James Madison Rips Reeling Laxwomen

Sunday, April 27 marked the high point of the season for the nationally seventh-ranked Harvard women's lacrosse team.

The 11-2 (at that time) Crimson had just destroyed Loyola (Calif.)--one of the best five teams in the country--and was preparing for more glory later in the week.

Harvard was supposed to defeat Dartmouth the following Wednesday, then host and win the ECAC tournament this weekend. It would thus capture its seventh consecutive Ivy League Championship and proceed to the NCAA Finals.

But things didn't quite work out that way.

Not only did the Crimson suffer a painful 10-9 loss to Dartmouth, but it also fell victim to underdog James Madison on Friday, thereby removing virtually all hope of gaining an NCAA tournament berth.

The 11-8 first-round ECAC loss to the fourth-seeded Duchesses left the Crimson with an 11-4 record--which will probably not be sufficiently impressive to garner one of the six NCAA spots. The NCAA selection committee announced its decision late last night.

"I was very pleased [with the year]," Coach Carole Kleinfelder explained, "especially considering the fact that we lost seven starters from last season who had basically played together for three years."

"We succeeded beyond our wildest expectations," concurred sophomore Kate Felsen. "We just have to remember that we had an 11-4 season and we surprised a lot of people."

But the first-seeded Crimson did not play like a very good team against James Madison Friday.

"We were a different team from last week," Felsen said. "I don't know if we were burned out or what, we can't figure it out, but we lost to a team we should have beat."

The upset by Dartmouth "really hurt us [Friday]," said Kleinfelder. The players "were down and never really recovered. They were flat and couldn't get going.

"But you have to give James Madison some credit. They played a good game. It was up to us to answer, and we just didn't."

Harvard did have a chance to win the game, though. At halftime, the teams were tied 5-5.

The host Crimson would have held a 6-5 advantage if a Kate Felsen goal hadn't been disallowed. But the Duchesses appealed that the pocket of Felsen's stick was deeper than the rulebook permitted, and the goal was nullified.

The teams each scored one goal early in the second half, but Madison countered by notching consecutive tallies to take a two-goal advantage.

Harvard scored next, but the Virginians got the next three to gain an insurmountable, four-goal lead with 8:03 remaining. After the Crimson netted the ball to bring the score to 11-8 with 6:04 remaining, Madison "started to control the ball and hold it a bit," Kleinfelder said. Neither team scored again.

"Nobody really sparked the team, and that was a problem," junior Kelly McBride noted.

McBride refused to use the team's relative youth as an excuse for its poor showing against Madison. "I'm not surprised [ that we had a good year]," she said. "We're a young team, but Harvard lacrosse is a tradition. And once you've a tradition and a good coach, you can't help doing well...If we'd played like we did all the season, we'd have beaten them."

THE NOTEBOOK Both Felson and McBride--Harvard's top scorer this season with 49 goals--tallied two goals and one assist, while Cindi Ersek, Co-Captain Blair Wardenburg, Lisi Balliere, and Bambi Taylor each scored once.