M. Lacrosse Downs Cornell

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day and the Harvard men's lacrosse team (10-2, 4-1 Ivy) welcomed Cornell (3-9, 1-5) to Ohiri field for a traditional Ivy-league face-off.

Cornell probably should have stayed up north and far away from Cambridge, though, as the Crimson educated the Big Red on just why they are currently the sixth-ranked team in the nation. Harvard sent Cornell back on its eight hour drive to Ithaca with a 20-12 spanking.

The score, though, hides one unpleasant fact--this game was not a romp until the third period. Shockingly, the score was actually tied 8-8 at the half--go figure.

"At halftime we realized that Cornell wasn't going to come out here and roll over and play dead just because we're a ranked team," said junior goalie Rob Lyng, who had 17 saves.

The opening period was Harvard's game, as the Usual Suspects on the attack line--co-captain Mike Eckert and sophomores Mike Ferrucci and Jim Bevilacqua--along with the marvelous midfield Marvin brothers, co-captain Pat and senior Mike, asserted the Crimson's dominance early.

Highlights that would make ESPN's Sports Center envious included the Eckert-Jim Bevilacqua duo. After six minutes of play, Bevilacqua turboed down the field and hit Eckert right in front of Big Red goalie Michael LaRocco with an exceptional pass.

Eckert being Eckert, the score was quickly 3-2 in Harvard's favor.

Eight minutes later, Eckert returned the favor by faking a shot in front of the crease and magically dishing off a pass to a nearby Bevilacqua, who gave Harvard a 6-3 advantage to end the first.

But things fell apart in the second period for the Crimson. This was pretty obvious right from the start as Harvard coach Scott Anderson's voice boomed across the field, after a sloppy offensive turn-over, "Can't we try a little harder!"

Eckert opened Harvard's lead by four after Ferrucci made a spectacular one-handed catch mid-field and found a wide-open Eckert, but that was as much daylight as the Crimson would see in the period.

Big Red midfielder Bryan Younge was a headache--perhaps even an ulcer--as he added a pair of tallies to Cornell's five-goal outburst.

By the end of the first half, the score was tied at eight. Nightmares of the Crimson's playoff-hopes being shattered probably raced through the heads of many fans.

"At halftime [coach Anderson] said we weren't working for ground balls and [that we should] basically hustle between the restraining lines...we weren't moving the ball well, we weren't holding on to the ball in general..." Mike Marvin said. "We didn't want what we worked so hard to get [throughout the season] to slip away."

Not to fear, the Crimson's season wasn't going anywhere just yet. Harvard corrected its second period hiccup in the third by coming out like a mad bull turned loose at a rodeo.

One of the turning points in the game came three minutes into the third period, when Ferrucci stripped a defender, who was clearing the ball, and broke away uncontested to the goal, giving Harvard a 11-9 advantage.

Adding insult to injury, Ferrucci scored again less than a minute later, and from then on it was bye-bye Big Red, hello NCAAs.

"I think the first five or 10 minutes into the second half were the biggest part of the game," Ferrucci said.

"If I had to pick a turning point," Anderson said, "I would say it was Pat Marvin starting to win face-offs...clearly when we had possession on offense we were scoring and getting great opportunities."

Whatever the reason for the Crimson's turnaround, about all a Harvard fan could do for the rest of the game was sit back and enjoy the five-star, two-thumbs-up offensive spectacle.

Pat Marvin did a shake and bake at midfield to score unassisted near the end of the third that gave the Crimson a 14-9 lead.

Jim Bevilacqua was fantastic in the fourth period as he scored two goals in a grand total of eight seconds that gave Cornell almost no chance of coming back.

Ferrucci kept right on bothering senior goalie Michael LaRocco with lethal outside shots and had a total of five goals in the game.

And Eckert--well, you know the rest.

"I think our offense is just fantastic and when the rest of the pieces are together we are very, very tough and we are going to score goals," Anderson said.

When the Crimson faces Dartmouth at Ohiri Field this weekend, Eckert, who is number one in the nation in assists per game, will look to break the ali-time Harvard scoring record.

He is currently three points shy of this amazing feat. And for the rest of the seniors on the team, it will be their last home game in what has so far been a spectacular season. Cornell  12 Harvard  20

HARVARD, 20-12 at Ohiri Field, Cambridge Cornell  3  5  1  3  --  12 Harvard  6  2  7  5  --  20

Q: Cornell--Younge 3, Dutton 2, Cahalane 2, Langdale, Burke, Sullivan, McNulty, Casillo; Harvard--Ferrucci 5, J. Bevilacqua 3, Wojcik 3, Eckert 2, M. Marvin 2, L. Bevilacqua 2, P. Marvin 2, Leary. A: Cornell--Langdale 2, Hafner, Amato; Harvard--Eckert 4, Ferrucci 3, J. Bevilacqua 3, Leary 2, M. Marvin. S: Cornell--LaRocco 20; Harvard--Lyng 17.

HARVARD, 20-12 at Ohiri Field, Cambridge Cornell  3  5  1  3  --  12 Harvard  6  2  7  5  --  20

Q: Cornell--Younge 3, Dutton 2, Cahalane 2, Langdale, Burke, Sullivan, McNulty, Casillo; Harvard--Ferrucci 5, J. Bevilacqua 3, Wojcik 3, Eckert 2, M. Marvin 2, L. Bevilacqua 2, P. Marvin 2, Leary. A: Cornell--Langdale 2, Hafner, Amato; Harvard--Eckert 4, Ferrucci 3, J. Bevilacqua 3, Leary 2, M. Marvin. S: Cornell--LaRocco 20; Harvard--Lyng 17.

Q: Cornell--Younge 3, Dutton 2, Cahalane 2, Langdale, Burke, Sullivan, McNulty, Casillo; Harvard--Ferrucci 5, J. Bevilacqua 3, Wojcik 3, Eckert 2, M. Marvin 2, L. Bevilacqua 2, P. Marvin 2, Leary. A: Cornell--Langdale 2, Hafner, Amato; Harvard--Eckert 4, Ferrucci 3, J. Bevilacqua 3, Leary 2, M. Marvin. S: Cornell--LaRocco 20; Harvard--Lyng 17.