Women's Lacrosse Gains Ground in Conference Play

Exactly one week after its men’s counterparts posted a comfortable 18-8 victory over Dartmouth, the Harvard women’s lacrosse team looked for similar success as a Big Green squad once again came to Cambridge. A comparable scoreline was unlikely, as both squads entered Saturday with the same record, both overall and in conference, and Dartmouth was coming off an impressive win over No. 16 Penn.

From the opening whistle, however, the Crimson was in control. The first half became a back and forth battle not between the two teams, but rather the Big Green and Harvard sophomore midfielder Julia Glynn. She answered each of Dartmouth’s three goals in the period with one of her own, and added two more to singlehandedly outpace her opponents, 5-3, in the first 30 minutes.

Three other Crimson players also found the back of the net to make the score at halftime 8-3. From then on, it was smooth sailing, as the Big Green did not pull within four goals again and ultimately lost, 17-9.

“Every game is important, but being able to win by a significant margin against an Ivy team and at home is always an amazing feeling,” Glynn said.

With the win, Harvard (6-3, 2-1 Ivy) is now back on track in conference play after suffering a nail-biting defeat to No. 10 Princeton last weekend. Dartmouth (5-4, 1-2), meanwhile, continues its road struggles, falling to 0-4 in true away games. The team, however, is still undefeated at home and when playing in neutral sites.

Despite being less dominant at home, sporting a 1-2 record in such contests, the Crimson came out strong in rain-soaked Harvard Stadium on Saturday. Glynn set the tone with her first two goals, both of which were unassisted.

In both instances, she dodged multiple defenders to find space before firing a shot past Big Green freshman goalie Charlotte Wahle. One was from the right half of the field, while the other was from the left, quickly establishing the Crimson’s ability to score from all angles.

After Glynn scored twice to hand Harvard its first lead of the game, 2-1 at the 23:12 mark of the first half, Dartmouth junior midfielder Taryn Deck answered with a goal of her own. Glynn then delivered an even better response, helping her team score three times in the span of four minutes to seize a lead it would not let go of.

Glynn assisted on goals by junior attackers Maeve McMahon and Marisa Romeo, and also tallied one more of her own during the stretch. Glynn continued her strong performance throughout the rest of the game and finished with six goals and four assists, both season highs.

“Offensively, everyone was working together,” Glynn said. “Each person had a role in creating the big lead, whether it was making space for a dodge, setting a pick off ball, or timing a cut for the feed. It's a great reward for the hard work done by the defense when we put our shots away.”

Romeo also had one of her best performances this year, matching season highs with four goals and three assists. She did most of her damage in the second half, helping the Crimson add on to its lead.

“Julia and Marisa have been huge reasons for our success so far this season,” Harvard co-captain Audrey Todd said. “Their ability to get to the cage and also use their vision to find cutters really helps us a lot on offense.”

The team as a whole improved following the intermission, even though it had already seized a large lead. After outshooting the Big Green, 16-11, in the first half, the Crimson continued to pile on the pressure and outshot its opponents, 21-10, in the second.

Glynn and Romeo scored more than Dartmouth on their own, but Harvard also saw four other players combine for seven goals. The squad was bolstered by a strong showing by co-captain and goalie Kelly Weis as well, as she finished with six saves.

For the Big Green, senior midfielder Jaclyn Leto led the charge with three goals, but her team as a whole lacked the offensive firepower to stay in the game.

“With only four teams making the Ivy tournament at the end of the season, we knew this was a big matchup,” Todd said. “Fortunately, we were able to get our offense rolling and execute our gameplan and come out with the win.”

—Staff writer George Hu can be reached at yianshenhu@college.harvard.edu.