First Time For Everything: No. 15 Men’s Lax Topples No. 6 Syracuse

Following a weekend of upsets, the Division I men’s lacrosse field is anyone’s game. And, redeeming itself after a tough loss against a talented Colgate team, the No. 15 Harvard men’s lacrosse team (2-1, 0-0 Ivy) proved that it is still in contention for glory on Memorial Day Weekend after staging a superb 15-14 comeback win against the No. 6 Syracuse Orange.

There’s a first time for everything, and Head Coach Gerry Byrne will hold a spot in the Harvard record books as the first Crimson men’s lacrosse coach to beat the perennial powerhouse. Leveling its score against Upstate New York teams, the Harvard program had its sights set on victory as it made the trek to Syracuse this past weekend, and the team did not disappoint.

“Playing in that kind of atmosphere against a high caliber team is what we dream of,” junior middie John Aurandt IV said. “We knew we were doubted going into that game and that will continue all season but we all believe in one another and that’s all that matters when the first whistle blows.”

Meeting for the first time since the first round of the NCAA postseason tournament in 2006, the Crimson would rewrite the story and leave one of the best teams in the nation in shambles. While important to think about each game in isolation, and to not dwell on losses, the beating from Colgate on Tuesday was certainly at the forefront of the Harvard team’s mind as it made the five hour trip.

“Losing to Colgate, I think defensively we took a lot of blame for that and understood that something had to change,” junior defender Charlie Muller said. “I think the first step was communication. We consistently had two hot guys, people being quiet, and overall we lacked cohesion on the defensive end.”

“This week we really emphasized that we want to have one slide guy at all times with a pretty nifty Syracuse offense,” said Muller about what the team looked to change heading into its game with the Orange. “Overall we just want to be loud and get max effort for a full 80 seconds. I think that revamped our defense and gave us a new way to think about stacking possession, stacking stops, and that’s why we did so well.”

Being loud on defense and working through the crafty Syracuse offense—which is known as being one of the slipperiest attacks in the nation—was ultimately what Muller lauded as being the defining characteristic of the winning team. And, despite proving an insurmountable challenge for the first six minutes, with SU racing out to a quick 5-0 lead with 9:11 on the board, the defense was able to re-group and keep the Orange in check.

Part of what made the Crimson successful on the defensive end was keeping Joey Spallina—who ranks as the No. 2 player in the nation for total points so far this season—relatively silent, holding him to just one goal and three assists.

But, it took the Crimson too long to get into the zone. Slow starts are something that plague the Crimson squad; yet, the team embraces the disadvantage. The underdog mentality lights a fire on the bench, and it was just the motivating factor that Byrne’s squad needed to propel it to victory.

What caused the lopsided swing from the first whistle was the inability to win possession at the face off X, with Syracuse’s John Mullen winning 28 of his 31 takes. With just 12% of the clamps falling in favor of Harvard, the defense was forced onto its backfoot in order to get the ball down to the offensive end.

Looking at the overall stat lines for the two teams outside of just the face off, it would seem unbelievable that Harvard could come home victorious. Syracuse outshot Harvard 50-40, put three more shots on cage, had a more successful clearing percentage, scooped up almost twice as many GBs—although this is inflated given the face off—and went 2-2 on its extra man opportunities.

What the score sheet doesn’t account for, though, is heart. And, that is exactly what Byrne’s team showed yesterday: they wanted to win. For the first time this season, the Crimson was hungry for victory, and it was evident in the hustle, pace of play, and grittiness. It was also clear from the camaraderie on the sidelines and the support from the fan base that made the trip to the JMA Wireless Dome. The Ivy League certainly wasn’t touted as a less-physical conference after their performance.

Harvard was an all-around solid team yesterday as players stepped up big time across the field. Freshman goalie Graham Stevens stood on his head for 13 saves, senior middie Miles Botkiss showed his poise on the big stage with two goals and two assists, and senior Logan Darrin played shut-down defense.

With Syracuse locking down senior attackman Sam King, jumping the gun with a quick double team on several occasions that allowed King to facilitate from X, the Crimson offense rose to the occasion and played as a team.

The offense looked hottest when skipping the ball quickly around the perimeter, forcing the Syracuse defense to play to its pace, which got it caught ball-watching on several occasions. With two minutes left in the first, junior attackman Teddy Malone recognized that his defender’s attention flipped to sophomore attackman Jack Speidell as he dodged around the left side of the cage, and he cunningly backdoored his man in the middle of the arc, catching the ball low off-side before finishing with a slick twizzler.

Clawing its way out of its deficit to end the second quarter trailing by just two goals, 10-8, things were starting to heat up on the Harvard bench as the team realized that it was still alive, and beginning to take control of the field. During the ten minute break, Syracuse’s Head Coach Garry Gait started questioning whether to substitute his starting goalie in Jimmy McCool for the 5’8” sophomore Michael Ippoliti, a move he would make a few minutes later, and one that would prove vital to creating a backstop for the Syracuse Defense. In a quarter-and-a-half, Ippoliti posted four saves and allowed five goals as opposed to McCool’s 10 goals against with just five saves.

The goalie change would come on the heels of the equalizing goal, which was entirely Malone with 9:34 on the clock. The attackman recognized the mis-match that left him with shortie coverage, and the attacker made the defense pay for not sending a pole. On a hard face dodge from the left wing, Malone attacked his man’s top shoulder, barreling down the alley toward the middle of the arc where the Syracuse zone’s hesitance to send a slide resulted in a one-on-one with McCool as Malone beat his man top side.

Following the three-goal run that got the Crimson to an even playing field on goals from King—whose tally ended the second quarter with just 48 seconds to go—junior captain and middie Logan Ip, and Malone, play would go back and forth for the rest of the period. As the clock wound down on the third, Aurandt IV—who had three points on the day—left the fans speechless with a sickeningly-awesome goal, breaking his defenders ankles on a toe drag that sent his matchup sprawling and Syracuse’s goalie standing in disbelief as the ball dropped squarely behind him in the cage.

Neither team would score for the final 21 seconds of the quarter, but Aurandt’s goal clearly gave the Crimson the spark it needed as the next two takes fell in Harvard’s favor, earning it its first lead of the afternoon.

Harvard’s 15-13 lead extended well into the fourth until Crimson sophomore SSDM Andrew Glinski took a knee with about three minutes on the clock, serving a two-minute non-releasable penalty that could not have come at a more pivotal moment. A cross-check with contact to the head that the referees locked in following review, the penalty almost proved fatal to Harvard’s unbelievable comeback story.

It only took one minute for Syracuse to find the back of the net on its second man-up opportunity of the afternoon as an SU player was left open for the one more following a low-to-high skip pass at the top of the fan. Not wasting any time taking his shot, the Orange player sniped it low on the turf past Stevens, eliciting a raucous cheer from the Orange bench.

With another face off going in favor of Syracuse and over a minute left on the man-up, a big save from Stevens with one minute left on the game clock gave Harvard hope that if it could successfully clear over the midline, it would have a chance to run down the remaining seconds for a victory.

Perhaps it was the nerves of the potential upset, but with less than five seconds left to clear, senior defender Martin Nelson chose to take a shot from the fifty. While the tactic can be successful on a 10-man ride that leaves the cage unminded, Ippoliti was squarely in the middle of the pipes which resulted in an easy stop from the sophomore.

With the ball now back in Syracuse’s stick, the upset seemingly slipped out of Harvard’s grasp as the Orange successfully cleared into its zone with 30 seconds of man up play left, and the chance to equalize the game at 15 a piece and send the contest into overtime.

Down in the defensive zone the tension was palpable as Nelson tipped a Syracuse pass, causing the ball to bounce into the arc and giving the Crimson a 50-50 chance. Unable to win the scrum, the ball was picked up by a waiting Orange player who took a diving shot on the goalmouth that sailed just wide of the cage. Stevens smartly dove behind the net upon recognizing the ball’s trajectory, and in a gritty move beat a Syracuse player in their race to be closest to the line.

Able to clear the ball, Byrne called a time out with 23 seconds on the clock, settling his players and making the necessary substitutions to get his starting lineup on the field. Double-teamed in the low left corner as the whistle blew following the break, King was unable to split the double, and was stripped behind the cage with 18 on the clock. The Syracuse defense scooped it up and got the ball over the line, working for one final take with three seconds left. While it got the opportunity, the chance was squandered.

Blocked by a Crimson defender before ever reaching the cage, time expired as the Harvard bench rushed the turf. Upset complete.

Cue the celebrations, and respect the win, but the work isn’t done yet for Harvard. While it is set to take on an unranked opponent this weekend in Marquette, the Crimson won’t be able to rest on its laurels if it wants to successfully defend Jordan Field.

“When you have these big wins, you understand that they don’t give you any of the tangible assets to beat Marquette so I think we have to simmer,” Muller said. “Coach Brown always talks about not getting too hot or too cold, but just staying at that simmer point where you can boil if you need to.”

Simmer it will this weekend as the team welcomes Marquette to Jordan Field at noon on Saturday. Catch the action live, or stream the battle on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Katharine A. Forst can be reached at katharine.forst@thecrimson.com