M. Lacrosse Unable To Catch Minutemen

The Harvard men’s lacrosse team took on No. 13 Massachusetts in Amherst yesterday afternoon.

Unfortunately for the Crimson (4-6, 0-4 Ivy), the Minutemen’s streaks were bigger and longer, as they took the 18-10 victory—the 400th of their program’s 49-year history.

UMass (9-2, 3-0 ECAC) jumped all over the Crimson early, dominating the first period with six unanswered goals.

“They came out in the beginning fired up,” freshman attacker Mike McBride said. “And we just didn’t.”

“They were ready to play at a high level of intensity right from the start,” sophomore midfielder Alex Vap said. “It wasn’t that we couldn’t play at that level, but we didn’t convert on the opportunities we had and they made the best of theirs.”

Trailing a top-15 team by six goals before the end of the first quarter, Harvard could easily have folded.

Indeed, Harvard Coach Scott Anderson called a timeout and issued a challenge to his players to claw back into the game.

And they responded.

The Crimson scored five of the first six goals in the second quarter to pull within two at 7-5 with 2:31 to play in the half. Included in the run was a transition goal by McBride off of a no-look feed from senior midfielder Derek Nowak.

“[Down by six], you can either just coast through the rest of the game or dig in a little deeper,” Vap said. “We definitely dug in deeper.”

Unfortunately for Harvard, UMass midfielder Chris Fiore completed his hat trick three seconds before halftime to seize some momentum for the Minutemen and demoralize Harvard heading into the break.

Fiore’s goal spurred UMass to a dominating second half, as it outscored the Crimson 10-5 over the final two periods.

While the loss was disappointing, Harvard can draw on certain bright spots as it enters the final third of the season.

The Crimson offense showed signs of life, scoring double-digit goals for the first time since its four-game, season-opening winning streak. McBride led the outburst by completing his first collegiate hat trick with two fourth-quarter goals. The first came from an outside shot off a feed from junior midfielder Doug Logigian, while the second came after freshman midfielder Zach Chandis found McBride cutting to the middle.

Sophomore midfielder Jeff Gottschall and junior Jay Wich each added a pair of goals, while Logigian and junior attacker Matt Primm both contributed a goal and an assist.

“We have a lot of guys on our team that never give up, and they showed that today,” McBride said

Primm’s performance also left him a single point short of becoming the 29th Harvard player to record 100 career points.

On the other end of the field, sophomore goalkeeper Jake McKenna continued his stellar play with 19 saves, many of them spectacular.

But the Crimson players know they still need to work on their consistency.

“It seems like some days some guys are on and other guys just aren’t,” Vap said. “But we haven’t had the day yet where everyone has the ball falling their way.”

“We’re a team, but each person has to think about [his] job,” McBride added.

Even within contests, Harvard has struggled to play a complete game. The Minutemen scored most of their goals in their initial run and in the fourth quarter.

“We just really have to focus on coming out and playing four quarters— 60 minutes,” McBride said. “Today, we played two-thirds of a game.”

Despite its six-game losing streak and winless Ivy mark, the Crimson intends to redouble its efforts for the rest of the year.

“The season’s not over,” McBride said. “Once you give up and stop playing hard, why even play?”

Next on the agenda for Harvard is a game at No. 11 Yale Saturday night, the Crimson’s seventh straight against a ranked opponent.

Adding intrigue to the game is the bad blood that exists between the two teams as a result of what some Harvard fans considered inappropriate celebration by the Bulldogs after their victory at Jordan Field last year.

“It’s definitely going to be a war,” Vap said.