Men's Lacrosse Drops Fourth Straight

Mother Nature did her best to stop the No. 20 Fairfield men’s lacrosse team on Saturday, as the Connecticut snow forced the postponement of the team’s matchup with Harvard to the following afternoon.

But on a clear day in front of 525 fans at Alumni Stadium in Fairfield, Conn., the Stags (5-0) proved too much for the Crimson (0-4) yesterday, cruising to an 18-11 home win that marked Harvard’s seventh straight loss dating back to last year.

A barrage of offensive firepower and a blistering performance from Fairfield’s Travis Nelson was the difference, as the junior attackman lit the Crimson up for nine points in the game. Many of Nelson’s four goals and five assists came in transition, where the quick pace helped the Stags to a 43-31 shot advantage in the game.

“Their transition just killed us,” said co-captain midfielder John Henry Flood. “We’d have the ball, and then we’d have turnovers and they’d score. It took us long possessions to score, whereas they could just run and gun down the field.”

That running and gunning resulted in a season-high 18 goals for Fairfield, and though Harvard’s 11-point output was also a season-best, it was countered by a lackluster defensive performance that saw sophomore goalie Joe Pike make just eight saves.

“Joe was facing a lot of shots from in real tight,” senior attackman Greg Cohen said. “It’s tough to ask him to save all the shots from close, and they took very high-percentage shots from right in the crease.”

“He’s our last line of defense, so we’re kind of hanging him out to dry,” co-captain attackman Brian Mahler agreed. “Pike made some incredible saves, and he also let some in. We’re behind him, though.”

It was the Stags who were behind first, however, as sophomore attackman Max Motschwiller beat Fairfield’s Michael Kruger on a man-up opportunity 1:17 into the first quarter to give the Crimson the early lead. The Stags evened the score about four and a half minutes later, before Harvard took its second—and last—lead of the game thanks to a strike from senior attackman Evan Calvert. Two Fairfield goals followed, but a Mahler goal assisted by Cohen tied the score at three with 13 seconds to play in the first quarter.

Poised to enter the second quarter with a bit of momentum, Flood lost the ensuing faceoff, which led to a heartbreaking Stags goal with two seconds to play in the frame. By halftime, the score was 10-7 in favor of Fairfield.

“We were in the game in the first half,” Flood said, “but we just had some trouble focusing and regrouping. They’re by far the best team we’ve played so far.”

A bright spot for the Crimson came in the form of Calvert, who played only his second game of the year due to an ankle injury suffered just prior to the team’s season-opener. His lone goal came in addition to two assists, while Motschwiller and Cohen each scored two goals and assisted once. Senior midfielder Carle Stenmark scored twice, while junior attackman Brooks Scholl and freshman midfielders Jason Duboe and Travis Burr rounded out Harvard’s goals.

Flood continued his dominance at midfield, winning 11-of-19 faceoffs and helping the Crimson to a number of clock-milking possessions. But ball control wasn’t a problem for Harvard—it was the team’s inability to contain the speed of the Stags’ attackmen that was most glaring in the loss.

“They were a fast-paced, up-tempo team,” Mahler said. “They really pressured us on defense and came out and got in our guys’ faces. They had a couple of really easy goals in transition.”

The Crimson committed 10 penalties, resulting in 10:30 of box time for the team and suggesting that the losing streak has also resulted in a bit of mental fatigue.

“The effort was not an issue,” Flood said. “We just needed to maintain composure. We’re making mistakes as a team.”

—Staff writer Malcom A. Glenn can be reached at mglenn@fas.harvard.edu.