The Tigers looked to have momentum back on their side, winning possession just minutes later. But just as Princeton started to get going, Harvard’s defense stepped up.
Co-captain Delia Pais stepped in front of a Tigers attacker, coming away with the interception. Pais ran the ball up the field, where the Crimson offense set up and got the ball in the stick of VanderMeulen, the team’s leading scorer.
VanderMeulen broke down her defender, blowing past her and firing a shot over Tochihara to give her team the 3-2 lead.
“I think we did the small things right, at least for the majority of the game,” Baskind said. “And when we didn’t, we quickly fixed our mistakes rather than [building] on them, which has been an issue in the past.”
Freshman Micaela Cyr kept the momentum going, cutting up the middle and finishing an unassisted goal.
The Crimson’s lead grew from there, as Baskind and VanderMeulen added a tally apiece to extend their team’s lead to four, 6-2.
Princeton cut away at its deficit before the half ended, as Devine capitalized off a Harvard turnover to net her first of two scores.
After the break, the Crimson jumped out of the gates quickly, going on a 4-2 run to take a 10-5 lead.
But Princeton did not let Harvard escape so easily.
With 10:09 left, Devine fed Caroline Rehfuss in front of the goal for the Tigers’ sixth goal. Minutes later, Morrison added another score, cutting the deficit to three.
After Cyr added an insurance goal for the home team, the Tigers got two scores in 35 seconds to get within two with 44 ticks on the clock.
On the ensuing draw control, Princeton won possession, but Harvard’s defense forced a turnover. Baskind took the possession and ran out the clock to seal the victory—the Crimson’s first over the Tigers since 1992.
In the stands to watch the historic win was Harvard’s 1990 NCAA championship squad. As part of the celebration of the 20-year anniversary of the national title, banners commemorating the Crimson’s Ivy titles and NCAA tournament appearances were hung in Harvard Stadium.
—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.