Don't let the short skirts and charming smiles fool you. The women's lacrosse team, behind its gentile and easygoing exterior, harbors a tenacious and ferocious will to win.

On wind-blown Ohiri field yesterday, Harvard (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) hammered out a tough 11-10 win over Ivy League rival Brown (2-1, 0-1), avenging last year's 10-8 loss in Providence.

"The game was a great win for us," said Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder, who returns for her twentieth season at the helm. "It feels good to get off to a good start by winning our first Ivy League game."

Harvard's 3-0 start is its best since the 1997 campaign, and the Crimson looked dominant in the early going.

Freshman attacker Sara Burg opened up the Harvard assault with a blistering score one minute into the game. The Bears answered her effort on a free position goal only two minutes later to knot the score at 1.

After several changes of possession, the offensive floodgates opened for the Crimson with juniors leading the way.

Junior attacker and captain Alli Harper went on a tear scoring two goals in four minutes to bring the Crimson lead to 3-1. Junior attacker Lauren Corkery followed suit with a goal to bring the score to 4-1 in Harvard's favor.

On the day, Harper and Corkery posted three goals each to lead all scorers. For the season, Corkery leads the Crimson with seven goals and Harper is second with six goals.