Laxmen Edge New Hampshire

The Harvard men's lacrosse team, led by a stingy defense, held off several late threats by New Hampshire to defeat the Wildcats, 6-5, before a crowd of 50 Monday at Ohiri Field.

The Crimson (9-4 overall, 3-2 Ivy League) never did get its offense--which contributed 18 goals in Saturday's rout of Holy Cross--in gear, scoring sporadically throughout the contest.

But the Harvard defensemen proved tough enough to shut down the UNH attack when it counted, including twice in the final three minutes of play.

With the score 6-5 and time running out, the Wildcats had two oppotunities to tie the game. The first one came with three minutes left when defenseman Rob Graff--playing in his final home game for the Crimson--made a fine play to strip away the ball and relieve the pressure around the Harvard net.

In the closing minute, junior Dean Graham blocked a Wildcat shot and scooped up the rebound. Graham then raced the length of the field, which enabled the Crimson to nearly run the clock out. UNH had one more chance with six seconds remaining, but its desperation heave flew wide of the net, preserving the win for Harvard.

"This was a very strange game," Harvard Coach Bob Scalise said. "Both teams seemed to control the ball in spurts, first one and then the other. We played very well defensively, like we have all year. Our offense passed very crisply, but we had trouble putting the ball in the net."

The contest was fairly even throughout, as neither squad was able to build a lead of more than one goal until the end of the third quarter, when the Crimson grabbed a 6-4 advantage. Before Harvard took a two-goal lead, both teams exchanged leads five times in the game.

Offensively, the Crimson was led by sophomore Steve Lux and Brad Raymond, as well as junior Chris Garvey, who combined for five of the laxmen's six goals.

Lux led all scorers in the game with four points, three goals and one assist, while Raymond added two goals of his own. Garvey scored one goal and had two assists, and freshman Parry Dodge rounded out the scoring by tallying a goal.

The most impressive play of the day came near the end of the third period. With the score tied at four, Garvey spun past his defender and hit a wide-open Lux with a cross-cage pass. Lux buried the shot to give the Crimson a lead it would not relinquish.

"If you look at our man-up unit," Scalise said, "we have two freshman, two sophomores and a junior, all of whom are gaining a lot of confidence playing together. Next year they should be a really good group."

Harvard outshot the Wildcats in the contest by a 35-29 margin and dominated the ground ball totals as well, 46-31. In man-up situations, the Crimson continued to do well, scoring three time in seven attempts. UNH was 1-for-3 on the power play.

"UNH is really not a bad team," Scalise added. "It was a very physical game, but we really responded to their challenge with some hard hits of our own."

Scalise's Last

The final game of the season--the last game for Scalise before he leaves his post--is scheduled for Saturday at Dartmouth. But with the current quarantine in effect in Hanover, N.H., (see story, page one) both the date and the site could change.

"If we beat Dartmouth," Scalise said, "we will finish in a tie for second place in the Ivy League with Penn and Brown, two teams ranked in the top ten nationally. A win would put us near the top of the league, proving that we are of the same caliber as those top squads."

Scalise, who has coached the Crimson since 1973, has posted an overall record of 97-79. His only Ivy championship occurred in 1980, when the squad tied with Cornell for the title.

"I really want us to win this last game, not for me, but for the team as a whole," he said.