Cambridge, Mass. – The Harvard women's lacrosse team battled from a 7-4 second half deficit to defeat Albany, 16-10, Wednesday afternoon at Jordan Field. Senior co-captain Natalie Curtis led the Crimson in scoring with four goals. With the win, Harvard improves to 3-0 on the season for the first time since 2000.

Curtis was one of five Crimson players to record multiple goals in the win as seven different players scored. Juniors Kaitlin Martin and Sarah Bancroft added three goals. Sophomore Sara Flood had two goals to go along with three assists, while senior Caroline Simmons added two tallies. Freshman Jess Halpern and senior co-captain Lauren Bobzin had one goal each. Tee Ladouceur paced the Great Danes with a career-high four tallies.

Harvard scored first, less than two minutes into the game, but two tallies from Albany put the visitors up 2-1 after 6:16 of play. Curtis' first goal of the game, an unassisted tally 30 seconds later, evened the score. The Great Danes took another two-goal advantage before the Crimson tied it at 4-4 with 10 minutes remaining in the first. Albany added a free position goal and a score from Brittany Scott to take a 6-4 lead, which they carried into the second half.

Albany struck first in the second frame, taking a 7-4 lead with 18:27 remaining in the game. But Harvard scored six straight goals to take a 10-7 lead with 11 mniutes left to play. Bobzin, Halpern and Martin each scored on free position shots during the first six minutes of the half to tie the score. Martin's goal came when she intercepted the ball from the Albany goalie on a Great Dane clear attempt. Katie Neer committed the foul, leaving the open net for Martin to record her second tally of the game. Bancroft scored the go ahead goal eight seconds later. Junior Shannon Flynn won the draw, passed it to Flood who fed it to Bancroft.

The Crimson took a 9-7 advantage when Halpern caused an Albany turnover off the draw and ran it into Great Dane territory before feeding it to Martin. After Simmons gave the Crimson a 10-7 lead, Albany cut it down to 10-8. The Crimson outscored the Great Danes down the stretch, 6-2, to seal the win.

Sophomore Katherine Martino got the win in the net after allowing just four goals in the second stanza and making six saves. Senior Kathryn Tylander played the first 30 minutes, allowing six goals and registering four saves.

Sophomore Delia Pais and Bobzin each recorded a game-high four ground balls.

The Crimson returns to action Wednesday, March 12 at New Hampshire. The first draw is slated for 4:00 p.m.

2008-03-05