Bulldogs Shade Laxmen, 7-5; Crimson Drops Final Match

The varsity lacrosse team dropped its final game of the season Saturday, as Yale shaded the Crimson, 7-5, in New Haven.

In a close match which could have gone either way, Harvard outshot the Bulldogs, 35-31, and contained their top scorer, Tom Fagan, until the final quarter, when he tallied twice to boost Yale to victory.

The Crimson took the lead early in the match, with attackman Steve Leahy scoring in the first three minutes of play, but Yale came back with a goal before the end of the opening quarter to tie the game at 1-1.

The Bulldogs went ahead in the second period with two goals by Peter Tarr, but Harvard's high scorer, John Hagerty, put a shot past goalie Bing Gordon with one minute remaining in the half to narrow Yale's lead to 3-2. Hagerty scored again in the third quarter to even the match.

Yale took the lead with a cheap goal at 1:15 of the final period, when Fagan threw a long shot into an open net after Harvard midfielder Verdi DiSesa had lost the ball on a clear. Less than 30 seconds later, however, the Crimson rebounded with a score by Leif Rosenberger.

The Bulldogs collected another goal at 6:23, but again Harvard came back within 30 seconds, as Hagerty tallied for the third time to tie the game at 5-5.

Fagan made the winning score for Yale on a fluke goal at 7:03. The attackman was feeding a pass from behind the Crimson net when Harvard goalie Rob Abbot stepped out to try to intercept the ball. Fagan's pass hit Abbot on the chest and bounced into the goal. A few minutes later, Dan Lynch scored for Yale to ensure a Bulldog victory.

"We played a very good game and lost only because of a couple of bad breaks." Crimson coach Bruce Munro said. Munro was pleased that his defense held Fagan to two goals--last year Fagan scored five times against Harvard.

"We didn't double-team him, which is what he was used to," Munro said. "He kept looking for the spare man to feed him the ball, and of course there was no spare man. Steve Whitman did as good a job covering him singly as anyone I've ever seen."

The stickmen finished the season with a disappointing 3-8 record, having won only a single victory in the Ivy League, when they downed Dartmouth in sudden death.

"Although we lost, the Yale game was a satisfying ending to a rather disastrous season," Munro said. "We've shown good improvement in the last four matches--we should just be starting the spring schedule now."