Duke Bedevils M. Lax With Physical Runs

The Harvard men’s lacrosse team had an up and down spring break, with a tough loss at Duke, a solid win against Providence and a narrow loss to Penn all defined by large changes in momentum.

The Crimson (3-4, 0-1 Ivy) plays the first of three consecutive conference games Saturday at Cornell.

Duke 15, Harvard 7

The No. 11 Blue Devils (7-3) took an early 3-0 lead against the Crimson, which got on the scoreboard with freshman attack Colin Macleod’s goal at 3:24, yet still trailed 6-1 at the intermission.

Harvard narrowed the deficit to three with back-to-back goals by co-captains midfielder Doug Logigian and attack Matt Primm.

However, Duke went on a run to recapture the momentum and close the third period with a 10-4 lead.

Junior attack Anders Johnson scored two goals within 16 seconds for the Crimson, but the Blue Devils were comfortably sitting on a 13-7 lead and closed out the match with two more goals.

“Duke came out more physical, but towards the end we turned up the intensity as well, so we look to dominate the ground-ball battle for the whole game next week,” sophomore attack Mike McBride said.

By winning key ground-ball battles in future games, Harvard can establish a more physical presence on the field.

Harvard 8, Providence 3

The Crimson prevailed 8-3 over Providence (1-4), as Primm led the effort with two goals and an assist.

“We played in spurts today, but when we were on, we played as a team and really made things happen on the offensive end,” Primm said.

Also scoring a goal was Logigian, who bounced back after suffering a crushing blow in the first period.

Harvard came out strong, taking a 3-0 first-period lead. The Crimson slipped slightly in the second, but went into halftime with a 4-1 advantage.

Harvard came out of the break fired up and scored three consecutive goals, with McBride leading the effort that immediately seized the momentum.

From that point on, the Crimson used its comfortable cushion to dictate the pace of the game and control the field.

Junior goaltender Jake McKenna turned in an excellent performance, making nine saves.

Harvard was ultimately the more physical team, and won the key ground-ball battles it later struggled with against Duke.

Penn 8, Harvard 6

On March 22, the Crimson got on the scoreboard quickly, but faded in a 8-6 loss to Penn (4-3, 1-1).

The Quakers drew first blood, with Jake Martin scoring at 13:44. However, Harvard responded with a goal from freshman attack Sean Kane and two Primm tallies to take an early 3-1 lead. Kane scored once again at 13:28 of the second quarter to extend the Crimson advantage.

But the Quakers netted a pair before halftime, narrowing Penn’s deficit to 4-3.

The Quakers then used their momentum to score the first five goals of the second half and take control of the match.

Harvard responded with a goal from Johnson with five minutes remaining, and McBride tallied another goal off a Kane assist, but the Crimson rally was not enough to counter Penn’s run.