Brown Stickmen Edge Crimson, 14-12

The Brown lacrosse squad waltzed onto Soldiers Field yesterday with the intentions of two-stepping their way by a traditionally hapless Harvard team. The Crimson however entered with a floorshow of its own and nearly stunned the top team in New England before succumbing to two last fourth quarter tallies, 14-12.

The Bruins started off strong, scoring the first goal right away. But before the boys from Providence could break out their press clippings and show off their eighth in the nation rankings Harvard had rocketed four quick goals past Bruin netminder Rick Gittleson.

The teams matched even but cautious play in the middle stanza as the Crimson maintained a slim 6-5 lead going into the halftime intermission.

The Bruins however came out of hibernation at the start of the second half rattling off four unanswered goals. Harvard refused to say die, and led by the unassisted scores of Kevin McCall and Bill Tennis the Crimson stickmen battled back to a 10-10 tie at the end of three periods.

Coach Bob Scalese's troops, paced by Bill MacKenzie's four goals and goaltender Leroy Thompson's 20 saves, played superbly down the home stretch. And when McCall connected on a flashy solo effort to gain the hat trick and give The Crimson a 12-11 lead, the reality of the upset loomed great.

Twas not in the cards, though, as the bubble bursting Buins broke loose for a tying tally and two insurance goals. McCall summed up the game well, "Each team played really well and either squad could have won. I think it was our best game of the season," he said.