No. 20 Men's Lax Stumbles On the Road, Loses to Cornell

Some weekends just don't go as planned.

The Harvard men's lacrosse team (3-4, 1-1 Ivy) traveled to Ithaca, N.Y. last weekend with high expectations for its contest against Cornell (4-3, 2-1). However, those hopes were crushed in a decisive 13-7 Big Red victory.

"We were definitely disappointed," sophomore midfielder Roger Buttles said. "We wanted to be undefeated in the Ivies, and we thought we would be on a roll with a victory over Cornell. But we have to give Cornell credit. They played well."

With goals from senior midfielder Pat Dutton and senior attackman Josh Morgan, Cornell jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Then, Harvard defenseman Michael Meagher went coast-to-coast to put Harvard on the board with 3:11 remaining in the first period.

But the Big Red countered a mere 11 seconds later with another goal and a fourth goal two minutes later. The first quarter ended with Cornell up, 4-1.

There was to be no Crimson comeback.

"They came out really strong and took us by surprise in the beginning, but we can't use that as an excuse," Buttles said.

Thirty-two seconds into the second quarter, Harvard attacker Dana Sprong, assisted by junior midfielder Geoff Watson, scored to bring Harvard within two goals. However, that was the closest Harvard would get to Cornell for the remainder of the game.

Cornell's Dutton, Morgan, and senior attackman Sean Steinwald each added a goal in the second quarter to give the Big Red a 7-3 lead going into halftime.

Cornell's momentum continued in the second half. The third quarter proved to be the clincher for the Big Red. It blew the game open with a 4-0 run over the first 4:45 to push its lead to a decisive 11-3, the largest of the contest.

Harvard ended Cornell's run with a goal from sophomore midfielder Adam McGowan at end of the third period.

Freshman midfielder Michael Baly added two more goals, and Buttles one in the final fifteen minutes, but it was too late.

Buttles and Baly led the Crimson with two goals apiece.

"We had some good individual performances," Buttles said. "But the individual performances are not nearly as important as the team effort, and we were disappointed in the team."

The main problem for Harvard was one of ball possession.

"They had the ball approximately 75 percent of the game," said junior goalie Keith Cynar. "We just didn't have enough time possession."

In addition to controlling ball possession, Cornell won more faceoffs and suffered fewer penalties. Cornell outshot Harvard 31-21 and produced more ground balls.

"It came down to ground balls," Buttles said.

Morgan led the Big Red with a season-high four goals. Both teams capitalized on two extra-man opportunities.

"Their offense played well," Cynar said. "And our defense was strong, but it tired."

The contest boasted a sibling rivalry. Cynar played head-to-head against his brother, Justin, the starting goalie for the Big Red. Keith tallied 10 saves for Harvard while brother Justin garnered eight.

This was Harvard's first loss to Cornell in five years.

Now the Crimson focuses its energy on its upcoming game against Brown on Wednesday.

"We are not going to give up or hang our heads because of one loss," Buttles said. "We have some important upcoming games, and our chance to win the Ivies is not totally gone."