MAD ABOUT YOU: Crimson Starts Season Strong

Oh, how things change over a year.

This time last season, a sluggish men’s lacrosse team eked out a 7-6 overtime victory over Penn to notch its first of the season. Harvard had to win five of its last eight to finish two games under 500.

With the graduation of top defender Brian Mahler, the No. 2 faceoff man in the country in the form of John Henry Flood, and two of the team’s top scorers, Evan Calvert and Greg Cohen, I was sure this year would be one of those losing campaigns we all chalk up to “a rebuilding year.”

Well, I was wrong.

After a 6-5 setback to open the 2008 season, the men’s lacrosse team is rolling.

Four straight victories—including a 12-3 drubbing of No. 20 Fairfield—leads Harvard into its first Ivy League matchup this weekend and arguably one of the toughest midseason stretches in the country: Penn, followed by No. 1 Duke, Denver, No. 9 Cornell, and No. 13 Princeton.

Last year both the Big Red and Tigers toppled the Crimson by scores of 15-6 and 9-3, respectively; this is the first time Harvard is taking on the Blue Devils.

While it is unlikely that the Crimson will pull off all three upsets over the ranked teams, any combination of multiple wins would be an impressive improvement over last season and good showing for potential selection into the NCAA tournament in May. And the feat is far from impossible.

So what’s different this season? The easier question is, what is still the same?

Not much.

Fresh off of a highlight-filled assistant coaching career at the Naval Academy, new head coach John Tillman has revolutionized Harvard’s game with the help of assistant coaches Anthony Kelly and Kevin Warne.

“Everything is new to these guys from the schemes to the terms that we use,” Tillman said of his squad following last Tuesday’s win over Hartford.

Whatever it is, it’s working.

A ‘D’ consisting of mostly freshmen and sophomores struggled to have any kind of consistent play last season, coughing up 61 goals in the first five matchups alone.

In the last two games, the Crimson posted 41- and 48-minute streaks of shutout play, allowing just five goals for a total of 22 so far this season. Junior goalkeeper Joe Pike has a .644 save percentage on the season with a 4.29 goals against average.

Maybe more impressive is the resurgence of Harvard’s offense.

“Defense is always challenging but is easier to learn because a lot of the concepts carry over in most sports, a lot of the key philosophies are standard,” Tillman said. “On offense there’s skill, how well you play together, reading teammates—it’s all gotta happen fast.”

With a number of key roles filled by underclassmen, I predicted the offense would be much like last year’s defense—young and unable to find a rhythm.

Well, I was wrong again, but could you really blame me?

Despite flashes of brilliance in his rookie campaign, sophomore midfielder Jason Duboe struggled to stay consistent. Who knew he would harness that energy to become the team’s leading scorer with 11 goals and three assists thus far?

And Duboe is just one of the underclassmen to step into the scoring spotlight—classmates Jesse Fehr and Travis Burr have combined for 15 goals and two assists, and freshman Dean Gibbons has eight points on five goals and three assists.

The only aspect of the Crimson’s game that hasn’t yet made leaps and bounds is the faceoff. But how can you expect junior Nick Smith to fill Flood’s shoes with nearly no experience at the X?

Yet even this “step back” is hardly that, as Smith, too, has risen to the occasion, winning 41 of his 70 faceoffs.

Yes, Harvard is a stronger all-around team this year. But the mark of a great team is found in how it responds to adversity. The next five games will be the true test of how the Crimson has changed, but I have a sneaky feeling I might find myself frequenting the press box come May.

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.