Returning home after playing its first two games of the season in California, the Harvard women’s lacrosse team fought through in-game adversity to come out victorious in its home opener.

The Crimson (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) faced off against Cornell (1-1, 0-1) at Soldiers Field Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday afternoon to open the season’s conference play. This is the first time in three years that Harvard has been able to defeat the Big Red.

The matchups was tight throughout, with no team leading by more than two goals until the last 30 seconds of the match, when freshman midfielder Maeve McMahon scored for her third time on the day with 18 seconds left to seal the Crimson’s 10-7 victory.

“It came down to the last 20 seconds or so and the defender came out,” McMahon said. “I saw [freshman] Megan [Hennessey] was matched up with her and had the ball. I kind of just snuck up the middle there and she fed me a great pass that I put into the net.”

It took some time for Harvard to mesh offensively, going down 3-2 early in the first half. Sophomore midfielder Audrey Todd tied the game with help from freshman attacker Marisa Romeo and senior attacker Kylie Keating put the Crimson ahead on an assist from Todd.

The Big Red maintained its lead and went ahead at halftime by scoring twice and shutting out Harvard for the remainder of the half.

“We were a little timid to start with, but I’m pleased with the way we gutted it out and the way we fought back and the way we sort of got more aggressive as the game went on,” Harvard coach Lisa Miller said. “I saw some great things in we got tougher and more determined as the game went on and made plays when we had to.”