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FEMALE BREAKOUT ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Baskind Dominates New Territory

Soccer standout Melanie Baskind demonstrates skills on the lacrosse field

Taking on Johns Hopkins, Baskind exploded, scoring a team-high four goals and picking up four ground balls to go along with three draw controls and four caused turnovers.

“In a month, she was back to her old self,” said junior Sam McMahon, who also played high school lacrosse in Massachusetts.

Things continued to go well for Baskind from there, as she notched the game-winning goal in double overtime three days later in Harvard’s upset win over then-No. 15 New Hampshire.

The midfielder stayed consistent over the remainder of the season but finished particularly strongly, closing out the year with back-to-back five-goal performances.

But while Baskind brought her individual talent to the lacrosse team, she also brought the experience of coming from a winning program, having captured the Ivy League soccer championship in each of her first two seasons.

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“She knows what it’s like to play in big games,” freshman Danielle Tetreault said. “She’s always out there playing her hardest...It spreads throughout the team.”

Baskind’s next goal is to help bring the same success her team has experienced on the soccer field to her lacrosse squad.

“I’m just hoping that our team continues [to get better],” said the two-sport athlete, who plans on playing lacrosse again next season.

But before she can begin focusing on helping Miller and the rest of the Crimson lacrosse players win their first Ivy title, Baskind must turn her attention to the upcoming soccer season, where her team hopes to go for a three-peat.

“When I start moving again, it will probably be all about soccer,” she said.

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.

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