Boston University's greatest weapon yesterday was Harvard's weapons.

Twice early in the second half of the B.U.-Harvard women's lacrosse game at Nickerson Field, the Crimson scored goals. Both times, the goals were called back because of illegal Harvard sticks.

Had the game been closer or the opponent more dangerous--the University of Massachusetts, for instance, or (God forbid) Dartmouth--the official rulings might have provoked heated protests from the Crimson bench and from the players who scored the goals.

As it was, both Char Joslin and Leelee Groome--the bearers of the contraband weapons--merely shrugged when their goals were disallowed, went back to the bench to get legal sticks with regulation-size pouches, and took the field again. The game of terrorizing the Terriers continued, and finished with Harvard on top, 10-4.

Despite playing on its home turf and in front of a friendly crowd of 100 spectators, B.U. was the overwhelming underdog yesterday. The Terriers (now 2-8) had fallen earlier this year to a pair of teams--Vermont and Northeastern--that the Crimson (8-2-1) had demolished.

So it came as a surprise to the Crimson that B.U. stood only one goal back (3-2) with eight minutes left in the first half, and remained within striking distance (5-2) at halftime.

"I thought B.U. played very good defense," said Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder, whose squad is now ranked seventh in the country. "Our shooting, especially in the first half, was poor. We came in thinking it wouldn't be a tough game, so we didn't bear down."

Dauntless

But Harvard attack Leelee Groome's three second-half goals and a fearsome Crimson defense sent the Terriers panting back to the dog house. Groome finished with a game-high four goals.

"We could have done a lot better," Groome said. "We weren't taking our time placing our shots."

The Terriers had held nationally ranked UMass--a team the Crimson fell to, 10-8, two weeks ago--to seven goals in a losing effort earlier in the season. B.U. may not have potent scorers, but its defense is solid.

Harvard was frustrated early by the hosts' sagging defense. Aware that they do not match-up well with Harvard's quick attack, the Terriers conceded much of the field to the Crimson, then played tight defense around the net.

"We played a straight player-to-player defense," Terrier Coach Sally Starr said. "We tried to get them to set up their offense instead of giving up any transition or fast-break goals. The goals they got came off our mistakes."

Harvard (4-0 Ivy League) has outscored its opponents, 62-26, in its last four games and is looking forward to home confrontations with Yale Saturday and Dartmouth next week. The Big Green--the team that denied the Crimson a sixth-straight Ivy title last year--promises to be a tough test.

"We've been playing really well lately," attack Kate Felsen said. "Everyone's looking forward to our game with Dartmouth. We'll finally get to play on our home field."