Harvard Continues to Roll With Win Over Seawolves

Out to prove its victory over then-No. 5 Duke last weekend was no fluke, the Harvard men’s lacrosse team trounced Stony Brook, 12-4, in New York on Saturday in its second game of the season.

“I thought it was a good win for us especially to follow up last week,” co-captain Nick Sapia said. “We got over our win pretty well and played well against a good Stony Brook team.”

The No. 15/14 Crimson was led by sophomore attackman Dean Gibbons. Gibbons, who missed last week’s surprising victory over the Blue Devils with pneumonia, terrorized the Seawolves to the tune of four goals and an assist. He was one of eight Harvard players to score on the afternoon.

“Dean didn’t play last week so this was his first game, but he really stepped up,” Sapia said. “He shot the ball well and gave our offense a big lift.”

The Crimson began the onslaught early. Gibbons scored his first goal, an unassisted effort, just five minutes into the action. Junior attackman Travis Burr followed suit six minutes later on his own unassisted goal. Moments after that, Gibbons found junior attackman Jesse Fehr for the last of Harvard’s three first period goals.

Stony Brook managed to get on the scoreboard late in the first period. Only 13 seconds after Seawolves Adam Rand won a faceoff, attackman Chris Scott assisted teammate Kevin Crowley for Stony Brook’s lone goal of the half.

“Our entire defensive unit played extremely well,” Sapia said. “We had a good game plan and they executed it perfectly.”

In the second period, the Crimson stretched the lead to 5-1. Gibbons had a hand in each goal, scoring one and assisting freshman Kevin Vaughn on another. Vaughn’s goal was the first of his collegiate career.

At halftime, Harvard held a commanding lead in shots, 18-6, and ground balls, 17-10, while winning the turnover battle, 7-10.

Any hopes of a Stony Brook victory were lost in the third period. In the first half of the frame, the Crimson took advantage of a pair of Seawolf penalties. A slashing call gave Harvard a man-up opportunity that eventually led to a goal by junior midfielder Jason Duboe. Only 16 seconds after Duboe’s score, the Seawolves were penalized for another slash, enabling Fehr to find freshman attackman Jeff Cohen for the score. Cohen, who torched the Blue Devils last week with three goals and an assist, has recorded a goal in each of his first two collegiate games.

In the rest of the third period, Gibbons scored his fourth goal of the game, Vaughn his second, and senior midfielder Nick Sapia his first to give the Crimson a 10-1 lead.

Stony Brook rallied somewhat in the fourth period. After a Crimson penalty five minutes into the frame gave the Seawolves a man advantage, Jordan McBride found the back of the net for the first of his two goals. Several minutes later, Mike Palmer buried an unassisted effort.

Aside from this late charge, Harvard’s defense, anchored by senior goalie Joe Pike, was outstanding. Pike stopped six shots, snared two ground balls, and allowed only two goals in 54:28 minutes of work.

“Joe Pike played outstanding,” Motschwiller said, “but the entire defense played well. We have a lot of senior leadership on defense…and they’ve been playing together for a while now.”

In the end, the Crimson’s advantage was too great to overcome. Senior attackman Jeff Wannop and sophomore attackman Matt Hull added two late goals to the Crimson’s total for a final score of 12-4.

“It was a big win for us,” Motschwiller said, “as is any win to keep the ball rolling.”

—Staff writer Timothy J. Walsh can be reached at twalsh@fas.harvard.edu.