Bruins Aggravate Laxmen's Troubles, 9-7

Last Wednesday, the Harvard men's lacrosse team was sky-high, ranked seventh in the country with a 5-1 record. A post-season bid to the NCAA playoffs seemed secure. The Ivy League title was well within reach.

After yesterday's 9-7 loss to Brown at Ohiri Field, the Crimson (5-4 overall, 1-2 Ivy) has suffered three straight defeats. National rankings? Not anymore. A playoff bid? Doubtful. The Ivies? Forget about it.

So how was your week?

Better than the Crimson's, no doubt.

"We play in spurts, but then we die," Harvard goaltender Chris Miller said. "We don't have any concept of how to play the fast break. You scream and yell, but we just don't get back on defense."

Double Trouble

Last Wednesday, St. John's scored two fast-break goals in the last minute to topple the Crimson, 10-9. On Saturday, Adelphi attacker Jeff Reh scored two second-quarter goals 15 seconds apart, beginning a string of 10 unanswered tallies.

Yesterday, two lightning-quick goals again shifted momentum away from the Crimson.

Harvard had tied the score, 2-2, late in the first quarter when attacker David Kramer curled a bounce shot past Bruin netminder Steve Ayers. But with 1:32 gone in the second period, Bruin attacker Richard Tuohey flicked a point-blank shot past a lunging Miller to give Brown the lead.

Brown attacker Neil Munro scooped up the ensuing face-off, raced downfield and found his linemate Mike Marinelli wide open in the slot to extend the margin to 4-2.

Three minutes later, Miller deflected Bruin midfielder Jay MacMahon's bounce shot, but the ball dribbled by him into the back of the net. MacMahon closed out Brown's second-quarter onslaught with the second of his four tallies 28 seconds before intermission.

"We counted on the defense too much in the first half," attacker Brad Raymond said. "It's really unfortunate we couldn't put 60 solid minutes together."

However, Harvard regained its composure in the second half, gamely chipping away at the Bruin advantage.

After Darren Lowe's tip-in extended Brown's lead to 7-2. Brad Raymond, roaming inside a packed-in Bruin zone defense, finally got a chance to exhibit his low-post moves.

Raymond scored on a Steve Lux assist at 10:15 of the third quarter, breaking Ayers' string of over 26 scoreless minutes. After McMahon returned the favor a minute later, Lux fed the senior attacker again to close the gap to 8-4.

With the Brown zone now collapsing around Raymond, Kramer took over the Crimson scoring load with his vicious outside shot.

With 1:27 left to play in the third, Kramer whipped a shot past Ayers from the left wing. Two minutes into the fourth quarter, he again wound up and submarined a shot past Ayers, bringing the Crimson within two goals.

But once again, Miller, who made several big saves for the Crimson, got a piece of a Bruin shot, only to find the ball nestled in the back of the net. Kramer answered once more, cranking his fourth goal over Ayer's shoulder with 6:54 left to play, but the rally died there.

Obviously, the Crimson's play deteriorated during its scoreless second quarter. Coach Scott Anderson called it "too cautious." Kramer, a 1988 second-team All-Ivy performer who started in place of a limping Mickey Cavuoti, said it was "too tentative." Lux, who had four assists directing the offense, deemed it "complacent." You get the point.

"Just passing the ball around the perimeter isn't offense," Anderson said. "We didn't attack as aggressively as we should have, and we didn't shoot the ball well."

Anderson admitted that a postseason invitation was probably out of the question for his highly-touted squad.

"If we beat Yale and UMass convincingly, it's possible, but it's unlikely," Anderson said. "But that's not our only meaningful goal. Just to bounce back and play hard and show we're a good team would mean more than the concept of making or not making the playoffs." Brown  2-4-2-1--9 Harvard  2-0-3-2--7

Goals--B Jay McMahon 4, Mike Marinelli 2, Richard Tuohey, Darren Lowe, Tom Dwyer H David Kramer 4, Brad Raymond 2, Mark Donovan.

Assists-B Jamie Munro 3, Neil Munro, Dwyer, Lowe; H Steve Lux 4, Rob Griffith, Mickey Cavuoti.

Saves--B Steve Ayers 9; H Chris Miller 9.