Sophomores Continue Stellar Play For Women's Lacrosse

Mention the phrase “sophomore slump” around the Harvard women’s lacrosse team, and you may raise some unhappy eyebrows.

Coming off a record-setting season that ended in a heartbreaking, double-overtime loss to Ancient Eight rival Penn in the end-of-year Ivy League tournament, the squad (4-4, 1-1 Ivy) has set expectations for the now-sophomore core that shouldered much of the team’s load last season. With the help of the class of 2017 last season, it qualified for the Ivy League tournament for the first time in three years. With the past results, those expectations have never been higher for the 2015 campaign.

“[The sophomores] enjoy playing, practice is fun for them, [and] they want to get better every day,” Crimson coach Lisa Miller said. “They play with reckless abandon. But they bring a sense of light-heartedness to practice that is good for the group.”

This year, youth has ruled once again. Underclassmen dominate the roster, making up 16 of the 24 spots on a team that features only one senior. It has been that small cluster of sophomores, though, that contributed to much of the Harvard’s success last season and continue to be difference-makers this year.

Pacing that group has been standout attack Marisa Romeo, who entered Harvard last year ranked as the No. 7 recruit in the country by Inside Lacrosse.

Romeo’s freshman campaign featured a starting position in all 16 of the Crimson’s matches and a team and league-high 48 goals, including nine hat tricks, and four game-winning goals to lead the Ancient Eight.

The Syracuse, N.Y., native has picked up right where she left off last season, netting a team-high 23 goals already this season in only seven games. Tough competition hasn’t slowed Romeo down, with the sophomore tallying 12 goals in four games against opponents ranked in the top-13 in the nation.

The sophomore’s insatiable desire to constantly improve her play may be the secret to her success so early in her collegiate career.

“[Romeo] is just naturally a great dodger and scorer,” junior co-captain Tory Waldstein said. “But now she’s developing her cutting game and developed her feeding game, and I think that will help her continue to be successful.”

Junior co-captain Audrey Todd agreed with Waldstein, stating that one of Romeo’s most impressive attributes is her appetite for improvement.

“This year, she has also been working really hard on her feeding game,” Todd said. “It also hugely benefits our team because we have been looking to increase our assists.”

Assisting Romeo, both early this season and last season, has been midfielder Megan Hennessey.

The sophomore did it all for the Crimson last year, registering the second-most assists and draw controls and third-most goals and ground balls as a freshman.

The five-foot-four Winchester, Mass., native plays much bigger than her small stature would indicate. This year, Hennessey has already surpassed her assist total from last year, helping on 10 of the team’s 90 goals, the most of any Harvard player.

“[Feeding the ball to her teammates] was something [Hennessey] really wanted to work on this season,” Waldstein said. “We rely a lot on her to get those feeds to the middle, and I think she’ll only keep improving as the season goes on.”

Eight of Hennessey’s 10 assists have come in Harvard’s four games against ranked opponents, including three against conference opponent No. 13 Princeton, the most for any Crimson player in any game this season.

Playing alongside Hennessey in the midfield, classmate Maeve McMahon has provided steady production for the Harvard squad after her freshman campaign was abruptly ended by a season-ending injury just four games into the season.

“She fills up every stats column, every game,” Todd said. “She’s extremely scrappy in the draw circle, and she helps us come up with 50/50 balls when we need them most. She also just has a knack for getting open in the settled attack, and when people see her and feed her the ball, she finishes her shots.”

Starting in all eight of the Crimson’s games this season, McMahon has made her presence felt on the field, leading the team with 18 draw controls and netting 12 goals already this season, including a hat trick against No. 5 Syracuse and two goals and two assists versus No. 9 Stanford.

Representing this star-studded second-year group on the defensive end are standout defenders Emma Ford, Michelle Nesselbush, and Marina Burke.

Ford, a full-time starter last year, brings great experience to the back line, even only in her second year, and is again in the starting lineup for Harvard.

The Skaneateles, N.Y., native has provided a spark for the Crimson in the form of a team-high eight caused turnovers, three more than she tallied all of last year.

Additionally, Ford has led the Crimson in ground balls in four of the team’s seven games this year and sits at first in the Ivy League for ground balls per game, with 2.5 per contest.

Starting next to Ford on the defensive end is Nesselbush, who, despite coming onto the team with less lacrosse experience than her classmates, has stepped up her play in her second season.

Last season, Nesselbush started two of the eight total games in which she saw action but has been a mainstay for the Crimson defensive line this year, starting all eight contests for Harvard.

Waldstein, who plays alongside the sophomore on defense, noted Nesselbush’s increased contributions this season.

“[Nesselbush] has done a great job this year of taking on a big role in the defense, and she’s been called upon to mark up on some very good players,” Waldstein said. “She’s done a great job of being reliable, especially from last year to this year, and she’s stepped up to become a big part of the field.”

The sophomore, whose two sisters are defenders for the No. 6 Northwestern lacrosse team, has clearly solidified her position as a defensive stalwart for the Crimson squad.

Rounding out the youthful Crimson defense is Burke, who has made a smooth transition to the defensive side of the ball after spending her freshman season playing in the midfield.

The Westwood, Mass., native wasted no time in making an impact on last year’s team as a freshman, causing a team-high 20 turnovers, which was also good for fifth-best in the Ancient Eight.

Burke has continued to be a dominant force this season, collecting seven ground balls and forcing four turnovers while starting all eight matches for Harvard this season.

The season ahead poses anything but an easy task for the young Harvard team. A schedule that includes six games against top-20 teams in a season consisting of only 15 matches would be daunting for any team as young as the Crimson.

Despite the difficult schedule, the squad has risen to the challenges it has faced thus far, losing narrowly by one goal to No. 5 Syracuse and dropping a 13-9 contest to No. 8 Virginia, after holding a three-goal lead the second half.

With the experience of one-plus season under their belt, Waldstein argues that the underclassmen are better prepared than ever for the challenges ahead.

“It’s great for a young team to play those top-20 teams and to know [last year] as freshmen that they can actually play with these [teams],” Waldstein said. “It’s really good for our confidence level going forward. A lot of the mistakes that we have made have been young mistakes, which only goes to show that there’s only good things to come as we get more experienced.”

What truly makes this young corps of players special, Miller said, is the energy that the team brings to the field every day in practice. There is little doubt that, for this budding Harvard unit, the best is still yet to come.

“They enjoy playing; practice is fun for them,” Miller said. “They’re very good players, and they’re smart, and they pick up on concepts quickly. But, more than that, the sophomore class is tight-knit and have good chemistry. They enjoy the grind, and they want to get better every day.”