NOTEBOOK: Mental Mistakes Trouble Harvard

The Harvard men’s lacrosse team’s 12-9 win over Holy Cross on Saturday had the perfect makings of a trap game.

Putting aside the fact that the Crimson has now knocked off the non-conference Crusaders in 24 straight contests, it was the first time in four games that Harvard played a team not ranked in nation’s top 20.

The Crimson held on for the victory after allowing Holy Cross within a single goal with just 85 seconds left in the game, but the late letdown—as well as a number of penalties and mental mistakes—put a damper on the otherwise successful afternoon.

“That is just mental laziness,” Harvard coach Scott Anderson said of the numerous mistakes.

In addition to 17 turnovers in the game’s final three quarters, the Crimson also committed eight penalties to just two for the Crusaders, resulting in six minutes of man-up opportunities.

Holy Cross scored the final goal of the third quarter after two Harvard penalties gave the team a two-man advantage.

“That’s not smart, disciplined play,” Anderson said. “We were just kind of going out and playing, not thinking about it.”

With the season’s final two games both against Ivy League opponents, Anderson stressed the importance of finishing strong.

“We were disappointed with our physical and mental efforts today, but we’re going to have some great practices,” Anderson said. “This is not going to affect the way we play against Yale; it’s just that we let an opportunity to build some momentum slip away.”

One of the team’s best performances came from senior attackman Greg Cohen, who scored the game’s first goal en route to two on the day.

He said that he didn’t think underestimating Holy Cross led to the mistake-filled game.

“I don’t think you lose focus,” Cohen said of playing the Crusaders. “Any time you get to come out and compete in the game, it’s good.”

NATIVE LANDS

The Crimson improved to 3-1 at home in 2007 and 2-0 at Harvard Stadium. The lone home setback came in a one-goal loss to Massachusetts over a month ago. Harvard is outscoring its opponents by a 38-32 margin in friendly confines, compared to being outscored 69-38 on the road.

While the 1,028 fans in attendance on Saturday may have played a role in the Crimson win, the mid-60s temperatures didn’t hurt either.

“Playing at the stadium is great,” Cohen said. “It’s a great day, it’s a great atmosphere.”

Part of the home success is also due to the fact that Harvard’s toughest opponents have come on the road. Of the four ranked teams the Crimson has played this year, three have required travel, including matchups against Ivy foes Cornell and Princeton, which were ranked No. 1 and No. 5 in the country when Harvard played them, respectively.

The Crimson concludes its home slate next week against Yale, while the season ends on the road against Dartmouth the following Saturday.

Cohen and the rest of the seniors are looking forward to one more chance to play at Harvard Stadium.

“It’s hard not to have fun,” Cohen said. “It’s hard not to be pumped up when you’re playing at a place like this.”

FINAL TICKS

Not only did nine different players score goals for Harvard in the win, but only one of those goals carried an assist with it. The 11 unassisted scores is a season high.... Co-captain John Henry Flood continued his dominance at the faceoff X, winning 19-of-24 tries against Holy Cross. He also picked up a team-high eight groundballs.... Crusaders captain Paul LeBlanc frustrated sophomore goalie Joe Pike all afternoon, scoring four goals and assisting once in the losing effort. It was the second time this year Pike has given up that many points to a single player at home.... The top two teams in the Ivy League, Cornell and Princeton, faced off over the weekend in a battle for conference supremacy. The favored Big Red lived up to its No. 1 ranking, winning, 10-6, in Ithaca and all but securing the league title.

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