M. Lacrosse Opens Season with 8-4 Win Over Providence

The Harvard men's lacrosse team came out firing on Saturday afternoon, posting an 8-4 win over Providence at Jordan Field in its season opener.

The Crimson (1-0), ranked No. 20 in Face-Off Magazine's pre-season poll, spread four goals over three periods before the Friars (0-2, 0-1 MAC) got on the board after the half, and ended up outshooting the Providence, 45-17, on the afternoon.

Junior midfielder Jim Christian netted the winning goal off an assist from sophomore attackman Matt Primm at 11:41 of the third, with the Crimson well in control of the game, leading by 5-2 by that point.

Senior attackman Roger Buttles opened the scoring for the 2001 season when he dodged a defender around the crease and beat Providence goalie John Farley to make it 1-0 at 11:47.

Farley, a junior, was between the pipes after freshman Paul Doran made only 10 saves and was ripped for 14 goals in the Friars' 14-8, season-opening loss to Holy Cross last Tuesday.

The goalie change did not seem to have much of an effect, however, as the Crimson controlled the game throughout.

Buttles scored in a man-up situation at 2:27 of the second period off of a feed from sophomore midfielder Doug Logigian. Primm then converted on a pass from co-captain Dana Sprong at 9:37 to make it 3-0.

Buttles scored another unassisted strike at the beginning of the second half to put the Crimson up 4-0.

Not only was the Crimson executing in front of the cage, it was outrunning the Friars on both ends. Most telling is the procession of groundballs over the course of the game. Harvard out-dug Providence 31-20 for the game and got more dominant as the afternoon got old, scooping four in the first period, seven in the second, nine in the third and eleven in the final frame.

Behind 4-0, the Friars finally found the back of the net with over 35 minutes already gone in the game.

David Kole and Kyle Ojakian cut the Crimson's lead in half, feeding one another on two man-up goals late in the period. Christian's goal a few minutes later put the game out of reach, however, and the Crimson coasted the rest of the way.

Freshman Jeff Gotschall stretched the lead to four with his first collegiate point at 13:33, and another freshman, attackman Ian Callery found Buttles a couple of minutes into the fourth for the senior's fourth strike of the game.

Callery later extended the lead to 8-2 after a pass from sophomore midfielder Jay Wich.

Freshman Jake McKenna was solid between the pipes, although he was not tested much in the 45 minutes he stood on the line. He had four saves before senior Ely Kahn took the last 15 minutes and made one stop.

For the Crimson, Buttles' four goals were a good sign that its marquee offensive player has shown up ready to play this season. Buttles has been chosen a pre-season candidate for the Teewarton Award, a new honor given by the Virginia Athletic Club at the end of the season to the most outstanding college lacrosse player.

Other nominees include Syracuse attackman Mike Springer, the fifth leading scorer in the nation last year for the national champion Orangmen. Springer also netted four goals in his opener, a 12-7 win over Virginia.

Buttles was also named a Face-Off Magazine Preseason Second-Team All-American along with Primm, who received a Preseason Honorable Mention.

For the Friars, it looks as though it might be a long season. Still searching for reliability between the pipes, Providence has now been outscored 22-12 and outshot 75-44 in its first two games.

The Ivy League looks tough again this year, with four teams named to the Preseason Top 25. Perennial Ivy champ Princeton is ranked No. 2, with Brown following at No. 15 and Penn falling three spots below Harvard at No. 23.

If Saturday was any indicator, however, it seems as though the Crimson is poised to be more consistent this season.

On clears, which has always become a source of problems when Harvard runs into a losing streak, the Crimson converted 16 of 19 attempts. Harvard was also dominant on the face-off, winning 9 to the Friar's 5.

The Crimson travels to Fairfield on Thursday at 2 p.m., and then returns home to Cambridge on March 17 for its annual laugher against Boston College.