WEST CHESTER, Pa.--It's the equivalent of football's Hail Mary. Lacrosse does not bless it with a name. It's a pass, a catch and a goal.

If it works, it looks beautiful. Lisi Bailliere and Karen Everling made it work twice here yesterday, and twice was almost good enough to give the Harvard women's lacrosse team its first national championship.

Thanks to Bailliere and Everling, the Crimson staged a dramatic comeback before time expired in the championship game of the NCAA tournament, and Penn State escaped with a 7-6 victory.

Call it a heavenly heave. Everling lobs a long pass over the opposing defense and Bailliere races under it, catches it in front of the opposing goal and scores.

That's the way it works in dreams. And that's the way it worked twice yesterday.

Bailliere's first goal came with 18 minutes left in the second half. She beat her defender, Tami Worley, and raced under Everling's pass, which seemed to scrape the sky before it fell into the web on Bailliere's stick.

Bailliere charged and shot...goal. Harvard narrowed Penn State's lead to 6-4.

Bailliere's second goal was even more dramatic. With three-and-one-half minutes left in the game, Bailliere slipped past Worley and caught another Everling pass.

Bailliere charged again...another goal. The Crimson sliced Penn State's lead to 7-6.

Call it a "tall ball."

"Karen and I have been doing this all year and it really hasn't worked out," Bailliere admitted.

But yesterday, it almost gave Harvard a victory. In the second half, Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder instructed Bailliere to guard Worley. This meant Worley, noted for her high-powered offensive game, had to guard Bailliere.

"I don't think [Worley] was very good defensively," Bailliere said. "Basically I just ran down the field. I'm more of a defensive player. For me to go down and play attack--it might have surprised her."

Call it greetings from the sky. The ball falling, Bailliere catching it and Worley looking perplexed. Hello, goodbye.

"I knew she was fast," Worley said. "I knew she went to goal hard. I knew she was a threat."