CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Harvard Women's Lacrosse (6-5, 2-2 Ivy League) takes a four-game winning streak into a key conference matchup against No. 16 Yale (9-3, 3-1 Ivy League) on Saturday (April 15) with a 3:30 pm start at Jordan Field. Harvard and Yale have split the last four meetings, with three of the four games decided by one goal. Harvard has won six of its last seven games overall.
QUICK HITTERS
- Last Saturday in Ithaca, junior midfielder
Ilana Kofman scored at 2:39 of the second overtime period to lift Harvard to a dramatic 14-13 win against Cornell at Shoellkopf Field. Junior
Callie Hem had another solid day (four goals, two assists), first-year
Hannah Shiels added a career high four goals, and
Caroline Mullahy notched four assists for Harvard, which won its fourth straight game. Harvard defeated Cornell for the first time since 2018, and this marked the third straight Harvard-Cornell contest decided by one goal.
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Callie Hem (34 goals) and
Riley Campbell (29 goals) are one of the most potent offensive duos in the Ivy League (No. 3 scoring pair in the league). Hem leads Harvard with 47 points (34 goals, 13 assists), and 53 shots on goal. She leads the Ivy League with an average of 4.27 points per game and is second in goals per game (3.09) and total goals scored. Campbell is seventh in the Ivy League in goals scored, fourth in points per game (3.55).
- Junior
Ilana Kofman and first-year defender
Despina Giannakopoulos each lead the Crimson with 18 ground ball pick-ups. Giannakopoulus also leads the Crimson with 15 caused turnovers. Senior captain
Shea Jenkins (13 caused turnovers, 36 draw controls, 11 ground balls) and junior midfielder
Maddie Barkate (eight ground balls, 69 draw controls) have also been impactful for the Crimson. Barkate leads the Ivy League with an average of 6.27 draw controls per game (20th, NCAA).
- Harvard is second in the Ivy League with an average of 18.82 ground balls per game, and has picked up more ground balls than the opposition in all but three games this season.
- Harvard is third in the Ivy League in clearing percentage (86.3%), with senior captain
Stephanie Hong helping the Crimson in that category.
- Harvard returns all six players that earned All-Ivy League honors last season, including leading scorer
Callie Hem (34 goals, 10 assists), and midfielders
Grace Hulslander (19 goals, six assists, 50 draw controls) and
Shea Jenkins (31 ground balls, 21 caused turnovers) each earned First Team All-Ivy honors.
Maddie Barkate (22 goals, five assists),
Stephanie Hong (27 ground balls) and
Grace Taylor (31 ground balls, 17 caused turnovers) earned All-Ivy Honorable Mention.
WE CAN DO HARD THINGS
On Saturday, Harvard will highlight the efforts of the Mass General Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Program (AYA), and will honor sophomore
Grace Taylor, who has helped bring awareness to the program.
THE MATCHUP
A LOOK AT YALE
Yale is one of the top defensive teams in the nation, leading the Ivy League in scoring defense (9.5 goals allowed per game) and caused turnovers per game (11.33). The Bulldogs also feature the Ivy League scoring leader Jenna Collignon, who has 47 points (39 goals, eight assists) on the year. Sophomore goalkeeper Cami Donadio (2-1, 9.58, .406) has started the last three games in net. Yale is coming off of its first Ivy loss of the year, a 16-6 setback at Penn last Saturday.
SERIES HISTORY
Harvard leads the all-time series against Yale, 26-22-1. Last year on April 9, 2022 in New Haven, in a thrilling back and forth contest, Harvard up just short at rival Yale, falling 13-12.
Callie Hem recorded a season high six goals, and
Riley Campbell added four goals to lead the Harvard attack.
Maddie Barkate had two goals and an assist. Harvard trailed 13-11 with minutes to play, and Campbell cut the Yale lead to one with 1:28 to go. But the Crimson would got no closer.
NOTES AND STORYLINES
HARVARD LOOKING TO CONTINUE STREAK
Harvard is in search of its fifth win in a row, which would be its best winning streak since the 2012 season (won five in a row that year). Harvard has averaged 15.00 goals per game during the streak.
HONG, JENKINS, LANGMUIR ELECTED CAPTAINS
Last fall,
Devon Wills, The Carole Kleinfelder Head Coach for Harvard Women's Lacrosse, announced that seniors
Stephanie Hong,
Shea Jenkins, and
Meredith Langmuir will serve as captains for the 2023 season.
Hong, a midfielder from Bethesda, Md., was an All-Ivy League Honorable Mention selection in her first full season of college lacrosse. An IWLCA Academic Honor Roll selection, Hong emerged as a regular starter in 2022 and was a key part of Harvard's efforts on clears, recording 27 ground balls with six caused turnovers and six draw controls.
Jenkins, a midfielder from Newburyport, Mass., is a two-time All-Ivy honoree, earning First Team honors in 2022 and Second Team honors in 2019. She led the team with 31 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers in 2022 and was a force in the defensive end. She added 26 draw controls and was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week on March 7 after Harvard's 9-8 win at Penn.
Langmuir, a midfielder from Providence, R.I., became a regular contributor in 2022, recording five goals in 11 games played, including standout performances in wins against Holy Cross (three goals) and Boston University (two goals). Langmuir is also an IWLCA Academic Honor Roll selection.
HARVARD AND PRINCETON TO BATTLE ON ESPNU
In its final regular season game of the 2023 season, the Harvard and Princeton will meet on April 30 at noon in a game that will be played on ESPNU, the network announced in early February. Harvard and Princeton are the lone Ivy schools that will open the season against ranked competition this weekend.
UP NEXT
Harvard will honor its senior class next Saturday (April 22) when it hosts Columbia in a 2 p.m. contest on NESN.
