It was fun in the sun this weekend for the Harvard women's lacrosse team when the squad flew south to Maryland and Virginia for several contests over a three-day span.

Friday, the Crimson journeyed to College Park, Md., for its season opener against the University of Maryland, where the team dropped a 12-9 decision.

Harvard then traveled to Williamsburg, Va., for a two-day round-robin tournament hosted by William and Mary. Each squad played 12 mini-games, none of which counted on the teams' records.

The Crimson was able to hang tough throughout the contest with the Terrapins, despite the fact that the Terps are the defending NCAA champions. The score was knotted at four goals apiece at halftime, and a Crimson tally early in the third period gave it a brief 5-4 lead.

But a five-minute lapse immediately following that score cost Harvard the contest. Maryland was able to put four shots on net in that stretch to take an 8-5 advantage from which the Crimson could not recover.

Harvard Captain Kelly McBride led the squad in scoring against the Terps, flipping in four goals. Freshman Char Joslin threw in two goals in her first game for the Crimson, and Karen Everling did the same. Lili Groome tallied once to complete the scoring.

Yesterday, Harvard got another chance against Maryland, and the team was able to pull out a tie. Overall, the Crimson won most of its tourney games, and was able to give some of its younger players--10 of the squad's members are freshmen--a chance to gain playing experience.

"I'm really happy with the way we played this weekend," McBride said. "This was the first time that we played outside as a team, and we kept playing better in every game."

"Whenever you go with a young team, you have to be worried about how they'll do," McBride added. "But this weekend eliminated most of the doubt about this team's quality."

The laxwomen begin their Ivy League slate Saturday, when the Crimson hosts Penn at Ohiri Field.