M. Lacrosse Sees Mixed Results

Entering the 2000 campaign, all the talk surrounding the Harvard men's lacrosse team centered on forgetting the previous year's 3-10 mark and starting fresh with a stronger, deeper, more experienced squad.

"The returning veterans have the vivid memories of last year's frustrations, and are motivated by those memories to produce a more cohesive product this season," read the 2000 season outlook. "All signs point to a renewed enthusiasm and a confidence that this team will return to its winning ways."

In some sense, the Crimson lived up to all of the hype about its new outlook. The 2000 squad looked much tighter all over the field, and a full-season effort put Harvard lacrosse back above the .500 mark with a 7-6 record overall.

In the Ivy League, always one of the toughest conferences in the nation, the Crimson went 3-3 despite a surprise at Yale in a 14-5 blowout.

Even as the squad dropped six of seven after starting the season 5-0, Harvard did not appear to lose any intensity as it had done the year before in a similar late-season slide.

But Harvard also learned that enthusiasm and confidence can only go so far.

At some point, any strong team in any sport needs someone to step into the scoring role and put the ball in the net, hoop or hole when the pressure is on. Call it whatever you like--leadership, a scoring sense or steely nerves--without "it" big games will always slip away.

For a Crimson team that often showed signs of promising offensive cohesion, this was clearly one of the largest stumbling blocks this year.

The Crimson began the year with strong showings in each of its first three games, including a 19-2 thrashing of B.C. in the opener and a strong 8-7 win against historically strong Hobart.

Around the net, the Crimson looked sharp in its cycle of passes and found great success when it inverted its midfielders, a trademark of Harvard's offense for the last few years.

But even in Harvard's wins against Penn and Fairfield, there seemed to be some trouble with offensive conversion. Against a weak Penn team, the Crimson won by only three, and against the Stags it eked out a one-goal win in the closing minutes.

The Crimson was winning, but not by much, and the heart of the season still remained. Things looked a bit shaky and unsure.

Six losses in seven games cleared up any questions.

Harvard had some very strong individual efforts, most notably from freshman attackman Matt Primm, whose sense for the back of the net put him among the Ivy League's top five scorers for the season with 38 goals and 14 assists.

Primm was also named Ivy League Rookie of the Week four separate times.

Senior attackman Geoff Watson and his junior linemate Roger Buttles proved especially strong in Ivy League games. Watson had nine goals and six assists in league play, while Buttles notched eight tallies and got seven helpers.

Buttles also received an honorable mention in All-American balloting.

But when the team absolutely needed a goal, no one consistently stepped up. Primm seemed a bit shaky, and the upperclassmen just could not find a shot, or camped out behind the net looking for a setup, not a strike.

The Princeton game was particularly glaring.

The Crimson faced a tough opponent in the Ivy Champions and national runner-up. But in the first period, as Harvard held the ball around the Tigers' cage for the first five minutes, it seemed like everyone was just waiting--for someone, something, maybe a Princeton mistake.

When the shot finally came, it was rushed and from an awkward angle.

In these opening moments there was nothing of the Harvard hunger for the back of the net that led to three goals in the third period.

Frequent stalls in the offense translated into a busy season for senior goalie Keith Cynar.

Cynar, who was named Ivy League rookie of the Year when he transferred to Harvard in his sophomore year, faced high shot counts nearly every game.

To his credit, he saved a lot of them. His .638 save percentage was third in the nation, behind Trevor Tierney of Princeton and Navy's Mickey Jarboe.

Cynar was also named an All-America honorable mention in the post-season.

In a tough stretch of the season in which the Crimson played Cornell, Brown and Princeton in one week, Cynar made twenty or more saves in each game.

All three teams ended the season in the Top 20.

The problem for Cynar and the Crimson came in the overall number of shots the senior had to face. He made 203 saves, tops in the Ivy League, but also allowed 115 goals.

Cynar continuously found opposing attackmen on his crease with a nice, open view of his cage.

The Crimson defense often played well on the flanks, where captain Jeff Psaki showed the stuff that made him a pre-season All-American. But in the middle there often seemed to be just enough room to walk up on the doorstep.

The Crimson entered the season with a gap in the middle, as it lost sophomore Mike Meagher to a hip injury he suffered while starting in goal for the soccer team.

The 6-3, 200-pound Meagher was last year's New England Rookie of the Year and a surprising presence around the crease. The Crimson could never find someone to step up in similar fashion, as too many goals were just easy strolls to the goalmouth.

Despite the team's preseason attitude that this year "was the year," the Crimson can look ahead to next year with a great deal of excitement.

This year's freshman class contributed a great deal to the offense. Out of the midfield, Doug Logigian and Jay Wich both added speed to the transition and intelligence in the set offense.

Should Primm continue to develop, he may dominate as soon as next year. With Buttles back for his senior year, the attack could be potent.

Out of midfield, Adam McGowan should return to dominate the center stripe and run an offense bent on conversion.

The dominant concern for next season will be in the back, where the Crimson will graduate both Cynar and Psaki, stalwarts of the defense.

Junior defenseman Peter Zaremba had a strong season, particularly towards the end of the year, and with Meagher returning, the Crimson may be able to deal with the loss of Psaki to some extent.

Cynar, however, will be tough to replace. Junior Ely Kahn and sophomore Chris Matteini saw limited time this year, but neither made much of an impression.

With the biggest hole in next year's roster in front of the net, the Crimson's future seems a bit up in the air. But if someone can step up, perhaps this year's hype can carry over to next year's record.