With exactly nine minutes and thirty seconds left in its game yesterday against the University of New Hampshire, the Harvard women's lacrosse team looked ready to fall apart.
Having blitzed to a 10-1 halftime lead in the contest at Durham, the Crimson had been victimized by five consecutive Wildeat goals, and the score suddenly stood at 15-10.
Fight or flight? It was gut check time for Harvard.
Fortunately, the sixth-ranked Crimson survived. Four straight goals to close the game gave Harvard (7-2 overall, 2-1 Ivy) its final 19-10 victory margin.
"It was a good win," Co-Captain Rachel Burke said. "Obviously, we have to be disappointed with the way we let them back into it, but we know what we did wrong, and the bottom line was the win."
Early on, it didn't look like the Crimson would have any problems in cruising to another easy victory.
Led by two goals each by Co-Captain Liz Berkery and junior Sarah Downing, Harvard jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first ten minutes of the game.
Even after UNH scored for the first time, 13 minutes into the contest, Harvard answered with another extended run.
With just five minutes gone in the second half, the Crimson held a dominating 14-2 lead and looked ready to warm up the buses back to Cambridge.
Then came the Wildcat avalanche. Except for one goal by freshman Megan Colligan, the next 15 minutes belonged entirely to UNH.
With their attack spearheaded by Jamie Hare, who scored three times in two minutes, and by Toni Felini, who chipped in two goals and two assists, the Wildcats roared back to within five goals.
Don't think for a moment, though, that Harvard considered the win in the bag.
"I don't think we were overconfident, but we definitely suffered some kind of mental lapse [in the middle of the second half]," Burke said.
"Everyone was getting sucked into the offensive attack, and we weren't getting back on defense fast enough when [New Hampshire] went into transition," the Currier senior said.
In the end, though, it all became a moot point. Despite the last-minute problems, the bottom line, as Burke mentioned, was the win.
The victory helps extend the Crimson's impressive streak of wins and solidifies the team's position in the national rankings.
Despite going 3-0 last week, Harvard fell a notch in the polls because Dartmouth upset highly-ranked Penn State. But it's not a problem, for now.
"All we can do right now is keep trying to win our games," Burke said.
In a season where pretty wins have been and will be numerous, this one was doubtlessly an ugly duckling. But with an eye on bigger and better things in the future, the Crimson will take it. e: Har Berkery (4), Dowing (4), Walton (3), Winters (2), Chelus (2), Burke (2) Buxton, collgan. UNH cluck (2), Hare (4), Raiser, fellow (2), Karnan. A: Har-Berkery (2) Winters (4). UNH--Ranser. Feiont (2), Clark (3), Gain, Harvard. S: Har-- Williansom 7, Olsen 20
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