Jeff Cohen Becomes Harvard's All-Time Leading Scorer

Forty-two seconds into the fourth quarter of the Harvard men’s lacrosse team’s 14-10 loss to Cornell Saturday afternoon, senior attack Jeff Cohen reared back, fired on net, and scored, just as he had 132 other times in his collegiate career.

But goal number 133 was not like any of Cohen’s previous tallies. This one guaranteed him a spot in the Crimson record books as Harvard’s all-time leading scorer, edging him past Dave Bohn ’61.

“The record has stood for a really long time, so it’s exciting to be a part of Harvard lacrosse history,” Cohen said.

The senior had steamrolled towards the record with seven goals, a career high, last weekend against Michigan, and then recorded a hat trick against the Big Red on Saturday to move past Bohn.

“He’s an outstanding player and a great person,” Crimson coach Chris Wojcik ’96 said. “[The record] is a testament to his hard work and dedication.”

For his part, Bohn could not have been happier to see his record broken.

“I’ve been waiting for someone to do it, and I’ve been watching,” Bohn said. “I can’t imagine how a record could last for however many years it’s been; somebody else should have it.”

Cohen, from Garden City, N.Y., has still only scored just over half as many goals in college as he did during his high school career—260—when he shattered the all-time Long Island scoring record of 236 that was previously held by Max Motschwiller ’09 and Dean Gibbons ’11.

The attackman was deemed the No. 4 recruit in the country following his senior season, and chose to follow in the footsteps of his brothers, Steve ’06 and Greg ’07, in playing lacrosse at Harvard.

Upon arriving in Cambridge, Jeff more than justified the high ranking and has proven himself to be the best of the Cohen trio.

The lefty led Harvard in scoring during a freshman campaign in which he registered 34 goals—good for ninth place on Harvard’s all-time single-season list.

He then followed that up by scoring 29 times as a sophomore and 31 times as a junior.

But this year, Cohen has turned in his best performance to date, registering a career-high 39 tallies that have placed him second in the country in goals and goals per game, behind only Colgate’s Peter Baum.

“[Cohen] has consistently played at a very high level for all four years,” Wojcik said.

With four contests still to go in the regular season, the attackman has a shot to challenge the school’s all-time single-season scoring record of 58—held by Dexter Lewis ’55 and Mike Faught ’79—as well as to continue moving his way up the Harvard career points list (on Saturday, he tied Gibbons for ninth place with 155).

Bohn, who now lives in New Hampshire, said that at Wojcik’s request, he was planning on coming to Harvard Stadium Tuesday night to be part of a ceremony before the Crimson’s game against Quinnipiac that will honor Cohen for breaking his record.

Bohn added that he still follows today’s Harvard squad, and though he has not yet met  Cohen, he looks forward to connecting with the young man who knocked him off the top of the Crimson career scoring list on Tuesday.

“I try to get down for two to three games a year, and I’ve watched [Cohen] for four years now,” Bohn said. “So it’s pretty exciting. Good for him.”

A humbled Cohen explained on Saturday that he would be better able to look back on his accomplishment when his senior season was over.

“It’s something that will be easier to reflect on in a few games, at least, but it’s definitely exciting,” the attackman said. “It’s something that’s due to a lot of hard work and a lot of help from my teammates and coaches.”

But with four regular season games and a potential playoff still to go, Cohen has a chance to secure his name atop the Harvard record books for a long time.

“The way he’s going, he’s not just going to break [the record], he’s going to squash it,” Bohn said. “He’s making it difficult for the next guy.”

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