Veriluckly

That's the new motto of the Harvard women's lacrosse squad, which found this weekend that it needed a little more than Veritas.

The Crimson squad that had been nearly flawless since a season-opening loss at Maryland had to rely on a bit more than just skill to defeat a vastly inferior--yet vastly underrated-University of Vermont squad. 7-6, Saturday at Burlington. Vt.

We were lucky to get out of there with a win," junior defenseman Ellen O'Neill said.

What shocked the Crimson for almost three quarters of the game was a host Catamount squad for different from the one Harvard pasted, 16-6, a year ago.

"Their goalie and a couple of attack players really threw us off," O'Neill added.

Add to that a shaky Harvard defense and a rightly called game and Vermont's 3-1 halftime shake the imagination.

They came our very strong," said senior goaltender Beth Mullen, who replaced Kirckett Johnson at the half, "and I don't think we were ready for that."

But Veritas it told, it's the sign of a good team that wins even when it doesn't play Veriwell. So the Crimson's five-goal second-half effort in the face of what would have been a major upset left the Harvard squad confident that it's capable of winning--no matter the circumstances.

It was really crucial that we could come from behind under some adverse conditions," O'Neill said. It gives as confidence."

And it also gives Harvard a four-game wining streak. Since the decrease at Maryland, the Crimson (now 4-1) has reeled off four straight.

To post this one, though, Coach Carole Kleinfelder had to go to her bench. There she found a former defenseman turned goalie.

Off the bench and into the goal for the second stanza, Mullen turned in a dazzling performance, allowing just three tallies.

That was just enough to allow Lisa Black--starting her first game of the year--to handle things at the other end for the Crimson.

The junior attacker, who came off the bench to tally five goals in Harvard's 11-2 thrashing of Boston College last Tuesday, became the Crimson's second leading scorer of the year by posting four second-half scores on Saturday.

With Mullen and Black leading the way, the Crimson finally copped the lead and then held on to its one-goal margin for the final three minutes by using an extremely effective stall.

"It seemed they'd never seen a stall before," O'Neill said.

Things like that happen, though, when you're Verilucky.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard has picked up a reputation as an extremely talented stick checking team. But as a result, many officials are calling the Crimson for being too aggressive. That was the case again Saturday, when several first-half calls apparently rattled the laxwomen. Harvard moves on to Rutgers now and a showdown there tomorrow...Captain Maggie Hart is the squad's leading scorer Harvard's only goal of the first half come from Claire Farley off an Andy Mainelli assist.