W. Lax Earns ECAC Tourney Berth

The Harvard women’s lacrosse team was officially awarded yesterday what it had been assured of for a week—a spot in the ECAC lacrosse championship.

The Crimson (8-7, 2-5 Ivy) will play at No. 18 Johns Hopkins (10-7) Sunday at 11 a.m. to decide the tournament crown.

Harvard clinched a spot in the championship game with a dramatic come-from-behind 11-10 overtime win over Brown last Wednesday. Had the Crimson not finished about .500 for the season, it would have been denied a sport in the tourney.

Typically the ECAC tournament consists of four teams that fall short of NCAAs. But this season, Harvard and Johns Hopkins were the only eligible teams to ask for bids.

Johns Hopkins is the defending ECAC champion, having beaten Penn in last year’s championship game. The Blue Jays have one top 20 win—a 11-10 triumph over No. 12 Ohio St.—to their credit. Harvard has no wins against current top 20 competition.

The Blue Jays most recent outing was a 15-8 defeat to No. 6 Cornell. Harvard played the Big Red the previous weekend and lost, 9-8, after holding the lead until the final minutes.

Harvard’s winning season and postseason berth are its first since 1996.