M. Lax Snaps Four-Game Skid

The Harvard men's lacrosse team broke out of its slump Tuesday night, winning 13-10 on the road against Colgate.

It was the first victory in five tries for the Crimson (7-7, 1-4 Ivy), whose last win came on Apr. 11 against Brown.

"We'd been on a downward spiral and we knew we needed to win," said co-captain Dana Sprong.

Harvard used a strong third-quarter performance to overcome a one-goal halftime deficit and deal the Red Raiders (3-10) the loss in their final game of the season.

The game began with both teams playing stringent defense. Colgate broke onto the scoreboard first when senior attackman Ryan Asher tallied the first of his two goals in the game.

But Harvard would answer quickly when sophomore Doug Logigian scored the first of his game-high four goals.

The game would remain tied until four minutes left in the first frame when Harvard netted two goals in the span of just twenty seconds, as sophomores Matt Primm and Joe Nejman tallied back-to back unassisted scores.

But Colgate senior midfielder David Dobbins responded with a goal of his own just eleven seconds later and added another under a minute into the second quarter to even the score at three goals apiece.

Logigian then scored his second and third goals of the game to regain the lead for the Crimson.

After two Red Raider goals, Sprong was able to capitalize on an extra-man opportunity to put Harvard up, 6-5.

The lead would not hold, however, as Dobbins and Asher each scored again before the end of the frame and Colgate took a 7-6 advantage into the half.

"We came out a little slow in the beginning and just traded goals with them," Logigian said.

Harvard took over in the third quarter, however, tallying four unanswered goals to open the second half.

Junior midfielder Michael Baly opened the scoring and Primm and Sprong scored their second goals of the game. Baly then assisted on junior midfielder James Christian's man-up goal.

"The energy level was high in the third quarter," Sprong said.

Harvard outshot Colgate 15-5 in the quarter and 42-39 for the game.

After a slashing penalty on freshman Jeff Gottschall, Colgate took advantage of its extra man opportunity to pull to within two goals.

But Gottschall would respond with a man-up goal of his own just minutes later to close the scoring for the period and give Harvard an 11-8 lead going into the final frame.

Harvard converted four of its eight extra man opportunities for the game.

Colgate came out aggressive on the attack in the fourth quarter and capitalized on two chances to pull within one with over ten minutes left to play.

Logigian came through for the Crimson again, however, scoring his fourth goal of the game to extend Harvard's lead to two.

"I just got a good shot off and the goal really gave us some of the momentum back," Logigian said.

Strong defense kept the Red Raiders off the board for the rest of the game and a goal by senior attackman Roger Buttles with just over a minute to play sealed the Crimson victory.

Senior goaltender Ely Kahn played well in the win, tallying sixteen saves for the Crimson.

Harvard will be looking to take the momentum from Tuesday's win into its final regular season game against Dartmouth this weekend.

"We'd like to go out with a winning record," said Logigian. "It's a lot of people's last game so we want to go out and play well."

Sprong, one of fourteen seniors on this year's squad, echoed Logigian's excitement for the team's final game.

"We're fired up," Sprong said. "We really want to end the season on a high note."

The Crimson will play Saturday at 1 p.m. in Hanover.