Harvard Caps Off Season With Decisive Victory

The Harvard men’s lacrosse team ended its regular season on Saturday the way it started its campaign over two months ago in its 9-6 upset of then-No. 7 Duke—with a bang.

Coming back from a first-half deficit, the Crimson battled to a decisive 8-5 victory over Dartmouth on the Big Green’s Scully-Fahey Field. With the win, Harvard improved its record to 8-5, 3-3 Ivy, while moving Dartmouth’s standing back to 4-11, 1-5 Ivy.

But the victory was bittersweet. As the clock ticked down the seconds, sounding off a triumphant blare signaling a Crimson victory, it also marked what may be the end of several lacrosse careers.

But this did not stop Harvard’s senior class, which propelled its team to one last Ivy League win.

“We had some great senior efforts,” tri-captain Nick Smith said. “That’s what really turned us around and got us the win.”

Smith led the team in ground balls, recording five on the day. Tri-captain Sam Slaughter upheld this defensive effort, while goalkeeper Joe Pike made 11 saves to bring his season total up to 110.

Tri-captain Max Motschwiller led offensively as he opened up scoring for the Crimson late in the first quarter. With Harvard suffering an early two-goal deficit, Motschwiller made his presence known at 1:36 with an unassisted score.

After another minute of play, the freshman power duo of Jeff Cohen and Terry White followed up on Motschwiller’s tally, as Cohen found the net off of a White ball with 0:31 remaining in the quarter.

Dartmouth fired back at the beginning of the second quarter, scoring two successive goals at 13:26 and 11:48. Cohen answered back at 7:54, again off a White assist, sending Harvard into the locker room down 4-3.

“The first half was not one of our better halves,” Motschwiller said. “But we hung in there and the second half was one of the best halves we’ve played all year.”

Luckily for the Crimson, that second-half surge was just enough to power them over the Big Green and end the regular season with a win. Harvard scored four consecutive, unanswered goals during the third period, leaving Dartmouth trailing 4-7 as the quarter-ending whistle blew.

Junior Travis Burr began the Crimson’s scoring spree, finding the net at 14:13 with a pass from Motschwiller. Cohen followed suit at 11:41 as he registered his third goal for the matchup at 11:41.

Sophomore Dean Gibbons finished up the third quarter for Harvard, recording two tallies at 9:18 and 1:23 with balls from freshman Kevin Vaughan and Burr, respectively.

This offensive effort sealed the Big Green’s fate. Dartmouth recorded one final goal at 6:47 that was quickly followed by an unassisted Motschwiller tally at 4:52, bringing up the final score of 8-5.

With the victory, the Crimson was able to finish its regular season with a three-game streak, while registering the program’s highest win total since 2002.

“Its been a really important year for the program,” said Smith. “We set the bar really high for years to come and I think all the seniors are proud to be leaving the legacy that we have left.”

The Crimson will find out tonight whether it will earn a bid into the NCAA tournament.

—Staff writer Alexandra J. Mihalek can be reached at amihalek@fas.harvard.edu.