May be it was a major win for a team that the has started its season disappointingly.
Or maybe it was just a chance to work out some early-season kinks.
But definitely, absolutely, without a doubt, it represented a step in the right direction.
The fifth-ranked Harvard women's Lacrosse team, coming off a 1-2 Spring Break, rebounded yesterday at Ohiri Field to post a strong 11-6 Victory over Yale (2-4 overall, 0-2 Ivy).
Led by junior Francie Walton and senior Co-Captain Lir Berkery, who together scored a total of three goals and who led a key defensive surge in the second half, Harvard upped its record for the year to 4-2 overall, 2-1 Ivy.
"We played a good first half, had a bit a letdown in the second, but got the goals when we had to, " Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder said.
The Crimson started the contest looking as if it would blow the Bulldogs out of the water.
Relying on quick passes, an alert transition game and stellar goalkeeping by sophomore Liz Williamson Harvard sprinted to an 8 I lead in the first half.
After the break, however, the game turned around as Yale scored three straight goals.
"When it was it 4, I was really worried," Kleinfelder said. "I though that this game could be trouble."
Enter Berkery, an All-American who has played in two NCAA title games for Harvard.
The Crimson defense damped down under her veteran leadership, allowing only one more goal to Yale. The Crimson offense added three more goals of its own, and Harvard was on its way.
Having dipped in the national rankings from a preseason second to its current fifth, and having watched Ivy rivals Princeton, Dartmouth and Cornell steal some of its thunder, Harvard remains eager to reassert itself.
The win over Yale, while following impressive victories over Temple and old Dominian during the holiday, still was not enough to satisfy Kleinfelder.
'It's still too early to say how we're doing." she said "Be [Harvard's opponent tonight] will be tougher than Yale, and then we have another difficult game on Saturday against Loyola. We have to see how we do in those games"
Beyond the goals, the wins and the losses, Kleinfelder also indicated an intangible factor that is missing so far on this year's team.
"We're still not playing a full game of hard, aggressive, quick-passing lacrosse," she said.
After a brief pause, however, she uttered words ominuous for Harvard's upcoming opponents: "We're getting there, though." G: Yale--Vischio (3), Mascher (3); Harvard--Berkery (2), Chelins (2), Alissi, Winters, Downing, Buston, Walton, Morrison, Hall. A: Yale--Joseph, Vischio, Long; Harvard--Colligan, Winters. S: Yale--Sullivan 14; Harvard--Williamson 10.
Read more in Sports
ON DECK
