Senior Night Brings Tough Loss For Men's Lacrosse

On senior night, the defense of the future held up its end of the bargain. The offense of the future did not.

The Harvard men’s lacrosse team (7-6, 2-4 Ivy) was held scoreless by the Dartmouth defense over the final 37 minutes of the game as the No. 20 Big Green (8-5, 3-3) defeated the Crimson 6-2 at Jordan Field on Saturday.

“We were getting our shots, but we just couldn’t convert,” freshman attackman Greg Cohen said. “They had a big defense, and they were frustrating us with [their] hits. That made it tough to complete plays.”

Dartmouth sophomore attackman Jamie Coffin scored his second goal of the game and the final tally of the contest with 11:41 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Even though the scoring had stopped, the fireworks were by no means over.

Three minutes later, as Harvard broke out of its zone on a fast break, Crimson senior midfielder Rob Fried got tangled up with Big Green junior midfielder Ben Grinnell. A fight broke out and the two players had to be separated.

“It was the last game of the season, and I think we were just frustrated,” Greg Cohen said. “That carried over into the intensity that [we showed] Saturday night.”

Later, Dartmouth junior goaltender Andrew Goldstein led the team on a clear. Just moments after passing the ball, Goldstein was laid out by Harvard junior attackman Mike McBride, who was assessed a one-minute penalty for unnecessary roughness.

McBride had been whistled for the same offense two quarters earlier, when he finished another check which sent Goldstein to the turf.

With 5:01 remaining in the contest, Goldstein once again ventured outside the crease. This time, he was met by Crimson sophomore attackman Steve Cohen, who knocked Goldstein to the ground with a solid check.

“Coming down here [after the Dartmouth contest last year], we knew it would be a physical game,” junior defenseman Brian Wannop said. “We tried to step it up from the beginning, and that’s why the play got sloppy by the fourth quarter.”

Harvard got on the board first in the contest, as sophomore attackman Sean Kane finished a feed from freshman attackman Brian Mahler just 3:18 in.

Dartmouth responded midway through the quarter, as sophomore attackman Alec Hufnagel scored to tie the game at one.

After Kane missed a backhanded flip from close range, the Big Green scooped up the ball and sprinted out on a fast break. Junior attackman Brandon Wright converted on the run, putting Dartmouth ahead for good with just 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Big Green senior midfielder Tom Daniels beat Harvard captain and goaltender Jake McKenna to put Dartmouth up 3-1 early in the second period.

Mahler responded for the Crimson midway through the quarter, running around the net and firing off a jump shot that beat Goldstein.

Daniels scored a goal on a 6-on-5 late in the third period, and Coffin tallied a goal 22 seconds later, putting the Big Green ahead 5-2 after three quarters of play.

Harvard struggled to find the goal against the Big Green, as only 14 of its 31 shots were on net. Goldstein gobbled up 12 of the 14 that were headed his direction.

“We had spent a lot of time preparing [for Goldstein], but he just had a really good night,” Greg Cohen said.

McKenna had a solid day in net for the Crimson, recording 11 saves while giving up just six goals.

“Jake came up huge for us,” Wannop said. “He saved us a bunch of times.”

Despite losing Crimson senior defensemen Hani Malone and Spencer Stenmark to ankle injuries, Harvard played an outstanding defensive game.

“It was a shame that they missed their final game,” Wannop said. “But the guys who filled in worked hard all year, and [Saturday’s] performance is a promising sign next year.”

Senior midfielder Alex Vap won 10 of 12 faceoffs on the evening, his highest percentage in any one game this season. Dartmouth sent three different players to the circle with the best performance coming from senior midfielder Russell Radebaugh, who won one in four attempts. The loss marked only the second time this season Harvard won the faceoff battle but failed to win the game.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.