Comeback Try Falls Just Short

With 15 seconds left in the contest, the Harvard men’s lacrosse team lined up for its final face-off against Georgetown—and its last chance at a game-tying goal—looking to cap an impressive comeback effort that saw the Crimson net four goals in the final two minutes of play.

Unfortunately for No. 11 Harvard (1-1), the last few seconds on the clock would wind down without another tally, as the No. 14 Hoyas (1-1) held on to win the game, 13-12, in a matchup of two nationally-ranked teams yesterday afternoon at Georgetown. The game was the Crimson’s first televised contest of the season.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Hoyas led Harvard by a mere 8-7, but Georgetown dominated the majority of the final frame, forcing the Crimson to attempt to dig itself out of a late five-goal hole. Constant offensive pressure from the Hoyas, along with a few defensive missteps by Harvard, allowed Georgetown to outscore the Crimson, 5-1, in the first 13 minutes of the quarter.

Despite the deficit, Harvard battled until time ran out. Senior midfielder Travis Burr led the way with two crucial scores, coming with 1:55 and 1:15 remaining. The first goal was unassisted, and the second came with two seconds remaining in a man-up situation, after a pushing penalty removed Hoya Chris Nourse from the game for 30 seconds.

The Crimson’s sophomore duo of attack Kevin Vaughan and midfielder Terry White then contributed the last two late-game goals with 24 and 15 seconds remaining on the clock, respectively. Harvard’s offensive spurt toward the end of the game put Harvard within striking distance of Georgetown, but it proved to be too late.

“We were able to string some goals together [at the close of the fourth quarter],” junior attack Dean Gibbons said. “In the end, it didn’t turn out right, but we made it a lot more interesting than it would have been.”

The first three quarters of the game were characterized by a pair of lead changes and four ties. The Hoyas jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but after that neither team would find itself more than two goals ahead prior to the fourth quarter. In fact, the Crimson led Georgetown for most of the second and third quarters, and overall, Harvard recorded 42 shots compared to the Hoyas’ 46.

“At times we played really well, and at times we didn’t take advantage of our opportunities,” Gibbons said. “It’s definitely a learning experience for us. We were able to gain some confidence [today that we’ll need later in the season].”

The Crimson offense was spearheaded by sophomore attack Jeff Cohen, Vaughan, and Burr, who tallied three goals each. Both Harvard and Georgetown boasted a balanced offense, as six Crimson players and ten Hoyas scored on the day.

Harvard’s sophomore goalkeeper Christian Coates had a solid performance between the pipes, recording eight saves. Coates was supported by a strong defensive line that halted Georgetown’s attack and generated offensive opportunities for the Crimson.

Senior defenseman Ben Smith capitalized on one such opportunity, netting a goal of his own for the second straight game.

“We were playing aggressive and playing really well,” Smith said. “We were trying to get the other team to make some mistakes…[The movement up-field] all started with the defense. I just had a good lane to the net.”

Contests between Harvard and the Hoyas have traditionally been very tight games. Last year, Georgetown downed the Crimson 9-8, as now senior attack Rickey Mirabito netted the winning goal in overtime. Yesterday’s contest was the second game of the season for both Harvard and the Hoyas, who have each recorded one win and one loss thus far.

“We have a lot of conference games coming up,” junior midfielder Andrew Parchman said. “We want to win every game for rest of season and use these next few games…to get ready for the Ivy League season.”

The Crimson is looking forward to Saturday, when it will continue its very promising season at Holy Cross.