CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- No. 4 seed Harvard Women's Lacrosse (8-6, 4-3 Ivy League) travels down to Philadelphia for the 2023 Ivy League Tournament this weekend, where it will take on host No. 1 seed Penn (11-4, 7-0 Ivy League), Friday (May 5) on ESPN+. Harvard is making its second straight appearance in the Ivy League Tournament. Harvard is aiming to make its first Ivy League title game appearance since 2011. The Crimson finished the season on a roll, with an 8-2 record in its last 10 contests. With eight wins, has its most victories since the 2017 season.
All-Ivy Honorees
The Ivy League announced its year-end honors earlier this week, and seven from Harvard earned recognition from the conference. Junior attack Callie Hem and senior defender Shea Jenkins were both named unanimous First Team All-Ivy League selections. Junior attack Riley Campbell earned Second Team All-Ivy League. In addition, junior attack Maddie Barkate, first-year midfielder Charlotte Hodgson, and sophomore defender Grace Taylor were all earned All-Ivy League Honorable Mention honors. Senior defender Stephanie Hong was Harvard's selection for Academic All-Ivy honors.
Last Time Out
Last Sunday in New Jersey, sophomore attack Caroline Mullahy notched a career high six points (three goals, three assists), and first-year Charlotte Hodgson added three goals, but Harvard fell to Princeton, 17-13. Junior Callie Hem had two goals and an assist, and Maddie Barkate added a pair of goals to go along with 12 draw controls. Junior goalie Chloe Provenzano made six saves.
Barkate Dominant on Draw Controls
Maddie Barkate is enjoying a standout season in the midfield and is Harvard's all-time single-season leader in draw controls (100). She leads the Ivy League with 7.14 draw controls per game in Ivy contests, totaling 50 draw controls. In addition, she is a key part of the offense with 24 points (15 goals, nine assists) in 14 games.
Hem, Campbell Lead The Way
Junior attack Callie Hem had a prolific offensive year, leading the Crimson with a career-best 58 points (43 goals, 15 assists) and 13 free position goals. She was at her best against the best competition in the league, recording a career high nine points (six goals, three assists) against Penn, notching six points (four goals, two assists) in a 14-13 double OT road win at Cornell, and notching the game-winning goal as part of a three-point effort (two goals, assist) in a 10-9 win over Yale. Junior midfielder Riley Campbell had a career high 47 points (34 goals, 13 assist) on the season, to go along with 16 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers. She is tied for fourth in Ivy League play with an average of 6.1 shots per game.
First-Years Making Impact
Several Harvard first-years have had an immediate impact for the Crimson. Charlotte Hodgson is third on the team in goals scored (22), ground balls (21), and draw controls (21). Hannah Shiels has double digit goals (11) and ground balls (16), and Despina Giannakopoulos has 15 caused turnovers to go along with 18 ground balls.
What Else To Know
- Despite missing three games, sophomore Grace Taylor leads the team with 24 ground balls. Caroline Mullahy has been a fantastic all-around player in the midfield (13 goals, 27 assists, 24 ground balls, 15 draw controls) and Ilana Kofman (21 ground balls) has also been key to Harvard's possession game. Senior captain Shea Jenkins (16 caused turnovers, 41 draw controls, 17 ground balls) has also been impressive.
- Harvard is first in the Ivy League with an average of 19.14 ground balls per game (6th, NCAA), and has picked up more ground balls than the opposition in all but five games this season, including a season high 33 ground balls against Yale on April 15.
- Harvard is third in the Ivy League in clearing percentage (87.6%), with senior captain Stephanie Hong helping the Crimson in that category.
We Can Do Hard Things
During Harvard's April 15 game vs. Yale, Harvard highlighted the efforts of the Mass General Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Program (AYA), honoring sophomore Grace Taylor, who has helped bring awareness to the program. Harvard women's lacrosse has helped raise over $6,500 for the AYA program through its awareness drive. Taylor, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive variant of papillary thyroid cancer in August 2022. She missed all of fall ball, and underwent two major surgeries, radioactive iodine treatment, and daily synthetic thyroid medicine (which have been successful) while remaining enrolled at Harvard.
A Two-Sport Phenom
Senior defender Maggie McCarthy is a rare two-sport athlete at Harvard, playing both women's basketball and women's lacrosse for the Crimson. She has joined the women's lacrosse team at the conclusion of basketball season in March over the past two seasons. As captain of the basketball team, she led Harvard to its first 20-win season since 2016-17 and was an Academic All-Ivy honoree. She has recorded six ground balls and seven caused turnovers in six games with women's lacrosse this season.
A Look at Penn
Leading the way for the Quakers is Ivy League Attacker of the Year Niki Miles (52 goals, 11 assists), while Ivy League Midfielder of th Year Anna Brandt (42 goals, four assists) and Maria Themelis (29 goals, five assists) are also a top scoring options. Ivy League Defender of the Year Izzy Rohr (31 ground balls, 23 caused turnovers) has been excellent, as has goalie Kelly Van Hoesen has started all 15 games and has a 10.01 GAA and .408 Save%. Penn is fifth in the nation with 25.8 shots on goal per game, and seventh in the nation with 19.13 ground balls per game.
Series History
Penn owns a 32-19 record in the all-time series against Harvard. Last year, the Crimson picked up its first win over Penn since April 9, 2000 with a 9-8 victory at Franklin Field on March 5, 2022. Riley Campbell scored four goals and Chloe Provenzano made six saves to lead Harvard.
The Last Harvard-Penn Meeting
On March 18 in Cambridge, Harvard went toe to toe with the No. 23 Penn scoring 13 goals in an eventual narrow loss to the Ivy League's top team. Callie Hem had a career high nine points (six goals, three assists). Goalies Lizzie Francioli and Chloe Provenzano combined to make 10 saves in net and Despina Giannakopoulos led the team with five groundballs and two caused turnovers. Harvard trailed 10-9 late in thet hird quarter before a six goal run for the Quakers gave Penn a decisive advantage. A late Harvard run made the game close in the final minutes, but Penn kept Harvard off the board the rest of the way
