Big First Half Lifts Harvard to Victory

For the sixth-straight time in school history, the Harvard women’s lacrosse team soundly defeated Holy Cross, 15-9, last night at Harvard Stadium. The Crimson (5-6, 1-3 Ivy) is undefeated against the Crusaders (4-10, 1-3 Patriot League), and its performance last night was an improvement over last year’s 13-10 victory.

“We are competing consistently,” Harvard coach Lisa Miller said. “These are games that, a couple of years ago, we might have lost, but we are competing, and there’s a lot of progress.”

The Crimson dominated the first half by jumping onto an early lead and never looking back. Harvard built up a 12-2 lead going into halftime, and, despite Holy Cross’ rally in the second half, the Crimson held onto its fifth win of the season.

“We were really excited for this game,” freshman Jennifer VanderMeulen said. “We came out hard, but I think we kind of relaxed in the second half...It was a pretty decent win.”

Co-captain Sara Flood scored three times while dishing out two assists, but the team got most of its scoring from its youth. Freshmen Micaela Cyr and Danielle Tetreault each had two goals in the first half while VanderMeulen led the Harvard offense with five goals in the opening frame. VanderMeulen displayed her full arsenal with a flashy array of strong cuts to the goal, spins, and deadly precision on free position shots. Her goal with one second left in the half capped off a seven-goal run by the Crimson.

“Jen’s just been consistent year-long,” Miller said. “She draws a lot of attention, and I think that frees up a lot of people. She’s one of the best freshmen in the country.”

Harvard’s defense played off the energy of the offense, limiting the Crusaders to only four shots in the half. Sophomore goaltender Kerry Clark, who is also a Crimson news editor, made four key saves to keep Holy Cross from building any momentum.

But the most crucial aspect of the Crimson’s offense was its ability to keep possession of the ball. Harvard dominated the draw controls with a 10-4 edge, allowing the offense to take 22 shots in the first half.

“I think we had the ball the whole time,” Miller said. “We dominated the draw circle and the ground balls, and we defended really hard.”

Unlike the Crimson, which played the half relatively penalty-free, the Crusaders were plagued by a series of fouls, leading to seven free-position shots from Harvard—four of which found their way into the back of the net.

“We took advantages of our opportunities,” VanderMeulen said, “and we didn’t make that many small mistakes.”

VanderMeulen opened the second half with a highlight-reel goal, catching the deflection of her initial shot in midair, and putting the ball over the goaltender and into the back of the net for her sixth and final tally of the contest.

Despite the 13-2 deficit, Holy Cross regrouped and attacked relentlessly, taking advantage of the Crimson’s fatigue to score four unanswered goals.

“It may be...that we just don’t have a whole lot of depth, but we started to get tired,” Miller said of the comeback.

Crusaders junior Annie Boylan rallied her team with a goal in the 18th minute, and Holy Cross came alive with well-planned goal-line executions and great defensive stops.

“We’re still working out some of the kinks of being young,” Miller said. “We got the lead, and we got a little careless with some of the small things. I think sometimes we let down in different time periods.”

But sophomore Melanie Baskind stopped the rally with a midfield interception, followed closely by a goal right in front of the Crusaders’ net.

Holy Cross went on to score three more times before giving up the last goal of the game to freshman Nina Kucharczyk, who scored with three seconds left, to seal the victory for Harvard.

“It was interesting at the end,” Miller said. “You can see the highs and lows of a young team. You see it from game to game, and you see it from half to half. We are getting better, and [we are working on] some of the inconsistencies.”