Harvard to Play Spoiler at Yale

One streak will have to end tomorrow afternoon in New Haven.

As the Harvard men’s lacrosse team (5-7, 0-4 Ivy) takes on archrival Yale (4-8, 0-5) tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Reese Stadium, whether that streak will be the Crimson’s or the Bulldogs’ winless run in the Ivies is up for grabs.

Although an Ancient Eight victory has been beyond Harvard’s reach, it hasn’t been by much, as three of the team’s four losses have been by two goals or fewer.

But Yale, too, seems to be on the brink of an Ivy victory, having been just inches from the elusive win on multiple occasions—the Bulldogs have not lost by more than three goals to an Ivy squad this season.

“In the Ivies, you know every year if it’s a league game you can throw out the records,” Crimson coach John Tillman said. “The people in the league know each other pretty well, you know it’s going to be a dog fight…We have to match their emotion, intensity, and passion.”

To do so the Crimson will look to its offensive powerhouses. Sophomore midfielder Jason Duboe presents a tough task for the Bulldog defense as the fourth-best goal scorer in the league with 23 tallies through 12 games.

Duboe will be aided by an offensive attack that has gelled over the past few games. Freshman attacker Dean Gibbons and sophomore midfielder Travis Burr each had four points in Harvard’s last outing, a 12-6 victory over Holy Cross.

“That’s something we strive to do—we try to play in a way that if everybody is capable, dangerous, and ready and we make good decisions, it could be a situation where every week someone new is stepping up, making a play,” Tillman said. “That makes us trickier to defend and allows us flexibility.”

On Senior Day at Reese Field, the Bulldogs will counter with a slew of seniors, including one of the top goalies in the league, George Carafides, who sits second in the Ivies with 11 saves per game. Carafides had 19 stops in last weekend’s 10-2 victory over Air Force.

Continuing with its senior theme, Yale will present a formidable opponent at the faceoff X in the form of senior midfielder Gregory Duboff, who has won over 60 percent of his faceoffs this season.

The Crimson trio of junior Nick Smith and freshmen Andrew Parchman and Christian Oberbeck will have its hands full. The three midfielders had a strong showing last weekend, winning 15-of-21, and have come on strong in the last few games, meaning it will be anyone’s ball at the X.

“We feel like with those three guys we have three different styles, and we feel like they all do something a little bit different,” Tillman said. “I think when you have three it’s really helpful. Sometimes [it prevents] matchup problems.”

The Bulldog offense will also find itself in the hands of a senior, as attacker Tyler Casertano leads Yale with 34 points and 16 assists on the season.

But if the last few games are any indication, Casertano will need a strong supporting cast to best the Crimson. Much like the offense, Harvard’s defense has led behind the consistently strong play of junior goalie Joe Pike. For Harvard the question will be whether or not the ‘D’ can play a full 60 minutes of stifling defense.

“I think that defense is going to be key this weekend,” tri-captain Nick La Fiura said. “[Yale has] one of the best faceoff guys in the country…If they get the ball a lot more, it’s going to test our defense for 60 minutes. We’re going to play them tough. We have some good systems and qualities this weekend that should help us defend pretty well.”

With a chance to hand Yale a winless Ivy season, a loss on senior day, and to avenge last year’s 9-8 loss—the Crimson’s first to the Bulldogs since 2003—Reese Stadium is bound to see an all-out battle tomorrow afternoon.

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