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Although it currently stands with a .500 record at 4-4, the Harvard women’s lacrosse squad has sharpened a young team into a mature squad ready to dive into Ivy League play because of its tough schedule. 

The Crimson (4-4, 2-1 Ivy) has contended against upper-echelon teams such as No. 7 Syracuse, No. 4 Virginia, No. 13 Stanford, and No. 15 Princeton. Harvard has held the scoring gap to five goals or fewer against these teams, notably falling by only a single goal to the then-No. 5 Orange. 

“We haven’t been winning, but we’ve been competing, which is exciting,” Harvard coach Lisa Miller said. “I think that the idea was to build confidence in the program and then compete with the top programs in the country, which we’re doing right now. Then we have to start winning some of these games. We’re close—we’re just not finishing up the games.” 

The Crimson’s only four losses came from its top-15 matchups, with Harvard notching four decisive victories over Hofstra, Columbia, Stetson, and Dartmouth, The team is optimistic that the tough schedule will pay off in Ivy League play.

“Our coach thinks it’s really important to play a tough schedule,” said junior co-captain and defender Tory Waldstein. “It really helps us because now, as we’re heading into more league play, those out-of-league games that were really tough competition and ended up being losses in our record are actually more important…. Overall, it definitely helps our team. It gives us more confidence in terms of what we can accomplish moving forward. Even though we’ve lost a few games, it’s definitely a good thing.” 

Harvard edged out Columbia, 13-9, in its first league game of the season. The team’s sole league loss, 17-12, came in an away game against then-No. 13 Princeton—a match that was tied, 6-6, heading into halftime. 

The Crimson squad is ready to face more Ancient Eight  teams in the coming weeks.

“I think everyone is really excited to get back into Ivy League play,” said junior co-captain and  midfielder Audrey Todd. “In-league games are always a fight to the finish, and each one is critical since only four teams make the end-of-season tournament.” 

A major rivalry matchup will occur in mid-April when Harvard competes against Penn in its next home Ivy League contest. The Crimson fell to the Quakers in double overtime in the Ivy League Tournament semifinal last season, ending Harvard’s 2014 campaign. Penn went on to win the league tournament and make the second round of the NCAA tournament.

“I think [Penn] is definitely one of our biggest rivals in the league,” Waldstein said. “So that’s a game we’re all really looking forward too. We’re definitely taking one game at a time and really just trying to make sure we are successful enough to get into the tournament, and then we can be successful there too.” 

Although the Crimson failed to clinch the Ivy League title last year, the 2015 Harvard squad has hopes of improved play and execution this league season. 

“We’re pretty competitive, and we’re pretty athletic across the board,” Miller said. “I think we’re a lot faster than we have been in years past. In terms of competitive nature and game understanding and things like that, I think we’re similar, but person-for-person we’re probably a lot faster than we have been.”

The team’s athleticism and speed is apparent in defensive and draw control statistics. On defense, the Crimson has successfully executed 94-of-110 clear attempts overall and 37-of-42  in Ivy League play. Harvard has also forced 52 turnovers, including nine from sophomore defender Emma Ford. 

Sophomore midfielder Maeve McMahon leads Harvard in draw controls, contributing 18 of the team’s 87 on the season.