Crimson Survives Big Red Comeback

A late Cornell charge fell just short, allowing the Harvard women’s lacrosse team to come away with its first win of the season as the Crimson defeated the Big Red, 13-12, on Saturday at Schoellkopf Field.

“Cornell is a great Ivy League opponent, and it has always been an emotional game when we’ve played them,” tri-captain Sam McMahon said. “We knew this was going to be a physical, emotional, and mental game for both sides with [each team] giving all they can for 60 minutes.”

After taking a 13-8 lead with 7:33 remaining, the Big Red (1-2, 0-1 Ivy) stormed back with four goals, cutting the lead to 13-12 with 27 seconds remaining. But the Crimson (1-1, 1-0) held on, using the ensuing draw control to run out the clock and secure the win.

Harvard was led in scoring by sophomore Jennifer VanderMeulen and tri-captain Melanie Baskind, who had four and three goals, respectively.

“I just came into the game ready to go,” VanderMeulen said. “After losing to Stanford, we needed a big win, and Cornell was a great opportunity, especially being [an] Ivy [game]. I think I just fed off the energy of the big game.”

The match started off with a quick goal by VanderMeulen 34 seconds in. The Big Red’s Shannon McHugh struck back with two goals over the next five minutes, making the score 2-1 in Cornell’s favor.

The Crimson then went on a 3-0 run spanning two minutes with goals from Baskind, VanderMeulen, and freshman Jenn Leffew.

Over the next ten minutes of the game, both teams began trading goals, resulting in a 6-4 Harvard lead with 12:07 remaining in the first half.

Cornell responded with three consecutive goals capped off by another score from McHugh—who finished with a team-leading three goals.

Thanks to the late Big Red run, Cornell went into halftime up, 7-6.

“We needed to regain focus and work together collectively on both sides of the ball,” McMahon said. “There was a lack of communication and focus amongst the defense in the first half.”

The Crimson came out running to start the second half, scoring six consecutive goals, giving Harvard a commanding 12-5 lead with 13:50 remaining in the game.

Junior Jess Halpern, Baskind, and VanderMeulen each scored two goals in the run. VanderMeulen notched her first score off a free-position shot after being fouled going to goal, then converted a pass from freshman Chelsey Newman for her second.

“Going into the second half, I knew we needed a push because we were all a little deflated from being down by one,” VanderMeulen said. “I knew I had to step up and fill a leadership role on attack.”

The Crimson played solid defense as well, holding Cornell scoreless until 8:30 remained, when Big Red junior Olivia Knotts put one away.

“We came out much stronger in the second half as Cornell didn’t score until there was about eight minutes left in the game,” McMahon said. “We were playing better on-ball defense, off-ball defense, and the correct rotations. We made some stands and [junior golie] Kerry Clark made some incredible and key saves to keep [us] ahead.”

Sophomore Danielle Tetreault responded to the Knott’s goal with one of her own, making the score 13-8 with seven and a half minutes remaining in the game.

But Cornell would not give in.

The Big Red charged back with four consecutive goals, pulling within one on a score by junior Jessi Steinberg with 27 seconds remaining.”

“Of course [you] gets nervous when your lead starts to shrink and the other team seems to be making a comeback, but we just knew the [upcoming] draw control was critical,” McMahon said.

With the score 13-12, VanderMeulen faced off on a key draw. If she won the draw the Crimson could simply run out the clock and end Cornell’s dramatic comeback.

Vandermeulen won the draw control, allowing Harvard to run out the clock and seal the victory.

“The game was very emotional, and big momentum swings allowed both teams to go on scoring run,” Baskind said. “Being consistent is definitely something we’re working on and will need to figure out…I think we were successful today because we stepped up when we needed to most.”

The Crimson would have preferred to not have to sweat out the final moments, but at the end of the day, the team was pleased to win its first game of the season against a quality conference opponent.

“Hustle, determination, possession, and communication were keys to the victory today, McMahon said. “Obviously getting the win was great for us. There are certainly things we need to work on over the course of the week before we play Penn on our home turf next Saturday.”