M. Lax Gets Stampeded by Stags

The Harvard men's lacrosse team lost a, well, not-so-close one for its first game of the season.

The Crimson (0-1) dropped the road contest to the Fairfield Stags (2-0), 13-5.

"We just didn't come out with the intensity," junior midfielder Geoff Watson said. "We didn't do a lot of our offensive sets in the game.

"Pretty much top-to-bottom, we were all a little rusty."

The Crimson was led in the losing effort by sophomore midfielder Roger Buttles and sophomore attacker Dana Sprong, who each had two goals and an assist. Watson also had a goal for the Crimson.

Harvard, ranked No. 20 in the nation in the "Face-Off Magazine" pre-season poll, started the game off on the right foot in the first period when Watson's shot on Fairfield goalkeeper Brad Tarr found the net. Sophomore defenseman/midfielder Kanu Okike assisted on the play at 13:05.

Fairfield quickly bounced back to run off three straight goals in five minutes. Two of those goals, as well as an assist on the third, came from the Stags' Spencer Steele.

Steele, a "College Lacrosse USA" preseason All-America honorable mention, tied the Stags' single-game record for goals with six against the Crimson.

"He is a tremendous player," Watson said. "He was just a big, strong attackman. He moved well off the ball, and they worked well as a team to get him the ball."

To finish off the first period, Sprong got the first of his two goals off an assist by junior attackman Lawson DeVries, but the Stags added another score.

Steele started off the second period with a bang, getting two goals in the first five minutes for Fairfield.

After another second-period Fairfield goal, Buttles took a pass from Sprong and scored.

Buttles followed that goal three minutes later with an unassisted goal, but Steele tallied another quick score to end the period with an 8-4 Stag lead.

The third period saw two more goals from Fairfield, one of which was Steele's record-tying sixth goal.

Sprong fired a shot passed the goalie after receiving a pass from Buttles to cut the lead to 10-5, but it was too late.

Three Fairfield goals later, the game was over.

"We're a pretty young team," Watson said. "There's no doubt we have the talent to turn it around and be successful. This is a wake-up call."

In all, the Crimson was outshot by the Stags, 47-31.

Harvard junior goalkeeper Keith Cynar tallied 24 saves, while Tarr, his Fairfield counterpart, had 16.

The Crimson and Stags recorded 34 and 30 ground balls, respectively.

Harvard doesn't travel far for its next contest. The Crimson will face Boston College in Chestnut Hill Saturday at 1 p.m.

"[B.C. is] definitely not the strongest team, but we can't take them lightly," Watson said. "We're just trying to get in the win column.

"I think this Fairfield game proves we can't look past anyone."