CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - First-place, 11th-ranked Penn got three goals each from Rachel Manson and Melissa Lehman to defeat the Harvard women's lacrosse team, 15-3, Saturday afternoon in the Crimson's first game in Harvard Stadium since 1983.

Junior Lauren Bobzin had eight ground balls to lead the Crimson (2-7, 0-2 Ivy League). Freshman Sara Flood scored two of Harvard's three goals. Sophomore Kaitlin Martin netted the other and set up one of Flood's scores.

Penn (10-1, 4-0) used its speed to break up eight of the Crimson's 11 clear attempts in the first half on the way to a 10-0 halftime lead. Harvard played a much better second half, holding the Quakers to five goals while scoring three times. It was Penn's seventh straight win.

Flood and classmate Alexandra Comstock each controlled five draws as Harvard held an 11-9 edge in draw controls. Penn had a narrow 18-17 advantage in ground balls.

The defenses were dominant early on, with neither team scoring in the first 11 minutes until Chelsea Kocis broke through for the Quakers. Lehman got all three of her goals in the first half, including one seven seconds before the break, and Manson scored twice in the opening period.

Harvard came out strong in the second half. Flood scored nearly three minutes in, running in and sneaking a shot past Penn goalie Sarah Waxman. Martin scored her 20th goal on a free position shot from the left side fewer than three minutes later. The Quakers answered with two goals of their own before Martin found Flood for a goal to make it 12-3. Penn scored three times in the final eight minutes.

Waxman made five saves for Penn before Emily Szelest came on and stopped four Harvard shots. Crimson freshman Katherine Martino made eight saves. She had two ground balls in the game, as did juniors Hope Jones and Tara Schoen.

The Crimson has one day off before returning to Boston University Monday to replay the game that was called off Wednesday due to bad weather.

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - No. 11 Penn held Harvard scoreless in the first half on its way to a 15-3 blowout win over Harvard Saturday. Rachel Manson and Melissa Lehman each notched hat tricks, while Sarah Waxman made five saves and allowed just two goals in 43:35 of play.

Penn (10-1, 3-0 Ivy) held Harvard (2-7, 0-2 Ivy) without a goal in the first half, sprinting out to a 10-0 lead. The Crimson did not record a shot until 12:23 remaining in the first half. The Quakers, winners of seven in a row, finished their four-game road swing with a 4-0 record.

It was the first lacrosse game played at Harvard Stadium since 1983, when the Crimson defeated Northwestern in the NCAA tournament. The stadium was recently upgraded with a new artificial surface.

The game started off slowly, with neither team finding the net until Chelsea Kocis broke the stalemate 12 minutes in after Chrissy Muller caused a turnover at midfield. Ali DeLuca added another a minute later, moving around a screen and shooting from six meters, while Melissa Lehman scored two in a row to make it 4-0.

Penn continued the run with four goals in a four-minute span, scored by Becca Edwards, a pair by Rachel Manson, and capped by Kaitlyn Lombardo. Hannah Rudloff and Lehman added goals with less than 30 seconds left in the half. Harvard finally got on the board when Sara Flood scored unassisted three minutes into the half. Kaitlin Martin made it 10-2 on a free position. Edwards cut the run, however, with a bouncer less than a minute later, and Emma Spiro added another goal with 16:25 left in the game.

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2007-04-07