Lacrosse Wastes First-Half Lead Versus Harvard

Halfway through the second half on Saturday at Wien Stadium, the skies turned gray, but a storm front came much sooner for Columbia’s women’s lacrosse squad. Despite holding an 8-7 halftime lead, Columbia fell victim to a nine-goal squall by the Harvard Crimson.

In the end, the16-8 advantage was too much for the Lions, who lost 16-11 despite playing their best half of Ivy League play in years and setting a new school record for most goals in an Ivy League game.

Columbia has been outscored 9-3 in a second half before, but never when that half was attached to a first where it had played so well. Harvard scored nine consecutive second-half goals in just over 17 minutes to turn an 8-7 Columbia lead into a 16-8 Harvard advantage. The Crimson topped the Lions 16-11 under rainy skies at Baker Field.

The loss sent Columbia (6-8) lacrosse to its fifth straight 0-7 season in the Ivy League.

“It’s a really hard loss. I think it’s probably our hardest loss of the season,” senior defender Whitney Crisman said. “[The first half] was the most amazing half we had played all season. We needed to put it together for a full 60 minutes.”

It was not the closest Ivy League result for Columbia, but it may have been the lacrosse program’s best Ivy performance. Columbia’s 11 goals were the most the Lions had scored in an Ivy League game. The halftime lead was the Light Blue’s first in the past three years. But the result was the same as all their other games.

Harvard (5-6, 1-4 Ivy) scored nine consecutive goals after halftime to knock Columbia out of the game.

Adding to the frustration was the way that Columbia stormed back to take the lead after the Crimson had used an early three-goal run to take a 5-2 lead. In Ivy League games this year, the Lions have often fallen victim to a large spurt.

Columbia Head Coach Celine Cunningham took her timeout and halted the Harvard momentum. The Lions came out of the huddle firing. First-year Moira O’Toole took a pass from sophomore Ellen Lowrey and blasted a shot past Harvard’s sophomore goalkeeper Laura Mancini. First-year Liz Sanseau followed, beating Mancini over-the-shoulder off a free position. Sophomore Adie Moll scored to tie the game.

Harvard used its timeout, but Columbia had the edge in energy. The Lions broke the huddle crisply and continued to control the play. First-year Michelle Kraics scored in transition off a feed from sophomore Maggie Via. With two assists sophomore Maggie Via set the Columbia single-season assist record with 10. O’Toole added another off a free position. After Harvard finally got one back, senior Arianna Faucetta tallied another off a free position. Harvard scored once more to make it 8-7.

After the break, Harvard broke away. The Crimson’s goals came in two runs, five in the first 7:07 of the half and four in a six minute stretch.

“They just got the momentum. They had some nice fast-break goals,” Cunningham said. “We weren’t seeing the ball.”

Columbia was unable to get the Crimson back in a settled defensive situation. The goals came in transition off saves by Mancini who bounced back from a one-save first half or turnovers.

During the first run Cunningham did not use her timeout to try and slow Harvard as she had in the first half. When asked why after the game "There were 23 minutes [left] in the half. If we're in a situation where we needed to stall the ball or talk—hopefully we were getting back in it—we needed [the timeout] at the end. I wanted to take it. I realized if I took it seven into the half, that would be trouble at the end of the game," Cunningham said.

But Columbia did not get back into it. By the time Cunningham called time, with 17:31 to go, the Lions trailed 14-8.

This has been a rough season for Columbia in an Ivy League that is stronger than it has been in years. Five of the eight teams spent time in the Top 20, including No. 1 Princeton. The Light Blue are much improved from a year ago, but to have Ivy League success, it is apparent that they will have to improve further.

“Our league is tough. We're not going to make excuses; its going to help us in the long run, but it stinks right now,” Cunningham said.

Columbia ends its season on Tuesday afternoon at Wien Stadium against Lafayette at 4 p.m.