Primm, M. Lacrosse Burn Hartford for Second Win

If the hare builds a large enough lead, the tortoise’s only chance is for the hare to rest on its laurels. The Harvard men’s lacrosse team didn’t on Saturday and that was the end to this story.

The Crimson (2-0) jumped out to a 4-0 early advantage and never turned around, rolling to an 11-7 win over Hartford (1-1) on Jordan Field.

Junior Matt Primm paced the Crimson attack, netting three goals and four assists. Primm did most of his damage early, scoring or assisting on five of the Crimson’s first six goals.

The Hawks managed to outshoot the Crimson in the first quarter, 10-9, but Harvard sophomore goaltender Jake McKenna was spectacular. McKenna managed to keep Hartford off the board for the opening 18 minutes as Primm—Harvard’s top returning scorer from last season—worked his magic at the other end.

Primm opened the scoring 1:03 into the game with an extra-man goal. Harvard co-captain and midfielder Jim Christian assisted on the play. The Crimson went on the early man-up opportunity after Hartford’s Brian LoMastro was called for offsides just 36 seconds into the game.

Christian, whose three-goal, one-assist performance was eclipsed only by Primm’s seven points, scored his first at 7:44 of the opening quarter to give Harvard a 2-0 advantage on a feed from junior attack Jay Wich.

Primm capped the Crimson’s 3-0 scoring spree with an unassisted goal at 10:30 of the first period.

Harvard opened the second frame with four staight goals, beginning when freshman attack Mike McBride pocketed his first of two scores in the game at 1:54.

Penalties finally started to take their toll on the Crimson, however, as the Hawks put their first past McKenna with an extra-man goal from Frank Fenimore 3:17 into the second.

Hartford cut the lead to 6-3 at 2:02 of the third quarter on another extra-man strike, this time from Tyler Francy. Harvard was called for six consecutive penalties that totaled five and a half minutes of extra-man time for the Hawks between 9:37 of the first and 1:50 of the third quarters. Still, Hartford went just 2-for-9 in the game on the extra man, while Harvard was 1-for-3.

A three-goal deficit at 6-3 was as close as the Hawks would get, though, as Harvard scored four of the next five goals to build a 10-4 lead and put the game out of reach for Hartford entering the fourth.

The final 9:41 of the game were scoreless as Harvard tightened its defense, ragging the ball in the Hawks’ zone to run out the final two minutes on the clock.

The Crimson held the advantage in ground balls, 44-29. The difference was even greater in the first half, when Harvard held the upper hand by more than a two-to-one margin, 25-11.

Harvard also took the edge in shots, 44-36, with McKenna and Hartford goaltender Rorke Greene each registering 14 saves.

Wich, senior midfielder Mike Baly and sophomore midfielder Jeff Gottschall chipped in with goals for the Crimson Saturday.

The Crimson next faces Providence this Wednesday in Rhode Island.

Harvard is on the road for four of its next five. The trip includes its Ivy opener against Penn and a tough challenge at Duke, both over spring break.