The Harvard women's lacrosse team knows something that Yale does not. It knows that lacrosse is not transitive.

Yale came into yesterday's contest at Ohiri Field having handily defeated the same UNH squad that tripped the Crimson, 8-7, on Saturday.

If we beat UNH and they lost to them, any thinking person knows we'll win this game.

However, the Crimson (4-2 overall, 3-0 Ivy) came to play, jumping out to a commanding 6-1 lead midway through the game courtesy of freshman Sarah Downing's five first-half goals.

"We came out with intensity and fire," junior goaltender Sarah Leary said. "We took them out of their game right from the beginning. They couldn't settle in."

After sloppy play haunted both teams in the opening minutes, the Crimson drew first blood, opening the scoring at the seven-minute mark. After Downing swiftly checked the ball away from an Eli, senior midfielder Tracy Hackeling collected it and sprinted downfield. Hackeling found sophomore Rachel Burke, who went strong to the net and drew a penalty. Harvard went up to stay when Burke converted the penalty shot from the right side, beating Yale goalie Catherine Sharkey.

Okay Yale, play hard. It's only 1-0. We're going to take this game.

The Elis know the heart of the Harvard offense is a sophomore sensation named Liz Berkery, last week's Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week. Although they were obviously looking out for her, they were lucky that she hit the goalposts more often than the net.

Luckily for the Crimson, however, the Sarah Downing show rolled into town. Downing ate the Yale defense up, burning it for the next five Harvard goals. The speedy freshman came to play, running and scoring as often as she liked (or so it seemed).

But coach, I couldn't commit to her because Berkery was open. I know she's good, but she's only a freshman.

"Sarah is very capable," Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder said. "She scored something like 65 goals during her senior year at Exeter. She's a time bomb."

It was only with the help of Berkery and Burke and the likes of Sue Carls, Becky Gaffney, Buffy Hansen, and Francie Walton that Downing was so successful. These players unloaded a ton of shots on Sharkey and kept the defense off-balance because their hustle always gave Downing another option--the pass.

We can't win when we're down 6-1 against Harvard at Harvard.

Yale did their best to make it a game in the second half, but they never got closer than four goals. A Berkery goal at 20:25 put the Crimson up 7-1 and it looked like there was icing on a very sweet Ivy cake.

But the Elis climbed back into the contest with two tallies over the next seven minutes. With 10 minutes to go, the score was a fragile 7-3. But Downing and Berkery emphatically shut the door, registering Harvard's eighth and ninth goals within a twenty-second span.

Two more Yale goals, one apiece from Sarah Williams and Eva Vishio, last year's Ivy Rookie of the Year, found their way past Leary but the Crimson would not be beat.

"They are a tough team and we waited a little too long," Yale Coach Francesca Den Hartog said. "It's tough to turn things around against a good team like Harvard."

They are the defending national champions.

Harvard now rests securely atop the league standings and will be considered among the best in the East come national tournament time. Yesterday's whipping certainly proved its defense and its toughness.

"We had a lot to prove as a team. Our back was to the wall," Kleinfelder said. "If we were going to do anything in the league or in the region, it was going to be today."

The defense turned in a fine performance. Leary was again solid in the twines, stopping any Yale momentum before it could steamroll while Co-Captain Ceci Clark anchored a very effective defense. Freshman Emily Buxton, sophomore Tara Uhler and Gaffney kept the Elis at bay throughout the game and the midfielders were able to apply constant pressure from behind to make passing difficult.

Harvard knows lacrosse is not transitive. It's cumulative. And yesterday's victory over a tough Yale team certainly gives them something to build on