Men's Lacrosse Continues to Roll, Downing Colgate 18-5

Last weekend it was a driving stew of rain and sleet. This weekend it was an unseasonable cold and the remnants of a St. Patrick's Day snowstorm. Both weekends, the results were the same: blowout.

The Harvard's men's lacrosse team wiped Jordan Field clear of both snow and ice with the Colgate Red Raiders on Saturday, registering its second straight double-digit win with an 18-5 thrashing.

Combined with last weekend's Boston College blowout, the Crimson (2-0) has outscored its opponents 37-7 so far this season. The fast start is a welcome change from last year's early-season crawl in which Colgate and Hobart outscored the Crimson 20-11 on its way to an 0-2 opening.

"The attitude this season is totally different this year--we have gone in with a lot more confidence and the fitness level is much higher this year," senior attackman Lawson DeVries said. "Mentally we could not put it together last year, but after a year of maturing we're more capable, and the seniors know it's their last chance and basically we know it's a big year for us."

The Crimson held Colgate (0-4) scoreless until 10:51 in the third period, when the Red Raider senior midfielder Trevor O'Reilly notched an unassisted strike to make it 11-1 in the host's favor.

Like last weekend, it took a while for Harvard to get into the offense and develop a flow around the net. Sophomore middie Mike Baly eventually figured out Colgate goalie Paul Abrahimzadeh and put the Crimson on the board at 8:33 off a feed from junior attackman Dana Sprong.

Against B.C., the Crimson notched its first at 7:48.

The Crimson closed out the first period with a 4-0 lead off of a goal from freshman attackman Matt Primm, which was less than a minute after Baly's, and two from DeVries further on in the period.

DeVries had three goals and three assists on the day, and is settling into a role this year that felt uncomfortable last year.

"Last season was an adjustment period, and I was the one returning starter on offense from the year before in which we had a lot of seniors to rely on" DeVries said. "I had to feel out my role last year in the offense--it was personally very frustrating. This year it has been a much smoother transition because I have been playing with the same people and I have avoided injury."

In the second period, the Crimson showed the A-level stuff it had shown in the final period of the B.C. game. Playing like it was a shooting practice, the Crimson offense scored on six of seven consecutive shots to extend the lead to 10-0 by the end of the second stanza.

Sprong got his first of four goals on the day off a feed from DeVries at 7:08 as the Crimson once again took half the period to get its first score. Senior attackman Geoff Watson notched his first of the day only 10 seconds later after taking a pass from freshman midfielder Doug Logigian shortly after the face-off.

Baly, Primm and Watson all got their second of the game later in the period, and Sprong netted his third off a feed from junior attackman Roger Buttles as the Crimson put together the double-digit lead it would maintain for the rest of the contest.

Harvard's back line dominated play for the second straight weekend, and, more importantly, was strong in the transition. Of the 30 clears attempted, the Crimson got the ball into the offense's hands 25 times, a remarkable rate of conversion.

Senior goalie Keith Cynar was stellar in the cage for the second straight weekend, making 16 saves and allowing only two goals in 47 minutes of play.

Junior Ely Kahn and sophomore Chris Mattieni split the remaining 13 minutes between the pipes. Kahn saw no action around the cage, but Mattieni made only one save while letting up the game's final three goals in the final six minutes.

The Crimson also dominated the Red Riders on groundballs, 34-26, including a 12-5 showing over the third period in which the Crimson netted it 11th through 15th goals.

The final period saw Logigian's first collegiate goal and junior attackman Scott Brooks' first goal of the season.

The Crimson's early season performance has been impressive, but Colgate and B.C. have a combined 1-5 record.

Despite the weak schedule, the Crimson received votes in the March 13 STX/United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll, though it did not break into the Top 20. The next poll comes out today.

The real test comes Wednesday, when the Crimson faces Hobart, who was a pre-season favorite to win the Patriot league despite its season-opening 10-8 loss to rival Army.

"We all have been saying that it's nice to overpower a couple of teams like that, but we're trying to address the fact the these are not two quality programs, and the heart of the schedule is coming up," DeVries said. "Hobart is a huge game because we lost to them the last two years, and two years ago the loss caused us to just miss the tournament. Talent-wise I think we're a better team, but it's going to be a big test for the season."

The Hobart game is Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Jordan Field.