The Harvard women’s lacrosse team brought its two-game losing streak to a quick halt, exploding for 18 goals in an 18-8 demolition of visiting Bucknell on Sunday, March 28 at Jordan Field.

The goal tally was the team’s highest since 1996, when it defeated New Hampshire, 24-10.

The Crimson (3-3, 0-1 Ivy) was paced by a huge outburst from junior midfielder Casey Owens, whose four goals and two assists, all in the first half, were instrumental as Harvard built a 9-2 halftime lead that it never came close to relinquishing.

Junior midfielder Elaine Belitsos came off the bench to score five goals and junior attacker Catherine Sproul added five goals and one assist.

“Today we really were crisp with our passes,” Sproul said, “and we didn’t turn the ball over too much, didn’t force too much, waited for the good shot, and just really picked apart their defense.”

“We knew that this game was kind of a gut-check moment in our season,” co-captain Vanessa Lavely said.

“We were 2-3 and any time you start to have a losing record, you’ve got to check in with yourself. We knew that this was a huge game for us. It was tough because usually we have longer than a one-day turnaround between games, so everyone’s legs were pretty tired, but I think we came out really wanting to beat this team. We knew that this was a moment that we really needed to capitalize on.”

Owens started the game by scoring Harvard’s first two goals, and tallies by Jen Brooks and Sproul just minutes later gave the Crimson a commanding 4-0 lead midway through the first half.

The Bison responded with two of the next three goals to cut the deficit to 5-2, but Harvard answered with six goals to take an 11-2 lead early in the second half.

Brooks, coming off a four-goal performance in the Brown loss, finished with two goals.

Thanks to the big lead from start to finish, Crimson Coach Sarah Nelson ’94 was able to give playing time to all 23 players on the roster, and everyone responded.

Freshman midfielder Caroline Hines had a goal and two assists, and sophomore midfielder Livia Carega scored her first goal of the season. Emily Lucas and Margaret Yellott added assists.

“It’s important that you’re not only playing 11 people, because the only way you can get growth as a program is to have people, especially younger players, getting game experience,” Lavely said.

“Practice does so much, but games are really where you learn to deal with different kinds of pressure, and how you get the experience you need to become a better player for the next year. There’s not one person on the team that we don’t trust on the field with the ball, and we’re really lucky to have an extremely deep roster. Our coach does a great job of getting people in and giving them experience.”

Bucknell scored five of the next eight goals after falling behind 11-2 to cut the margin to 14-7, but Harvard never lost control of the game, finishing strong and cruising to the final outcome of 18-8.