Seeing Orange

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—Despite claims that the Harvard men’s lacrosse team (6-7) was prepared to enter yesterday’s matchup against Syracuse (9-4), the squad looked anything but ready in the 11-4 loss yesterday in front of 4,541 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY.

The Crimson was simply outplayed.

With 2:04 remaining in the first quarter, the team had just two shots to the Orange’s 14. Although Harvard finally showed some energy to end the frame, anyone watching saw an overmatched squad.

Syracuse attacker Brett Bucktooth essentially beat the Crimson defense himself, scoring three times in the first seven minutes and adding an assist just over four minutes later.

“Harvard has never played here before,” Bucktooth said. “We wanted to show them what it’s like to play in the Dome and get off to a quick start.”

In the final two minutes the Crimson took five shots before senior midfielder Tom Boylan put the squad on the board with 19 seconds remaining from senior attacker Steve Cohen.

Harvard threatened once more with time expiring, but a save from Syracuse goalkeeper Peter Coluccini ended the hope to bridge the gap.

The frame ended with the Crimson in a 6-1 hole that would be insurmountable.

“Overwhelmed, that’s probably the right word,” Harvard coach Scott Anderson said. “We weren’t as poised as we should’ve been.”

Despite more effective play in the second, the Crimson was still unable to keep up with the agile Orange.

To switch things up, Anderson changed his goalkeeper system of sophomore Evan O’Donnell and freshman Joe Pike splitting the game in half. Pike posted five saves in the 15 minutes and let in only two goals.

“We had been more steadfast in sticking with it and playing one goalie in the first half,” Anderson said. “But I did tell the kids because this was a playoff game, because this is one and you’re done...when Evan was struggling there in the beginning [we needed Joe] to give a bit of a spark and to change something.”

But Harvard could not get anything going on offensively.

With seven shots in the period, the Crimson ended the half with only one good look and without another score to enter the break down 8-1.

The half was riddled with turnovers and failed clears, in addition to missed coverage leading to wide-open Syracuse goals.

Despite entering the game ranked 13th in man-down defense, Harvard let in two goals in two opportunities.

“Unfortunately as a defense it seems to take us a quarter to get into the game when we play teams that play at such a high pace like Hofstra and Syracuse,” said captain and defenseman Tom Mikula.

The Crimson came out re-energized in the second half, but it was too little too late.

Junior attacker Greg Cohen started the scoring on an unassisted goal with 3:11 gone in the frame and junior midfielder Brian Mahler added his first score of the season unassisted just over four minutes later.

Harvard still had no answer for Bucktooth—who added two goals in the period to tie his career-high in scoring.

The bright spot of the frame came from Pike who made two saves on point-blank range shots to end the period. Pike posted ten saves after relieving O’Donnell.

“I’ve pretty much been jumping in all year,” Pike said. “It’s something I’ve been getting used to; it’s nothing new for me.”

The fourth quarter brought the first Harvard advantage of the game.

The Crimson outshot Syracuse 16 to five in the final 15 minutes, but was unable to convert.

Junior attacker Brandon Logigan tallied the only score in the period on an unassisted goal with 8:58 remaining.

But this simply matched the Orange who also managed one goal in the frame assisted by Bucktooth, his career-high seventh point of the game.

The loss ends Harvard’s season on a low note, sending the squad to a sub-500 record and a three-game losing streak, the same end as the disappointing finish to the 2005 campaign.

“We have played some pretty good teams,” Anderson said, “but this team in the first quarter was the best lacrosse I’ve seen this year.”

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.