Laxmen Sink Maroon

Two major floods hit the Springfield area last night.

The first was an act of God, as a steady rain caused the banks of the Connecticut River to overflow in many areas of Western Massachusetts.

But the second was even more impressive. Fighting a rainstorm and a muddy field last night at Springfield College, the Harvard men's lacrosse team mounted a deluge of shots at the Maroons' net and swept away the hosts, 12-6.

The rapid-fire Harvard offense continually pelted the Springfield net, outshooting the Maroons in the game by a margin of 45-18. But defense was also a key, as the Crimson shut out the Maroons in two of the first three periods.

Harvard (6-1 overall, 1-1 Ivy League) was never seriously challenged by Springfield, as it moved out to a 3-0 lead after the first quarter. The Crimson owned a 7-2 advantage at the half--a lead that grew to 10-2 at the start of the final period.

Brad Raymond and Rob Griffith were the leading scorers in the game, each firing in three goals and earning one assist. Dave Kramer threw in two goals and Steve Lux helped out with three assists.

Nick Nero, Perry Dodge, Mark Donovan and Craig Russman each tallied once to complete the scoring for the laxmen. Spingfield's Ron Fraser and Chris Seibel scored two goals apeice in a losing effort.

Harvard goalie Mike Bergmann--who earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors for his effort against Penn a week ago--continues to have an impressive season in the cage, stopping seven shots in his three periods of action while letting in only two. Back-up Jim Yue came in for the final period and made two saves.

After opening up a big lead, Harvard Coach Bob Scalise let many of his starters take the final quarter off, allowing every one who made the trip to see action.

The Crimson now must gear up for Saturday's big contest with Yale at Ohiri Field. Because of an early-season loss to Cornell, every Ivy League game is a must-win for Harvard, should it want to grab a piece of the title.

THE NOTEBOOK: The laxmen won virtually all of the face-offs in last night's game, finishing on the large end of a 17-4 margin.