March 19, 2012

Women's Lacrosse Hosts No. 19/20 Boston College Wednesday at Harvard Stadium

The Crimson will host its first game of 2012 in Harvard Stadium Wednesday (Gil Talbot).

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The Storyline
The Harvard women's lacrosse team will play its first game of 2012 in Harvard Stadium on Wednesday when it hosts No. 19/20 Boston College at 7 p.m. The Crimson is 27-6 all-time against the Eagles and has won three of the last four meetings between the teams.

A live video stream and live stats will be available during Wednesday's game through GoCrimson.com.

Last Time Out
The Harvard women's lacrosse team made a dramatic comeback and tied the score at 7-7 with 1:38 remaining, but Johns Hopkins came away with the victory as Colleen McCaffrey scored the game-winner with 0:19 on the clock, 8-7.

Danielle Tetreault led the Harvard offense with two goals and one assist, and also collected one ground ball and caused one turnover. Nina Kucharczyk added a pair of scores while Micaela Cyr, Jenn Leffew and Jennifer VanderMeulen rounded out the scoring. Melanie Baskind recorded three ground balls and Kelly Weis made six saves in goal.

Johns Hopkins outshot the Crimson 22-14 and held a 13-4 advantage in draw controls. Colleen McCaffrey registered three goals and three draw controls, with Taylor D'Amore notching five ground balls, four draw controls, one goal and two assists.

Scouting the Eagles
Boston College enters Wednesday's game with a 4-4 overall record and 1-1 in the ACC. The Eagles most recently faced fifth-ranked Maryland in College Park, Md. and came away on the wrong end of a 16-10 score. Kristin Igoe scored a game-high four goals as five Eagles found the back of the net. Kate Collins and Moira Barry recorded three draw controls apiece while Catherine Conway made five saves in 49 minutes of action in the goal.

Mikaela Rix and Covie Stanwick have tallied a team-leading 29 points this season. Rix has notched 27 goals and two assists, with Stanwick boasting 17 goals and 12 assists. Igoe has scored 21 goals with five assists for 26 points as six Eagles have recorded double-digit goals.

Igoe also leads the team on the defensive end with a team-high 18 ground balls, 11 caused turnovers and 24 draw controls. Brittany Wilson leads Boston College with 30 draw controls while Kate McCarthy has forced 10 turnovers and won 14 draws. Conway sports a 3-3 record in goal with a 12.63 goals against average and a .330 save percentage.

Harvard's series with BC is the program's longest running non-conference series as the teams have met every season since 1979. The Crimson is 27-6 all-time against the Eagles and has won three of the last four meetings between the teams. BC, however, came away with a 15-10 win last season in Newton despite four Crimson student-athletes having multiple goal games.

National Prominence
The Crimson was listed as receiving votes in last week's IWLCA Coaches Poll and has received votes in three of the first polls of the year. Harvard opened the season ranked 19th in the deBeer Media Poll and moved up to No. 16 after its season-opening 11-9 win over Boston University, but has since fallen from the rankings.

Week of March 19 March 12 March 5 Feb. 27 Feb. 20

deBeer Women's Media Poll -- -- -- 16 19

IWLCA Coaches Poll -- RV -- RV RV

Nail Biters
Each of Harvard's last three games have been decided by one goal, with two of those games heading to overtime. The Crimson has played in 15 one-goal games under head coach Lisa Miller and sports a 7-8 record.

Overtime Thrillers
The Crimson went to overtime against both No. 13 James Madison and No. 9/10 Penn, marking the first time in program history that Harvard has played in back-to-back overtime games. Harvard is 5-5 all-time in overtime games and has never gone to overtime more than twice in a season.

Hat Trick Heroes
Harvard has notched seven hat tricks this season with Melanie Baskind and Micaela Cyr leading the way with two apiece. Jess Halpern and Jennifer VanderMeulen, meanwhile, lead all active Crimson with 23 career hat tricks.

Name Melanie Baskind Micaela Cyr Jess Halpern Tyler Petropulos Danielle Tetreault Jennifer VanderMeulen

2012 Hat Tricks 2 2 1 -- 1 1

Career Hat Tricks 10 6 23 2 10 23

Between the Pipes
Freshman Kelly Weis made 10 saves while helping the Crimson to a 9-8 double-overtime victory over No. 13 James Madison on March 6, matching Kerry Clark's total of 10 saves against Virginia last season for the most saves by a Harvard goalie since Katherine Martino '10 recorded 12 in a 17-9 win over Boston College on May 5, 2010. Weis has made all five starts in goal for the Crimson, posting an 9.52 goals against average and a save percentage of 43.8.

Sharing the Wealth
Eight different Crimson have scored a goal in 2012 with six having scored at least three. Melanie Baskind, Micaela Cyr and Danielle Tetreault lead the way with nine goals apiece, while Jess Halpern has found the back of the net six times and Jennifer VanderMeulen five times.

Harvard had 13 different goal scorers last season with VanderMeulen (48), Tetreault (42), Halpern (29), Baskind (28), Petropulos (14) and Chelsea Newman (10) each scoring at least 10.

Two Way Players
Midfielders Melanie Baskind, Micaela Cyr and Danielle Tetreault have led the Crimson on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field in 2012. Tetreault (9g, 4a) has recorded a team-high 13 points while Baskind (9g, 1a) and Cyr (9g) rank second and third with 10 points and nine points, respectively. Baskind's 12 ground balls are tops on the team with Cyr's nine placing her second, while Tetreault has won a team-high 13 draw controls. Both Baskind and Cyr lead Harvard with four caused turnovers.

To Be the Best, You Have to Beat the Best
Harvard has knocked off a top 20 opponent in each of the last four seasons, with James Madison, then ranked 13th in the IWLCA Coaches Poll, becoming its latest victim via a 9-8 double-overtime triumph on March 6. The Crimson will have plenty more opportunities to knock off one of the premier teams in the nation this season, as 10 of the team's opponents have been ranked in either the deBeer Media Poll or the IWLCA Preseason Coaches Poll including Boston College, Cornell, Dartmouth, James Madison, John's Hopkins, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, Syracuse, and Virginia.

Climbing the Charts
Senior Jess Halpern and junior Jennifer VanderMeulen currently rank among Harvard's all-time top 10 goal scorers. Halpern has netted 117 career goals, good for seventh in program history, while her 139 points place her ninth in the school record books. VanderMeulen, meanwhile, ranks ninth with 109 goals in just 36 games and boasts 124 points. Her 56 goals scored in 2010 rank fifth on the Crimson's single-season list.

In the News
Harvard was featured by Lacrosse Magazine's Clare Lochary on March 14 in her column, "Surprise Upsets Continue in WD1." Lochary broke down the Crimson's double-overtime win over No. 13 James Madison and detailed its importance to the Crimson's development under head coach Lisa Miller. Click here to read the full column.

Ivy League Honors
Senior co-captain Melanie Baskind was named the Ivy League's Defensive Player of the Week Feb. 27 after leading the Crimson to an 11-9 season-opening win over Boston University.

Baskind led the Crimson on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field, registering her ninth career hat trick while collecting a game-high five ground balls. The midfielder converted on all three of her shot attempts and also won two draw controls and caused two turnovers.

This was the first weekly award of Baskind's career and Harvard's first defensive player of the week honor since Kathryn Tylander '08 took home the award on March 4, 2008.

Catch the Crimson in 2012
Harvard has announced that 11 home men's and women's lacrosse games will be streamed online from Harvard Stadium during the 2012 season, marking the third straight year fans of Harvard lacrosse will have the opportunity to watch the Crimson live from home.

A total of six women's games will be available to watch, beginning with the Crimson's March 21 showdown with Boston College, its first inside Harvard Stadium. Each home contest for the remainder of the year will be streamed.

A full season pass for either the men's or women's team will be available for just $29.95, while single games can be purchased for $9.95. Click here to sign up for your season pass today.

Tewaaraton Award Watch List
Junior's Jennifer VanderMeulen and Danielle Tetreault were named to the 2012 Tewaaraton Award Watch List, which is comprised of the top 50 women's lacrosse student-athletes from all three divisions of collegiate lacrosse. VanderMeulen and Tetreault are the latest Crimson to be put up for the prestigious award, after current teammates Jess Halpern and Micaela Cyr were nominated in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

VanderMeulen is coming off a season in which she was named to the Synapse Sports All-America second team, IWLCA All-Region first team and All-Ivy League first team after ranking 18th in the NCAA in goals per game (3.0) and 30th in goals (48). She currently ranks 10th in program history with 104 career goals, while her 56 scores in 2010 rank fifth on Harvard's single-season list.

Tetreault was a first team all-region and second team all-Ivy selection a year ago, and ranked 31st in the nation with 2.63 goals per game. Tetreault boasts 62 career goals, 17 assists and 79 points in 31 career games.

Captaining the Ship
Seniors Melanie Baskind, Ellen Gleason and Tyler Petropulos were voted by their teammates as captains for the 2012 season. Baskind and Petropulos also served as captains last season, making them just the sixth and seventh student-athletes in program history to be voted captain in consecutive seasons. Carroll Clark '92 was the first to do so when she captained both the 1991 and 1992 squads, and was followed by Daphne Clark '97 (1996 & 1997), Ali Harper '01 (2000 & 2001), Lauren Bobzin '08 (2007 & 2008) and Sara Flood '10 (2009 & 2010). This is just the sixth time in program history three Crimson had been chosen to lead the team.

Two-Sport Star Baskind Featured by New England Lacrosse Journal
Senior Melanie Baskind, who captains both the women's lacrosse and women's soccer teams and is an All-Ivy League honoree in both sports, was recently featured by Sammi Gorman of the New England Lacrosse Journal.

"In the city of Boston — a breeding ground for both star athletes and top students at some of the world's best academic institutions — Melanie Baskind is different.

"She's not the only student with a 3.8 grade-point average as a neurobiology major at a top school like Harvard, and she's not the only athlete to get league Player of the Year honors in her sport. She is the only one to do those things and be a threat to earn those kind of honors in two sports."

Click here to read the full article.

Historical Perspective
Harvard captured the program's first national championship in 1990 when it defeated Maryland, 8-7. The Crimson won four games that season by a single goal en route to a 15-0 record, with Jenny Walser '90 scoring the game winner in three of those four games, including the national title contest. Julia French '90, Charlotte Joslin '90 and Maggie Vaughan '90 were named first team All-Americans following the season while Susan Carls '91 and Karen Everling '90 were named to the second team. Four-year letterwinners Everling, French and Walser graduated with a career record of 50-8-1, including a perfect 23-0 mark in the Ivy League.

The Crimson has made a total of nine NCAA Tournament appearances and has reached the national championship game three times. Harvard has also won 11 Ivy League Championships, tied with Dartmouth for the most in conference history.