The Bears controlled much of the pace in the first half, outshooting the Crimson, 10-6, as Tassopoulos, who entered the weekend with the eighth best save percentage in the nation, improved on her mark of .800 by making seven saves, five of which came in the opening half.

The momentum shifted over to Harvard in the second frame, as the visitors outshot Brown 8-5 in the period. Keller, Rea, and Jacobson all led the team with three shots apiece.

“Our defense was rock solid especially against their forwards,” Painter said. “Cynthia did a great job in net, she had some really key saves that helped us get our momentum, and I think our momentum in the second half started in the backfield with their outletting and their working up through the mid[fielders] and through the forwards.”

The Crimson was able to withstand a late push by Brown, holding the Bears off on penalty corners in the final seconds of game. Brown ended up having nine total corners to Harvard’s five, and outshot the Crimson, 15-14.

Despite its losing record more than half way into the season, van Herwaarden was pleased with the progress the team has made thus far and expects positive results from its efforts soon.

“We’ve already shown significant improvement,” van Herwaarden said. “I think it’s time that we right now trust ourselves a little bit more and believe in ourselves that the improvement is there. We should consider ourselves being good enough to compete with every team in this nation.”

—Staff writer David Mazza can be reached at damazza@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Andrew R. Mooney can be reached at mooney@college.harvard.edu.