NOTEBOOK: Playing at Harvard Stadium for the First Time, Crimson Will Not be Denied

As the sun set over Harvard Stadium last night, it was difficult to tell a difference.

Sure, the lack of goalposts on either end of the field left the grass behind the team logos in the football endzones ominously barren, but it wasn’t until just over midway through the first quarter of the Harvard men’s lacrosse team’s 9-6 win over Brown that the new locale’s capabilities really “shined.”

“It’s a great venue,” freshman midfielder Jason Duboe said of the stadium’s lights.

Duboe took advantage of the big stage, notching his first career hat-trick in the win.

“Jordan’s a great field, too, but this is a much better situation with the lights and everything. I’m just happy to be out here and playing in the new stadium for the next four years,” Duboe said.

Crimson coach Scott Anderson—who has spent much of his nearly 20 years coaching at Harvard in the much more laid-back confines of Jordan Field—immediately recognized the difference.

“This is better,” Anderson said. “This is aesthetically better. It has some presence.”

There might have been just a slight bit of confusion regarding which lines—the football sidelines or the taped in blue lines for lacrosse—constituted out of bounds, but if anyone appeared phased, it was the Bears’ defense.

Their inability to cover the quick clears of the Crimson defense led to a number of scoring opportunities.

“It was really good,” Anderson said of the team’s first stadium experience. “It’s such an impressive venue and it’s just terrific for our sport. It was a little disconcerting to have the crowd, especially the Brown people so close behind you, but I think the intimacy of the stadium is what makes it so special.”

All spots were not bright last night, however. A number of passes for both teams seemed to get by their intended targets, including a point during the second quarter when senior attackman Greg Cohen lost a ball when he looked up to catch a routine pass in the Bears zone. Duboe wouldn’t go as far as to blame some of the sloppy play on the lights, however.

“Like any other field, it’s just getting used to the field,” he said. “It’s not a factor, and it’s a great field.”

SHOT IN THE DARK

Harvard tallied 37 shots on the night, but a problem that has plagued the team all season—the failure to capitalize on the multitude of opportunities—once again reared its head in the form of 15 Crimson shots that failed to reach the goal.

“Sometimes we got into a little bit of trouble just taking possession shots, and sometimes we shoot over the goal to keep possession,” Duboe explained. “So it ends up being a smart play instead of turning the ball over.”

Despite the strategy involved, he conceded that taking better shots remains an issue.

“It’s one of the things we’ve got to work on, our shooting percentage,” Duboe said.

PIKE’S PEAK

Goalie Joe Pike issued one of his better performances of the season, giving up just two goals through the game’s first three quarters.

While he did give up four goals in the fourth frame that helped Brown tie the game late, considering how much he was tested—he made a season-high 16 saves in the win—the talented sophomore’s growth this year is readily apparent.

“Joe Pike was unbelievable,” Anderson said.

It was the saves themselves, and not a dominating defensive performance, that helped Harvard weather the late storm that almost brought the Bears back.

“Pike had a great game,” Duboe said. “He stopped everything that came at him, and I just thought it was a great job.”

NEW BEGINNINGS

The contest was the first men’s lacrosse game played at Harvard stadium since 1990, a Crimson win over Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament’s first round…Co-captain John Henry Flood, who has paced Harvard at the faceoff-X all season, went just 10-for-18 on the night, below his usual 63 percent clip…10 of the 15 goals scored during the game were unassisted, and the three Brown goals that did come off passes all came from Bears sophomore attackman Kyle Hollingsworth…The Crimson return to action this Saturday on the road at Princeton. The Tigers are currently ranked fifth in the country. It will be the second ranked opponent in three games for the Crimson, following a 15-6 loss to No. 1-ranked Cornell on Apr. 7. Start time is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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