Harvard and Ohio State had never faced off in women’s lacrosse before the Buckeyes made the nearly 800-mile trip to Cambridge on Saturday.

In an afternoon matinee at Jordan Field, the Crimson (4-1, 1-0 Ivy League) defeated Ohio State (5-4) with an emphatic 13-7 victory. The win was the third straight for a Harvard team that has won four of its first five games for the second consecutive season.

Senior tri-captain Maeve McMahon got the Crimson on the board less than three minutes after the contest got underway. The Duxbury, Mass. native remained instrumental for the Crimson offense, coming away with eight draw controls, two goals, and one forced turnover. Harvard dominated the face-off circle, winning 14 of the game’s 22 draws.

A minute and a half after McMahon’s opening goal, sophomore attacker Nicole Baiocco scored to double the Crimson’s lead. Harvard pushed the lead to three when tri-captain Emma Ford scored with 12:52 left before the break.

“Emma Ford's coast-to-coast goal in the middle of the first half definitely provided a ton of momentum and energy for us early in the game.” McMahon said.

The energy and momentum continued for the Crimson as tri-captain Marisa Romeo finished the Crimson’s scoring for the half. Romeo’s tally was sandwiched between two Buckeye goals that would send the guests into the locker room trailing by just two goals.

The Syracuse, N.Y native led the Harvard offense with four goals to push her season total to 18. It was the third straight game in which Romeo tallied four goals. Although the Buckeyes gained momentum at points during the game, the Crimson did not allow Ohio State to lead by more than one on the afternoon. After the guests took the lead with 19 minutes to play, Harvard scored the game’s final seven goals. Romeo led the way down the stretch, scoring three of her four goals in the final ten minutes.

“Marina Burke made a huge defensive play by the checking an Ohio State girl’s stick so perfectly that not only did she drop the ball, she dropped her stick as well,” Romeo said. “It was a great play and started our comeback to win the game.”

The Crimson defense was essential to the Harvard victory as it dominated the Buckeyes with a total of 16 forced turnovers and 17 successful clear attempts from its zone. Senior defenders Marina Burke and Emma Ford and junior defender Julia Lennon each forced two turnovers. Senior goalie Meredith Brown kept out Ohio State with a total of nine stopped shots on goal.

Down 7-6, sophomore midfielder Keeley MacAfee tied the score with a free position attempt conversion. Feeding off the determined offense, junior midfielder Julia Glynn scored a man-up goal off a Romeo feed with 15:53 minutes of regulation time remaining on the clock.

“We did a really nice job of not getting rattled when they went on their three-goal run in the second half,” McMahon said. “We focused on playing together and responded to their three-goal run with our own seven-goal run to finish the game.”

On the afternoon, the Crimson outshot the Buckeyes, 32-17, went three-for-five in free position attempts, and held a 18-13 ground ball advantage.

“We knew this game was something we’ve circled on our calendars and really wanted to come away with a win, so we just stayed focused on our goal throughout the entire game despite when Ohio State would make runs.” Romeo said.

—Contributing writer Kim Arango can be reached at karango@college.harvard.edu.