It was perhaps a fitting ending yesterday all five seniors sharing the spotlight in their final Ivy League game as members of the Harvard women's lacrosse squad.
And by the time dusk had started to settle in, the team's highly talented quintet had completed their dream--they were Ivy league champs once again.
With the Crimson's 22-8 drubbing of Dartmouth at Soldiers Field yesterday, Fram and Mo and Jennifer and Kate and Jeanne had secured their places in the Crimson record books. The ohso-impressive win thanks largely to the on so-impressive play of those five seniors--handed the laxwomen an unprecedented third straight Ivy title.
For Francesca DenHartog. Maureen (Mo) Finn, Jennder White, Kate Martin and Jeanne Piersiak, the title win brought to a close their Ivy careers, ones that have helped the Harvard squad rise from a fledgling program when they arrived a nationally prominent position as they prepare to leave.
And yesterday's masterful dismantling of the Big Green machine was perhaps their finest hour. There was the unstoppable scoring of DenHartog, the outstanding direction of Finn, the inspired play of White and the top notch defensive work of Martin and Piersiak. Throw in a few heralded performances from some talented underclassmen and you've got what Crimson Couch Carole Kleinfelder called one of her squad's "sweetest victories in history."
What Harvard did yesterday was shut down a Dartmouth squad that had surprised almost every opponent it had faced this year. After not winning an Ivy game last year the Big Green entered yesterday's title showdown riding a four game winning streak and on the heels of its 8-7 upset of pre-season Ivy favorite Penn last weekend.
But the laxwomen took control of the game from the outset yesterday, keeping Dartmouth goalie Fran O'Donoghue busy all day, while seldom allowing the potent Big Green offense to pose much of a threat. By the time it was over, Den Hartog had sent eight shots careening past O'Donoghue while Finn had tallied five assists, the third of which broke her own Harvard record of assists in a season--all en route to the 22-8 triumph.
The convincing victory--the squad's sixth in a row--upped the Harvard record to 10-3-1 overall and to its first-place, 5-1, final Ivy league mark Dartmouth, meanwhile, fell to 8-4 and finished its league campaign with a 4-2 record and in a tie for second place with Penn
"This was such a thrilling win," Kleinfelder said, smiling. "It's great for the seniors to go out like this."
But all five seniors agreed yesterday that their Harvard careers aren't quite over. "This is a nice way to go out. Martin said, "but we're not through yet." With the Ivy title now almost a permanent fixture in Cambridge Martin and her fellow laxwomen are setting their sights on the one title they still haven't won--the NCAA championship. The national tourney opens next Wednesday.
All everyone wanted to talk about after yesterday's game, however, was the squad's dramatic championship win "We played so well as a team today," Kleinfelder said. "We haven't played as well as a team all year."
But it was the Crimson attack that got things rolling early. When White broke through the Dartmouth defense, just 1:20 into the game, she began the assault on O'Donoghue, putting the ball in for a 1-0 Harvard lead.
From there, Finn expertly directed the offense, which put on a dazzling passing show to stake an 8-2 lead with just five minutes left in the first half. Three quick Dartmouth goals, however, cut the Crimson lead to 8-5 and shifted the pressure to the Harvard squad.
But in its most impressive display of the afternoon, the laxwomen met the challenge, scoring four unanswered goals in the final minute of the first half to earn an overwhelming 12-5 halftime lead.
The second half saw the emergence of the dominating Crimson defense, which allowed the visitors to penetrate the midfield mark only seven times. And while Dartmouth was having trouble finding its way to the Crimson goal. Harvard was having no such problems. As Martin and Piersiak kept a close eye on Dartmouth's top scoring threat. Sandy Bryan, DenHartog, Finn, White and junior Maggie Hart were upping the score. When Hart took DenHartog's pass and sent it past O'Donoghue with just five seconds left, the scoreboard read 22-8 and the champagne corks told the story.
"This game showed what we can do," DenHartog said afterwards. "It was do or die and everyone really came through."
And from the opposing corner, Dartmouth Coach Jo Ann Harper--who expressed disappointment in the Crimson's 14-goal margin of victory--found solace in the fact that her squad's defeat came at the hands of such a strong Harvard team. "Harvard is excellent," she said. "They can compete with any body in the nation. We have nothing to be disappointed about."
THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard meets UNH at 1 p.m. Saturday in its regular-season finale. . .Seedings for the NCAA tourney will be announced Sunday. . .Finn finished yesterday's game with three goals and five assists. Her 38 assists for the season are a new Harvard record; she held the old record of 35. . .White finished with five goals and one assist, while Hart had four and Andy Mainelli had two.
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