Revitalized Laxmen Hold off Tigers, 10-7

The Harvard men's lacrosse team successfully rebounded from last week's tough loss to Brown with a 10-7 victory over Princeton Saturday in Princeton, N.J.

Over 100 fans at Finney Field saw the Crimson (7-2 overall, 3-2 Ivy League) wear down the Tigers on a field that had more mud than grass. Princeton, which entered the game at 1-8 overall, had hopes of pulling off a big Easter weekend upset, but simply lacked the firepower down the stretch.

After quickly falling behind, 4-1, at the end of one quarter, the Tigers slowly worked their way back into the game, eventually tying it early in the third period.

But Harvard regained the momentum to take the lead for good in the third quarter, and two goals in the fourth iced the win.

Sophomore Brad Raymond led all scorers, flipping in three goals and adding one assist for a total of four points. Rob Griffith and Dave Kramer each scored twice for the Crimson, while Co-Captain Martin Garcia, Chris Garvey and Rich van den Broek each had one goal apiece.

Nick Nero, Steve Lux and Perry Dodge rounded out Harvard's scoring, each finishing the game with an assist.

Steve Boyle and Rob Palumbo were the main contributors to the Tigers' offense, accounting for five of the squad's seven goals. In the nets, Princeton goalie John Wright had 12 saves overall, while senior Mike Bergmann stopped 15 shots for the Crimson.

Harvard built an early 2-0 lead in the first period with unassisted tallies by van den Broek and Griffith. Following a Princeton man-advantage score by Boyle, Raymond and Garcia also put Harvard shots in the net to make the score 4-1 at the end of one quarter.

But with six minutes left in the half, the Tigers tallied twice in a 20-second span to make it a one-goal game. The first was a man-up goal by Lorne Thomsen followed by Palumbo's solo effort after the resulting face-off.

The Crimson rebounded with a goal of its own one minute later on Raymond's second tally of the game, but Boyle's score with 36 seconds to go in the quarter reduced the Harvard lead to 5-4 at halftime.

Princeton came out fired up to start the second half, and when a Dave Madden shot flew past Bergmann 85 seconds into the third quarter, the game was knotted at 5-5.

But the tie was short-lived, as Harvard answered two minutes later, scoring twice in a 33-second span. First, Griffith tallied off a pass from Dodge. That was followed by a solo effort by Raymond (to complete his hat trick) which once again gave the Crimson a two goal edge.

The Tigers scored twice more after that, but Harvard was able to counter each time to preserve its lead. Boyle's third goal of the game pulled Princeton to within one at the end of the third quarter, but the Crimson answered with two insurance goals in the fourth off the sticks of Garvey and Kramer--the last coming with 1:41 left to wrap up the win.

The laxmen will not have to travel again until May 9, when they play their final Ivy League game of the year at Dartmouth. Before that, however, the squad has four games at home, including two important contests this week.

On Wednesday, the Crimson will host the University of Massachusetts, followed by a Saturday game with Adelpi at Ohiri Field. Both contests are essential for keeping alive Harvard's chance of an NCAA tournament bid.

Should the Crimson get past those two teams, it must look ahead to home games next week against New Hampshire and Holy Cross, followed by the trip to Dartmouth.

THE NOTEBOOK: If Harvard defeats Dartmouth next month, it will finish with a 4-2 Ivy League record for the second straight year...After knocking off the Crimson, 8-7, Brown suffered a letdown Saturday, dropping an 11-6 decision to Penn. As a result, the Bruins are only one game ahead of Harvard with one game remaining in the battle for second place in the league. But while the Crimson's last Ivy game is with Dartmouth, Brown must face league-leading Cornell in its finale...Harvard was 1-for-2 in man-up situations, while Princeton was a lowly 2-for-7 (including two two-man advantage situation).