Laxwomen Destroy BC

Flip on CBS tonight, and there will be Jim Nantz or Billy Packer or some other slightly-balding announcer talking about how some ACC team is beating an unknown school like an egg.

But compared to yesterday's Harvard women's lacrosse game against Boston College at Holy Cross, those NCAA first-round games will look like nail-biters.

Harvard beat Boston College, 24-4. Twenty-four to four. It doesn't sound like a lacrosse score, it sounds like one of Dan or Dave's pole vaulting records.

The Crimson went with distant knowledge of a 12-2 win and not much else.

"We don't much about them at all", co-captain said before the game. "They got to play in Florida over their spring break, so they'll probably give us a good game."

McAnaney, however, would be proven wrong.

"We got the first draw and we scored a little while after," she said after the game, trying to remember which one was which. "And once we scored one, we scored three in a row."

And it was all downhill from there.

Actually, a cliff would be a better, metaphor. In the second period, when Harvard gained a 10-goal advantage, the "mercy" rule went into effect, which meant that the clock didn't stop on whistles.

However, the Crimson did face a few questions going into the would-be slaughter. One of which was about the goaltending.

Minding the net for Harvard was freshmen Kate Schutt, since last year's starter, Liz Williamson, decided to row for the crew team instead of getting pelted by lots of rubber balls.

Needless to say, though, Schutt had a couple of butterflies in her stomach.

"I was very nervous going into the game," Schutt said. "It was good to get the first game over with."

If only everything could be this easy the first time around. Having this game be Schutt's first start is like having the sidewalk turn into Nerf for a child's first bicycle ride.

Speaking about rough surfaces, the game was played on Astroturf, since the grass up here is not quite ready for the rigors of lacrosse yet.

"It's different for me," Schutt said. "I like it a lot--it's a different feeling."

Obviously the Crimson offense also did not mind playing on the prickly plastic.

Overcoming the loss of Liz Berkry '93 to graduation, the attackers dispelled any notions that the Harvard offense would be lackluster this season.

"It was certainly great that our attack was able to put it together," McAnaney said. "We just hope that we can keep it up for the rest of the season."

And if the Crimson does maintain this level of play for the entire season, it would not be ludicrous to imagine another championship trophy at Dillon Field House.