No. 14/15 Men's Lacrosse Dominates Vermont in Season Opener

Amidst blistering winds at Soldier’s Field, the No. 14/15 Harvard men’s lacrosse team started its season blistering hot.

The Crimson offense scored six fourth-quarter goals and its defense allowed just nine shots all game as Harvard (1-0) cruised to an 11-4 win over Vermont (0-2) Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore attackman Daniel Eipp recorded a hat trick in the victory, while senior attack Jeff Cohen, tri-captain Kevin Vaughan, and sophomore attack Carl Zimmerman all scored twice.

“It was a good start for us,” Cohen said. “Offensively, we weren’t exactly where we wanted to be, but we played hard and pulled out the win, which is all that really matters at the start of the season.”

It was Cohen who got the scoring going eight minutes into the opening period, taking a Vaughan pass and beating Catamounts goalie David Barton for the game’s first score.

“We ran a fish-hook,” said Cohen, who led the team with 31 scores last season. “It’s a nifty little play we’ve been working on. It’s a pretty cool play in transition.”

After Connor McNamara provided an equalizer for Vermont at the 3:23 mark of the period, Vaughan and Zimmerman added goals before the quarter was up to give the Crimson a 3-1 lead after one.

Nobody scored in the second as the teams committed a combined 12 turnovers. The Crimson defense, with a number of highly-touted freshmen recruits, did not even allow an attempt on net.

“I think defensively we looked great,” Cohen said. “We really limited their shots and [goalkeeper] Harry [Krieger] played awesome.”

In the third, freshman Jack Walker recorded his first career goal—off an assist from fellow rookie Keegan Michel—and Zimmerman added his second score of the game to give the Crimson a 5-1 lead headed into the final period.

“[Both of my goals] were basically from the same spot, what we call a wing-dodge,” said Zimmerman, whose two goals Saturday equaled his total from all of last season. “I was able to get a quick step underneath my guy, beat the slide, and score. It’s a position I’m comfortable in, so I was glad I was able to take advantage of it.”

In the fourth quarter, Eipp got the scoring started quickly, beating Barton just 30 seconds in. The sophomore added another goal five minutes later to make it 7-1.

“It was a good day for our whole attack,” Cohen said.

Andrew Buckanavage and McNamara responded with two quick scores for Vermont. But Vaughan, Cohen—off Michel’s second assist—and Eipp then poured in three more goals, and freshman Will Walker added his first career score to give the Crimson an eight-point lead, 11-3.

“We had a lot of new faces out there,” Zimmerman said. “It’s a great freshman class, so it was great to see they could run with all of us in the college game. The biggest thing to making the transition from high school to college is keeping that confidence.... Seeing that they didn’t really take a step back and got right into it is great.”

The Catamounts’ Thomas Galvin added a goal with 19 seconds remaining, but by then, the game was far out of reach.

It was a dominant performance by Harvard, which outshot Vermont 41-19. Though there were eight penalties in the contest, the teams were a combined 0-for-6 on man-up opportunities.

“Our defense and our goalie, Harry Krieger, they really kept us in it the whole time,” Zimmerman said. “We ended up making a lot of mistakes on offense, but it ended up being a non-factor because our defense and our goalie played so well.”

Michel led the Crimson with seven ground balls, while senior defenseman Daniel DiMaria collected six. The Crimson also won 11 of 19 faceoffs while forcing 23 Vermont turnovers.

“Overall, it was a great team effort,” Zimmerman said.

—Staff writer Sherman A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.