The Bears defeated Bryant University and Harvard in two home games this weekend at Stevenson Field. The two wins raise Bruno’s record to 9-2 overall and 2-2 in the Ivy League — the most successful record for the women’s lacrosse team since 1999, when it went 7-7 for the season.
The squad faced Harvard (2-7, Ivy 1-3) Saturday, and though the Crimson scored the first point of the match, Bruno ended the half up 6-4. The second half started with three Harvard goals early in the period, which forced Brown’s Head Coach Keely McDonald ’00 to call a strategic timeout so the team could regroup.
“Keely brought us in for that timeout to really remind us what we’re capable of and that we were playing pretty tense and sitting back when we really needed to attack,” said Abbey Van Horne ’14. “It was a great reset for us to really just take off and finish that game by doing the little things and staying together ’til the end.”
The Bears made a comeback within five minutes of the timeout with a four-goal streak, which was kicked off by co-captain Lindsay Minges ’13. Bruno went on to win the match 15-9 for its second Ivy League win.
“We don’t play for the blowout games,” Minges said. “We play for the one-goal games, so for us that moment was exciting.”
Minges led the team in points with four goals, followed by co-captain Bre Hudgins ’14 with three goals and Janie Gion ’15 with two goals and an assist.
“Harvard was a huge game in reassuring our team’s confidence for the season,” Van Horne said. “Especially coming off of the close loss to Dartmouth, we really wanted to put them away and not just win but outperform.”
The Bears returned Sunday to Stevenson Field to defeat the Bulldogs 12-9. Five players contributed multiple goals and co-captain Tara Rooke ’13 added four assists for the win.
Though Bryant (6-6) earned the first goal of the match two minutes into the game, Hudgins ignited a four-goal streak 18 seconds after the Bulldog’s score. The Bears ended the first half leading 8-5.
After a scoreless 10-minute interval to start the second half, Bryant netted two goals to make it a one-goal game. Grace Healy ’14 found the back of the net to return Bruno to a two-goal lead, which Bryant then cut again to one. Healy went on to score her final goal of the game, which started a three-goal scoring streak for Brown.
Healy played an important role in the victory with three goals, an assist and eight successful draw controls. The Bears put on a solid defensive performance with keeper Kellie Roddy ’15 saving five goals.
The squad will continue Ivy play Friday, traveling to Cornell for its fifth conference match of the season.
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