and did the little things correctly.”

This week, the Crimson looks to turn its Ivy season around with a match-up against longtime rival Dartmouth. Harvard is set to play the Big Green on Wednesday at Harvard Stadium.

“I expect it to be an absolute brawl,” Bobzin said. “It is going to be one of the most competitive games that we play all year. They are going to be gunning for us and we are not going to back down at all.”

—Staff writer Alison E. Schumer can be reached at schumer@fas.harvard.edu.