Laxmen Crush Springfield, 13-5, for Fourth in Row

The Harvard men's lacrosse team, 1-3 at this time a year ago, soundly defeated Springfield College yesterday at Ohiri Field, 13-5, for the squad's fourth straight victory.

Another April Fool's joke, right?

Wrong.

Despite last year's dismal showing, when the laxmen ended up 3-11, the outlook for this spring's lacrosse team is bright. Harvard is 4-1 (2-0 Ivy League) and ranked 13th in the latest national poll.

And with more performances like yesterday's, this season may leave 1985 as only a bitter memory.

By tallying two goals in a span of 49 seconds early in the second half, the Crimson snapped a 4-4 tie to take the lead for good over the Chiefs (now 2-1).

Even though the scoreboard gave Harvard an impressive win over the only team in New England to earn a postseason bid last year, Coach Bob Scalise was not entirely satisfied with his squad's showing--especially a first-half letdown which enabled Springfield to come back from a 3-0 deficit.

"Although we won, I thought the team could have played much better," Scalise said. "We let them back in the game before our offense took over in the second half and began to dominate."

The second half was nearly perfect for Harvard, especially towards the end of the third quarter and at the beginning of the final stanza. During a three-minute stretch--from 42 seconds left in the third period until 12:46 remained in the game--the Crimson put no fewer than six goals in the Springfield net.

The spurt included three Harvard goals in 25 seconds, two of them coming off the stick of freshman Brad Raymond in a 14-second span. Raymond finished with four tallies on the afternoon to lead all Crimson goal-scorers.

Also having strong outings were freshman Steve Lux and Co-Captain Chris Pujols. Lux threw in two shots and had four assists to give him a game-high six points, while Pujols wound up with two goals and a pair of assist on the day.

Also helping the Harvard cause were Co-Captain Tom Corcoran and senior Rufus Clark. The duo finished with identical marks, each with two goals and one assist. Tim McCaffrey and Craig Russman completed the Crimson scoring drive with an assist apiece.

Senior Mark Vita had a strong outing in the Harvard net, registering nine saves and shutting out the Chiefs for the game's final 22 minutes.

According to Scalise, the main reason for the laxmen's abrupt turnaround may lie in the team's added experience. "Last year's team is now older and offering both leadership and poise," said Scalise. "Maybe the tough season last year helped this team more than people realized."

The Crimson will attempt to extend its four-game winning streak Sunday at 2 p.m., when the squad will host St. John's, again at Ohiri Field.

"In order to beat the Redmen, we will have to shut down their transition game and shoot a little better," Scalise noted.

And only a fool would doubt him.