After an up-and-down season plagued with tough losses, the Harvard women’s lacrosse team ended its year on a high note with the ECAC title and its first winning season since 1996.

The Crimson (9-7) earned a 9-8 victory over No. 18 Johns Hopkins (10-8) in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship at Homewood Field. With the win, Harvard not only beat the defending champion, but also registered its first triumph against top-20 competition.

“This is the icing on the cake,” said sophomore goalkeeper Laura Mancini. “We already finished with the first season over .500 in a long time. This is a great win for the seniors. The program has really gained a lot of strength over the years.”

Harvard came into the game relaxed and built up an 9-5 lead on the strength of three unanswered goals going into the last three minutes.

“I think we went into it really loose and psyched to play—it’s the first time we’ve been in postseason play in six years,” co-captain Hilary Walton said. “We were out there to have fun, with no Ivy standing to worry about.”

But before Harvard could celebrate, the Crimson had to fend off a last-ditch rally from the Blue Jays. Harvard came through in the last minute and a half by winning the draw and running out the clock.

Sophomore midfielder Jen Brooks notched a hat trick in the win while Mancini registered 15 saves and was named the game’s most valuable player.

Brooks was not alone in her scoring feat as Meghan Burnett led Johns Hopkins’ with a hat trick and two assists.

Both teams were held scoreless in the first half until Johns Hopkins took a 1-0 lead at 18:29 when Jamie Larrimore scored, assisted by Erin Wellner.

Harvard not only evened the score but went ahead with two goals from Brooks, assisted by Leslie Moroz and Shaughnessy and an unassisted goal from junior Katie Shaughnessy for a 3-1 lead at 8:21.

“We’ve had some issues closing out games and we realized we had to take it out early,” Mancini said. “We tried to create things for each other. People were really looking to pass and looking to shoot.”

The Blue Jays retaliated when Christy Peterson scored off of a feed from Burnett at 4:35, but the Crimson restored the two-goal cushion with an unassisted goal from senior Heather Gotha at 2:17 to put Harvard ahead 4-2 at halftime.

The second half opened with an exchange of goals from the Crimson and Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays struck first, just 58 seconds into the half, when Burnett cut Harvard’s lead to one, assisted by Erin Riordan. The Crimson responded at 23:18 with a goal from Walton from a pass by senior Melissa Christino to put Harvard up 5-3.

“I had a great feed from Melissa Christino, who’s an awesome passer,” Walton said. “She puts the ball on your stick at the perfect time. She feeds you even when you don’t even know you’re open. I cut across the eight-meter and she hit me. I had some momentum going into the goal and that just got the goalie off-center.”

Johns Hopkins cut the lead to 5-4 with a goal from Heidi Pearce at 21:09, but the Crimson went on a three-goal tear, all unassisted, that would secure the win.

“In the second half, we took some more risks,” Mancini said. “We weren’t really worried about failing. Just pushing it in a little more [and] being more aggressive made a difference.”

Harvard’s run was sparked by freshman midfielder Elaine Belitsos’ goal at 19:19. Brooks followed, capping off her hat trick on a free position at 14:53, and junior Katie O’Brien also scored on a free position at 12:06, completing the rally for an 8-4 Harvard lead.

“They were falling apart a little on defense,” Walton said. “That gave us some great momentum, momentum we lost a little at the end, but we held our composure.”

The Blue Jays retorted when Heidi Pierce scored unassisted at 8:56, but freshman Casey Owens compensated for that goal with a free position at 4:12, restoring Harvard’s four-goal lead, which would be just enough to withstand Johns Hopkins’ three-goal run in the final three minutes of the game.

“They started pushing us and we went to a more settled defense,” Mancini said. “We had a number of turnovers at the midfield and at the top of the arc in the other end. They capitalized off of a lot of fast breaks.”

Burnett ignited the rally on a free position goal with only 3:01 remaining, and then scored again just 35 seconds later off the draw and a pass from Larrimore to cut the lead to two. Riordan then scored on a feed from Wellner to bring the Blue Jays within a goal with 1:40 left. But that was as far as Johns Hopkins got, as Harvard won the ensuing draw and ran out the remaining time.

“Their frantic nature made us a little frantic,” Mancini said. “Luckily at the end, when we needed to, we got the draw back.”

“[Freshman] Kelly Noon had a really poised game and had some really crucial ground balls at the end,” Mancini added. “Our defense struggled, but came through when they had to.”

In addition to its ECAC crown, several of Harvard’s players were honored as All-Ivy selections on April 10. Junior Katie Shaughnessy and senior Erin Kutner represented the Crimson on the second team, as attack and defense respectively, while senior Heather Gotha earned an honorable mention for defense.

Harvard finished the year in sixth place in a tough Ivy League that had two teams make the NCAA lacrosse final four—more than any other conference. Cornell, led by Ivy Player of the Year and leading scorer Jaimee Reynolds, upended seven-time defending national champion Maryland, 14-4, in the NCAA quaterfinals this past weekend while Princeton topped Notre Dame 11-5 to advance.

Harvard’s finale sends its five seniors off on an upswing and the other youngsters on with a stronger program.

“[It’s] very bittersweet,” Walton said. “We had a sort-of rocky four years and this is the best way to end it.”

“Our seniors played all season with intensity,” Mancini said. “Their drive and their heart translated into [better play for the] rest of the team.”

W. Lacrosse 9, Johns Hopkins 8

at Homewood Field, Baltimore, Md.

Harvard (9-7) 4 5 — 9

Johns Hopkins (10-8) 2 6 — 8

Scoring: H Goals: Brooks 3, Shaughnessy, Gotha, Walton, Belitsos, O’Brien, Owens. H Assists: Moroz, Shaughnessy, Christino. JHU Goals: Burnett 3, Peterson, Wellner, Pearce, Riordan. JHU Assists: Burnett 2, Wellner 2, Riordan, Larrimore. H Saves: Mancini, 15. JHU Saves: McDonald, 11.