Harvard Falls Short at Home

As the minutes dwindled Saturday afternoon on Cumnock Turf, the Harvard women’s lacrosse team (1-1) needed just one more goal. After overcoming its second four-point deficit of the game with only six minutes left, it seemed as though the tables had finally turned in favor of the Crimson.

But the Minutewomen of UMass (1-3) recaptured the momentum just in time. With only 2:43 remaining in the game, UMass’ Jackie Lyons sunk the last goal into the back of the Harvard net, ending the contest with a final score of 13-12.

Saturday’s matchup was the Crimson’s first home game of the season. Last season, Harvard tallied a 20-11 win over the Minutewomen in Amherst, but this season, the Crimson had some troubles with its intrastate rival.

“We definitely didn’t play to our potential,” sophomore Jess Halpern said. “Our problem was that we only played in streaks of intensity. We played down to our opponent, and even when we had them tied at 8-8 and 12-12, we couldn’t put the last one in. We just did not put the whole game together.”

Only ten minutes into the first half, the Crimson was already down, 4-0.

“Coach [Miller] called a timeout when we were down 4-0,” Halpern said. “We knew we could do it; we were better than them, but playing down to their level.”

UMass managed to put one more on the board before Harvard kicked into gear, bringing the score to 5-0.

“We took the time out to regroup,” junior tri-captain Sara Flood said. “We just needed to get back out there and chip away, goal by goal.”

Just a minute after the Minutewomen’s fifth goal, Halpern scored the first Harvard goal, giving the Crimson the energy it needed. Without missing a beat, freshman Kathryn Sall added another tally to the scoreboard, bringing Harvard within three goals of UMass.

Another goal from the Minutewomen with eight minutes remaining in the first half did not crush the spirit of the Crimson—it only made the team work harder.

Three goals were recorded for Harvard by freshman Tyler Petropulous, Halpern, and senior Kaitlin Martin within the last four minutes of the half, drawing the Crimson only one goal away from its opponent.

UMass’ Meghan Reddy added another goal for the Minutewomen with only two seconds left on the clock, finishing off the half with a score of 7-5.

Less than a minute into the second session, Lyons tallied her second goal of the game for UMass. However, Harvard’s Flood and Martin answered back with three straight scores, bringing the game to a tie at 8-8 for the first time since the start. Flood scored twice, while Martin tallied another within the first four minutes of the half.

But the Crimson couldn’t hold onto its streak for long. The Minutewomen responded with four goals through a five-minute stretch to expand their lead once again to 12-8. Lyons continued to lead UMass by scoring twice and adding an assist during the run.

The Minutewomen did not have time to relax, despite the four-goal margin. Harvard retaliated with its own four-goal streak, once again bringing the Crimson to a draw at 12. Martin, Petropulous, Halpern, and freshman Katie Doherty each added a goal, with Flood and Martin both adding an assist in the run.

Lyons finished the game with a goal for UMass with only three minutes on the clock. This was her ninth goal of the season, and fifth of the contest.

“We need to work on coming out right when the first whistle blows,” Flood said. “We didn’t build up speed and took a while to adjust.”

Harvard had ample opportunities to score throughout the game, outshooting the Minutewomen, 40-24, but UMass freshman goalie Katie Florence had 18 saves to preserve the win.

“We need to get on each other,” Halpern said. “We’re making the same mistakes in the game as we do in practice. If we hold ourselves accountable and work hard at practice this week, we won’t make those same mistakes in the [next] game.”