Women's Lacrosse Opens Play in 2012 Ivy League Tournament Friday vs. Penn

Final	1	2	T
Harvard (9-7)	1	4	5
Penn (9-7)	6	3	9

Harvard	Penn
G: Melanie Baskind - 2	G: 2 Players (#10, #16 - 3)
A: N/A	A: Brennan, Erin - 3
Sv: Kelly Weis - 4	Sv: Leitner, Emily - 10
GB: Melanie Baskind - 3	GB: Leitner, Emily - 5

Team Statistics	Harvard	Penn
Shots	27	16
Ground Balls	15	16
Saves	4	10
Clears	12-12	13-14
Turnovers	7	10
Draw Controls	8	8
Free Position Shots	0-3	2-3

full stats

Harvard will be making its second straight appearance in the Ivy League Tournament Friday against top-seeded Penn (Gil Talbot).

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The Storyline
The Harvard women's lacrosse team will begin play in the 2012 Ivy League Tournament as the fourth seed when it takes on the top-seeded host Penn Quakers Friday, May 4 at 8 p.m. in Philadelphia, Pa. This marks Harvard's second straight appearance in the tournament after reaching the championship game in 2011.

Live video and live stats will be available for all tournament games through IvyLeagueSports.com.

What's at Stake
Penn won the Ivy League regular season title with a 6-1 conference mark and the right to call itself Ivy League champion, but there is still much to gain this weekend as the Ivy League Tournament champion will receive the Ancient Eight's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Princeton earned the bid last year when it defeated Harvard in the championship game, 12-10, while Penn won the inaugural Ivy League Tournament with a 9-8 victory over Dartmouth in 2010.

Tournament Schedule

Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament
Harvard has appeared in each of the last two Ivy League Tournaments and reached the championship game in 2011. The Crimson upset second-seeded Dartmouth in its first tournament game, 11-10, before falling to Princeton in the final, 12-10. Melanie Baskind (3g, 5dc, 3gb), Jess Halpern (3g, 2dc, 2gb), Danielle Tetreault (6g, 1a, 4dc) and Jennifer VanderMeulen (3g, 5dc, 1ct) were each named to the all-tournament team.

Jennifer VanderMeulen (2g, 2a) led all scorers with four points while Melanie Baskind and Micaela Cyr added two goals apiece. Harvard held a 21-19 advantage in shots and a 9-5 edge in draw controls, while converting 12-of-15 clear attempts.

Kelly Weis finished the night with nine saves, marking the seventh time this season she has recorded at least eight in a game. Kyleigh Keating came up with three draw controls, two ground balls and one caused turnover, with Weis notching a game-high four ground balls.

Scouting the Quakers
No. 16/9 Penn enters play in the Ivy League Tournament as the top seed and host for a third straight year. The Quakers won the Ivy League championship outright with a 6-1 conference mark, and went 8-6 overall on the year. Penn's lone loss in Ancient Eight play this season came April 14 at Dartmouth, 9-7.

Erin Brennan has scored a team-high 52 points this season on 29 goals and 23 assists. Meredith Cain (27g, 5a) ranks second with 32 points, while Courtney Tomchik (23g, 5a), Caroline Bunting (20g, 6a) and Maddie Poplawski (24g, 1a) have each added at least 25. Poplawski is also the leader on the defensive end, having recorded 53 draw controls, 21 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers. Emily Leitner has started all 14 games in goal and sports a 10.04 gaa and a .427 save percentage.

Penn leads the all-time series with Harvard, 21-18, and picked up a 14-13 overtime victory against the Crimson earlier this season. Harvard led 10-5 with 16:23 to play, but the Quakers went on a 7-2 run to close out regulation before Tomchik scored the game-winner with just 0:24 to play. Melanie Baskind led the Crimson with four goals while Micaela Cyr and Danielle Tetreault added three apiece, and Kelly Weis came away with six saves.

Scouting the Big Green
No. 11/13 Dartmouth posted a 10-4 record in 2012 while going 5-2 in the Ivy League. The Big Green will carry a two-game losing streak into the tournament after falling at Princeton, 12-9, and at Harvard, 7-5.

Sarah Plumb is Dartmouth's all-around leader as she paces the team in points (44), goals (33), assists (11), draw controls (71) and caused turnovers (15). Kirsten Goldberg (33g, 10a) has contributed 43 points while Liz Calby (20g, 5a), Lindsey Allard (17g, 9a) and Hanna Bowers (16g, 6a) have each added at least 22. Kristen Giovanniello has started all 14 games in goal and has posted a 9.12 gaa with a .464 save percentage.

Harvard improved to 20-18-1 all-time against Dartmouth with its 7-5 victory a week ago and has won two straight against the Big Green following its 11-10 triumph in the first round of last year's Ivy League Tournament. Harvard featured a balanced scoring attack this season against Dartmouth, as Melanie Baskind, Micaela Cyr and Jennifer VanderMeulen tallied two goals apiece. The Crimson trailed 2-1 at the break, but outscored Dartmouth 6-3 in the second half to steal the win. Kelly Weis made nine saves in goal and picked up a game-high four ground balls.

Scouting the Big Red
No. 14/10 Cornell has gone 11-4 overall this season with a 5-2 mark against the Ancient Eight. The Big Red will be riding a three-game winning streak into play this weekend after having knocked off Brown, 16-8, in its regular season finale. Cornell's losses in the Ivy League came at the hands of Dartmouth, 12-10, and Penn, 10-11.

Cornell has been paced this season by Jessi Steinberg (44g, 20a) and Caroline Salisbury (41g, 18) who have posted 64 points and 59 points, respectively. Olivia Knotts (30g, 15a) has added 45 points while Katie Kirk (20g, 6a) and Shannon McHugh (20g, 2a) have 26 points and 22 points apiece. McHugh has also won a team-high 42 draw controls with Cacki Helmer collecting a team-best 46 ground balls. Kyla Dambach has started 12 of 15 games in goal and boasts a 6-4 record with a 10.67 gaa and a .341 save percentage.

Cornell handed Harvard its first loss of the season, 12-6, but the Crimson still owns a 22-11 advantage in the all-time series. The Big Red jumped out to a 5-1 lead before the Crimson pulled to within one, 5-4, with 19:51 to play. Cornell responded with a 4-1 run, however, to pull away for the victory. Micaela Cyr scored three goals to lead the Harvard attack while Danielle Tetreault added two, and Kelly Weis made eight saves in goal.

Turning Things Around
At 9-6, Harvard is guaranteed to finish the season with a winning record for the third straight year. The Crimson had gone 13 seasons from 1995-2009 with a sub-.500 record after enjoying a run of 20 straight winning seasons from 1977-1996.

Streaking
Harvard has won each of its last five games, matching last year's squad for the program's longest winning streak since taking seven in a row in 1996. The Crimson has outscored its opponents 53-27 during this run while holding a 99-62 advantage in ground balls and a 57-33 edge in draw controls.

Ivy League Honors
Freshman goalie Kelly Weis was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season on April 30, bringing Harvard's total to five defensive player of the week awards this season. Weis made nine saves and collected a game-high four ground balls in the Crimson's 7-5 win over Dartmouth, marking the fewest goals scored by the Big Green since a 14-4 loss to Princeton on April 18, 2009. Weis was also given the accolade March 26 with 15 saves against just 12 goals in a 1-1 week for Harvard.

Senior co-captain Melanie Baskind has been named the Ancient Eight's defensive player of the week three times this season, and most recently garnered the honor on April 16 after leading Harvard to a perfect 2-0 week. Baskind totaled four goals, five ground balls, five draw controls and four caused turnovers, and scored the game-winning goal in both contests as the Crimson took down Holy Cross, 10-4, and No. 18 Princeton, 10-7. Baskind also earned the award April 9 after finishing the week with three points (2g, 1a), eight ground balls and three caused turnovers, and was named defensive player of the week for the first time in her career Feb. 27 after scoring three goals and collecting five ground balls in the team's season opening 11-9 win over Boston University.

Perfect 10
Senior co-captain Melanie Baskind has scored at least one goal in 10 straight games, helping the Crimson to a 7-3 record in this time while going 5-0 in the Ancient Eight. Baskind has totaled 21 points on 16 goals and five assists during this stretch, and has added 22 ground balls, 12 draw controls and nine caused turnovers defensively.

Step Your Game Up
Junior Danielle Tetreault averaged 1.90 points over the Crimson's first 10 games, but has stepped her game up over the last five averaging 2.60 points. Tetreault has notched 13 goals during this span, including four in back-to-back games against Princeton and Columbia.

Getting Defensive
Harvard has held 11 of its 15 opponents to under 10 goals this season, and has held five to five goals or fewer. Harvard previously had not allowed five or fewer goals more than three times in a season since 1995 when it did so five times. The Crimson held Yale and Stanford to five goals and four goals, respectively, in back-to-back games, marking the first time the team had accomplished the feat since 2002.

The Crimson entered the week ranked fifth in the NCAA having allowed just 7.73 goals per game, which would stand as the team's lowest goals against average since 2008 (the last year complete stats are available).

Between the Pipes
Freshman Kelly Weis has made all 15 starts in goal for the Crimson this season, and entered the week ranked fifth in the NCAA with an 7.54 goals against average. Her .484 save percentage was 11th-best in the country while her 7.13 saves per game were good for 45th.

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 stops 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 at least eight saves in seven games this season.

Strength of Schedule
Harvard currently sits at 9-6 on the year, with all six of its losses coming against teams currently ranked in the IWLCA Coaches Poll. Harvard has played a total of 10 teams which have been ranked in either the coaches poll or the deBeer Media Poll at some point this season.

Sharing the Wealth
13 different Crimson have scored a goal in 2012 with 10 having scored at least four. Danielle Tetreault leads the way with 28 scores, while Jennifer VanderMeulen has notched 26. Melanie Baskind ranks third on the team with 25 goals while Micaela Cyr has added 17.

Harvard had 13 different goal scorers last season with VanderMeulen (48), Tetreault (42), Jess Halpern (29), Baskind (28), Tyler 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 ranks first on the team in goals (28), points (32) and draw controls (29), while Baskind is second in points (31) and ground balls (34), and third in goals (25). Cyr has collected a team-high 36 ground balls while adding 17 goals, and ranks second in caused turnovers with 12 behind Baskind's team-leading 13.

Home Field Advantage
Harvard went 7-2 this season at home and 5-1 inside Harvard Stadium. The Crimson has posted a 16-8 record at home over the last three seasons while going 14-4 at Harvard Stadium.

Fielding Grounders
Sophomore Kyleigh Keating recorded a career-high seven ground balls April 21 at Columbia, the most by a Crimson student-athlete since Melanie Baskind notched seven vs. Columbia on April 23, 2011.

Sixth Sense
Junior Jennifer VanderMeulen tied her career-high with six goals on April 7 against Brown, marking the most goals scored by a Crimson student-athlete since senior Tyler Petropulos netted seven on March 7, 2009 versus Quinnipiac. VanderMeulen has scored six goals three times in her career, including twice as a freshman in 2010.

Drawing it Up
Sophomore Kyleigh Keating recorded a career-high six draw controls as Harvard out-drew Brown 17-9 on April 7. Keating's six draw controls marked the most for the team since Kaitlin Martin '09 tallied seven on March 25, 2009 at Albany.

Getting Off on the Right Foot
Harvard held both Yale and Stanford scoreless in the first half and outscored the two 12-0 before the break. The Crimson is 7-1 this season when leading at the half, 1-5 when trailing and 1-0 when tied.

Monumental Moment
Harvard competed in the first-ever women's collegiate sporting event held at Gillette Stadium, home of the three-time Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots, when it took to the field against then No. 2/2 Syracuse on March 31. The game was part of a women's lacrosse double-header, as No. 1/1 Northwestern and No. 14/16 Ohio State took to the field after the Crimson and Orange.

Former Crimson Named Finalists for National Lacrosse Hall of Fame
Harvard alumnae Sarah (Downing) Nelson '94 and Maggie Vaughan '90 are among the 12 finalists on the 2012 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame women's ballot. Vaughan helped Harvard to the program's first NCAA Championship in 1990 and was a four-time Ivy League champion, while Nelson was a two-time Ivy League champion and a three-time All-Ivy honoree. Click here to read the full story.

Nail Biters
Harvard played five games between March 6 and March 24 which were decided by a total of seven goals, with three of those games being decided by a one-goal margin. 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.

National Prominence
Harvard is currently receiving votes in the IWLCA Coaches Polls, and opened the season ranked 19th in the deBeer Media Poll. The Crimson moved up to No. 16 in the media poll after its season-opening 11-9 win over Boston University, but has since fallen from the ranking.

Hat Trick Heroes
Harvard has notched 15 hat tricks this season with Melanie Baskind and Danielle Tetreault leading the way with four. Micaela Cyr and Jennifer VanderMeulen have added three apiece. VanderMeulen also leads all active Crimson with 25 career hat tricks.

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, including three in 2012. The Crimson has had plenty of opportunities to show its metal against 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
Junior Jennifer VanderMeulen and senior Jess Halpern currently rank among Harvard's all-time top 10 scorers. VanderMeulen has moved into fifth place with 130 career goals while her 148 points have her eighth. Halpern has netted 117 career goals, good for eighth in program history, with her 139 points placing her 10th in the school record books.

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.

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-America 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.