Late Run Earns Crimson Victory

With the fans behind him, the wind in his face, the lights above him, and UMass’s goalie standing between him and an upset win for Harvard, Crimson co-captain Dean Gibbons attacked, splitting defenders, and fired the shot that would put the Crimson ahead for good with 2:28 remaining in the game.

In one of its most highly anticipated games of the season, the Harvard men’s lacrosse team (6-2, 1-1 Ivy), ranked 20th in the latest Inside Lacrosse poll, took on the No. 14 Minutemen (5-3, 0-1 CAA) in their annual intrastate rivalry game.

“This game was all about bragging rights for being the best team in the state of Massachusetts,” Crimson coach Chris Wojcik ’96 said. “You’ve got two teams that play [with] very similar styles: [both teams] like to run and play aggressive.”

The play of the teams was aggressive, but despite the constant complaints that rang out from the stands, the referees swallowed their whistles.

The visitors struck first and remained in the lead in a one-sided first quarter until Harvard junior attackman Jeff Cohen caught the ball with 10 seconds left in the quarter.

Sprinting hard towards the goal with mere seconds left in the frame, Cohen hurled the ball past the UMass goalie into the back of the net to bring the Crimson within one, 3-2.

The second quarter was much the same with the Minutemen scoring two goals to increase its lead before Cohen was able to score once again for Harvard to close the half, 5-3.

But despite a combination of turnovers and sloppy play, the Crimson kept it close going into the break.

“I told my team at the half that we had just played our worst half of lacrosse all season and we were only down two,” Wojcik said.

In the opening minutes of the third quarter, the Minutemen looked as though they were ready to put the game away, scoring three unanswered goals to take a commanding 8-3 lead.

But Harvard would not go down that easily.

After scoring a goal of its own and giving up yet another score, the Crimson went on an offensive tear. Harvard picked apart the UMass defense for four straight goals, culminating with an unassisted score from sophomore midfielder Ryan Stevens.

Yet it wasn’t just the Crimson’s heralded offense that allowed them to keep the game close.

“The main reason we were able to stay in the game was due to the play of [sophomore] Harry Krieger in goal,” Wojcik said. “He kept us in it, save after save.  He was our most valuable guy.”

“I was seeing the ball really well, but our defense was playing unreal,” Krieger added. “We played hard when we were down and just tried to pull it out against a really good team.”

Along with Krieger, Gibbons also stepped up for Harvard, scoring the goal that put his squad ahead, 9-8, with 8:17 left in the contest.

The Minutemen responded, tying the game at nine with 4:57 in regulation.

But Gibbons wasn’t done.  He scored yet again to complete his hat trick, and Krieger and the defense were able to shut down UMass for the remainder of the game to come out with the victory.

Freshman midfielder Daniel Eipp managed to add one more goal for good measure, sealing the 11-9 win.

“I was really proud of the way we played in the second half,” Wojcik said.

Key to the second-half comeback was the play of Gibbons, who has been on an offensive tear this season. The six-foot attackman has scored in all but one game for the Crimson this season for a total of 18 goals. His 29 points and 84  shots both pace Harvard.

The victory may also yield postseason implications, as Harvard looks to build its resume for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

But for now, the Crimson is content with its spot at the top of Massachusetts men’s lacrosse.