M. Lacrosse Loses Seventh Straight to Ranked Opponents

The quest for that elusive win continues for the Harvard men’s lacrosse team. Last Saturday, even its best game of the year was not quite good enough.

Despite dominating the game statistically, the Crimson (4-7, 0-5 Ivy) could not pull off the win, falling to No. 11 Yale 6-5 Saturday in New Haven. The loss was Harvard’s seventh straight following a 4-0 start.

“Yesterday we probably played the best we’ve played all year,” co-captain Michael Baly said. “I feel like we’re snakebitten right now.”

Trailing the entire game, Harvard pulled within one at 6-5 on junior Jay Wich’s goal with 5:39 remaining in the game. But Yale (8-3, 4-2) would win the ensuing faceoff, and it controlled the ball for the next four minutes, denying the Crimson a chance to tie the game.

Only 1:04 remained when Harvard finally regained possesion, and the Crimson was unable to generate a quality scoring chance. Its best chance to tie came on a 20-foot attempt by junior midfielder Doug Logigian with 25 seconds left, but his shot was blocked short of the net. Neither team could gain control of the ball in the final seconds.

Logigian had scored earlier in the fourth quarter, beating Yale goaltender Eric Wenzel over the right shoulder with 11:44 left to play. Harvard dominated the period in its attempt to come back from a 6-3 deficit, outshooting the Bulldogs 16-4.

“We completely outplayed them the whole fourth quarter,” Logigian said. “We had 8 to 10 good scoring chances. But their goalie was hot and we couldn’t seem to put the ball into the net.”

Harvard beat Yale in every facet of the game but the scoreboard. The Crimson outshot the Bulldogs 50-30 and won 10 of 14 faceoffs. Only outstanding goaltending by Wenzel, who had a season-high 20 saves, kept Yale in the lead.

“This was the best and most complete game we’ve played this year,” Logigian said. “Anyone who was there knew we played a geat game and should have won by four or five goals.”

Yale started the afternoon strong, scoring the game’s first two goals. Senior attacker Matt Primm pulled Harvard to within one with 3:27 left in the first, but Yale’s Scott Kenworthy extended the lead to 3-1 with just 24 seconds remaining.

Primm’s goal gave him 100 points in his collegiate career. Just a junior, Primm became the 29th player in Harvard history to reach the century mark in points.

“Whenever we need something to happen, we can get the ball to Matt behind the net,” Logigian said. “He’s the type of person who can come up with a goal or assist and consistently make something happen.”

Yale would increase its lead to 4-1 on a Tucker Foote goal with 9:50 left in the second period, but Harvard picked up its game as the half wound down. Baly scored the Crimson’s second goal, taking a pass from senior midfielder Derek Nowak and beating Wenzel from the right of the goal. Co-captain Jim Christian brought Harvard to within a goal with 1:34 left in the half.

Saturday’s loss completes a brutal stretch for the Crimson, during which the team played seven consecutive games against ranked teams . Harvard’s last four games are much easier—not a single remaining opponent is ranked.

“We want to win the rest of our games,” Baly said. “We know we can, because there’s been a bunch of games in the last couple of weeks that we definitely could have won.”

Harvard will try to break its losing streak Tuesday when it travels to Worcester to play Holy Cross. With just one win on the year against a weak schedule, the Crusaders should be no match for the Crimson.

Yale 6, M. Lacrosse 5

at Johnson Field, New Haven, Conn.

Yale (8-3, 4-2 Ivy) 3 1 2 0—6

Harvard (4-7, 0-5 Ivy) 1 2 0 2—5

Scoring: H Goals: Primm 1, Baly 1, Christian 1, Logigian 1, Wich 1. H Assists: Wich 1, McBride 1. Y Goals: Britt 2, Capilupi 1, Kenworthy 1, Foote 1, Lujic 1. Y Assists: Scaglione 2, Kenworth 1, Floyd 1. Shots: H 50, Y 30. Saves: H McKenna 13, Y Wenzel 20. Ground Balls: H 19, Y 20. Faceoffs: H 10, Y 4. Extra Man: H 0/2, Y 0/3.

Attendance: 1,037.