Crimson cruise past Lions in second half en route to 18-10 victory

In its final game of the 2010 season, the women’s lacrosse team fell to Harvard 18-10, ending the year with a record of 6-8 overall, and 0-7 in the Ivy League. The game was close throughout the first half, but Harvard dominated the second, coming out with the win, and improving to 7-7 and 3-4 in the league.

At the beginning of the game, seniors Brittany Shannon, Frances Callaghan, and Megan Donovan were recognized for their four years of commitment to Columbia lacrosse. Combined, the three seniors scored 56 goals, had 10 assists, and 66 points in their final season. With the three goals she scored in the Harvard game, Shannon tied the record for goals scored in a season with 45 this year.
Although the Crimson scored the first goal of the game, Columbia came back with three of its own by Shannon, Taylor Gattinella, and Kacie Johnson. Goalie Karlee Blank held back Harvard with five key saves on defense to hold on to a 3-1 lead. However, the Crimson evened the score with less than 15 minutes to go in the half, bringing the score to 3-3 before Columbia pulled ahead again with another shot by Johnson. Harvard followed up with another two goals to take the lead, but the Light Blue kept up with a goal by Olivia Mann, before the Crimson shot two more, bringing Harvard’s lead to 7-5 entering the second half.

After halftime, the Crimson widened its advantage again with a goal at the start of the half, and as Harvard continued to score, Columbia followed closely behind with goals by Gattinella, Gabrielle Geronimos, and Shannon that kept the Lions within two in the first 15 minutes of the second half. However, in the final 15 minutes of play, Harvard broke away, scoring eight more goals to close out the game. During this period, Shannon scored her 45th goal of the season, and freshman Johnson added one more point for the Lions in the final minute of play.

In the 2010 season, many players made the record books. Freshman Mann tied the single-season record for draw controls with 39, while Gattinella finished the year with a team-high 40 ground balls, and a second place ranking in draw controls with 37 for the second year in a row. Johnson scored three goals in the game and had an assist, for a season total of 49 points, ranking her fifth overall for points in a season. Amanda Goodhart added three caused turnovers in the game, to finish with a team high 25 for 2010. Keeper Karlee Blank made 13 saves in goal for the match, bringing her season total to 130.

In the league, Penn was crowned the 2010 Ivy League champions for the fourth year in a row, after defeating Brown on Sunday. Also gaining entry into the Ivy League women’s lacrosse tournament are Brown, who came in second, Cornell third, and Princeton, fourth. The final championship will be held on Friday and Sunday, when these four teams will be competing for selection into the NCAA tournament.