Photo of Danielle Tetreault courtesy of Gil Tablot.
PALO ALTO, Calif. – Seven Harvard women's lacrosse players found the back of the net in a near upset of No. 6 Stanford, 18-17, Sunday afternoon. Sophomore Danielle Tetreault scored a game- and career-high six goals in the Crimson's season opener.
Classmate Micaela Cyr scored a hat trick, while junior co-captain Melanie Baskind, newcomer Jenn Leffew and sophomore Jennifer VanderMeulen each had two goals, while freshman Chelsey Newman and second-year Nina Kucharczyk had a goal apiece. Baskind and Leffew also chipped in with one assist each.
Cyr won five draw controls and went 2-for-2 on free position shots along with Tetreault. Four different players caused one turnover.
Harvard scored first and led 3-0 early in the game. The Cardinal, who ranks sixth in this week's Inside Lacrosse poll, caught up at eight minutes into the game and took its first lead with 20:24 left in the first half. The Crimson scored four straight scores, including two goals from Tetreault to take a 7-4 advantage with 10 minutes left in the first session. After allowing a Cardinal goal, the Crimson put in two tallies to take its largest lead of the day, 9-5. Stanford scored the final four goals of the half to even the score at nine.
After the break, the Cardinal scored three in a row and then outscored the Crimson 3-2 to earn its largest advantage of the game, 16-11 Harvard answered with a six-goal run that included two scores from Leffew to put the visiting team up 17-16. Stanford scored the equalized less than three minutes later and Jackie Candelaria put in the eventual game-winner with 3:47 to play.
Kerry Clark made nine saves in the net for the Crimson.
Harvard converted on 5-of-7 free position attempts and committed just seven turnovers to the Cardinal's nine. Stanford held a 12-9 advantage in ground balls and edged the Crimson, 22-15 in draw controls.
The Crimson remains on the road for its Ivy League opener in Ithaca, N.Y. Saturday, March 5.