Back in Business, Crimson Bests Merrimack 23-8

The No. 20 Harvard men’s lacrosse team (4-0, 0-0 Ivy) proved that it deserves its Inside Lacrosse top-20 ranking after it decisively thrashed Merrimack (2-3, 0-0 MAAC), 23-8, on Tuesday night. Following two rocky performances, the squad seems to have found its groove.

In the first ever meeting between the two programs, Harvard asserted itself as the dominant team from the first whistle. Junior FOGO Andrew DeGennaro started at the faceoff X, flanked by junior SSDM Andrew O’Berry and senior LSM Greg Campisi on the wings. The faceoff matchups between the two squads would prove to be one of the more competitive aspects of the game, with possessions being decided through scrappy scrums rather than on clean wins on the initial clamp. Despite only winning about 50 percent of the draws, 17 to Merrimack’s 16, the Crimson was able to run away with the game.

Campisi controlled the first groundball for Harvard, swinging it back to senior goalie Christian Barnard on the defensive end before clearing it over the midline to the attack. With its first successful clear of the night, the attack – which boasted the veteran first line of senior Graham Blake, junior Sam King, and sophomore Teddy Malone – moved the ball well as Frisbie Family Head Coach Gerry Byrne subbed in his reliable offensive middie trio of junior Miles Botkiss, sophomore Logan Ip, and freshman Jackson Greene.

The attacking lines for the Crimson have posted stellar numbers so far this season. Quarterbacking the offense, King currently ranks as the seventh highest point scorer in the NCAA. He also holds the No. 6 ranking for assists, falling right behind lacrosse phenom Josh Zawada – who transferred from Michigan to Duke for his last year of eligibility – with an impressive 14. King, who tallied 56 points last season with 31 goals and 25 assists, has drastically changed his style of play going into his junior season. Recognized nationally for his offensive prowess, King has felt the pressure early from his opposing matchups. Blake has stepped up to fill the role of former attackman Hayden Cheek ’23 as the glue of the offense, exploiting lanes and creating space for his fellow attackers. He and Malone have both utilized the shift in defensive attention to their benefit. Both players have been working well off-ball with King, who has shifted from being primarily a dodger to a new, more mature role, of facilitator. Blake currently sits as the 16th-highest goal scorer in the nation, and Malone follows close behind at 21st.

Ip got things going for Harvard early, drawing first blood with a lefty-rip from the top of the fan. The sophomore showed off his speed, gaining a step on his defender with a crafty split dodge that allowed him to get his hands free for the snipe. The Crimson quickly built on its momentum, securing another win on the faceoff. Overall, the attack looked more mature than it did against Bucknell, moving the ball with purpose. However, a forced feed in front of the crease saw the Crimson squander its second possession as a Merrimack defender scooped up the ground ball and raced it over the 50.

One-on-one defense was a highlight for Byrne’s squad, with junior SSDM Ray Dearth and sophomore SSDM Owen Guest stepping up big time against the Warriors. Guest did a nice job of making contact and keeping his attacker moving down the alley, but got a little chippy on the play, which sidelined him for 90 seconds. The man down unit played well through the first quarter, holding Merrimack to zero goals on its two opportunities. Pressing out and leaving the Warriors with few options, Merrimack turned it over on an attempted feed inside from the top of the arc. On the clear, junior defenseman Collin Bergstrom had the ball knocked out of his stick by a riding Merrimack attacker as he crossed the 50, but Ip was able to immediately shift possession back to the Crimson by knocking the Warriors player out of bounds.

“We have really good athletes on our team, and we always want to come out and win our one-on-one matchup with whoever we are playing against,” Campisi said. “Whenever we’re guarding guys well it’s always a recipe for success, and once we couple that with some good sliding like we had today, I think we were having a successful game”

Minimizing unforced turnovers and valuing possession time are two major tenets the Harvard squad will need to focus on as the season progresses. Sloppy back-and-forth play in the midfield and errors forcing plays on attack led to the team’s 20 turnovers, a number it will need to winnow significantly as it heads into conference play. However, the Crimson was able to recover from its mistakes with its ride, which returned to its full form for the first time this season.

The squad found its groove, playing well on both sides of the field. By Dylan J. Goodman

With the ball on the offensive end, the attack looked to settle in and get into its sets as it ran out the remainder of Guest’s penalty. Back at even strength, the attack moved the ball quickly, which created lanes as it rotated the Merrimack defense. Botkiss got separation from his defender, but was unable to handle a feed from King at the top of the arc, which left the ball loose on the turf. A Merrimack defender scooped up the ground ball, but was quickly swarmed by a group of white jerseys. As he looked to turn out of pressure, he made a telegraphed pass back to the seemingly-open goalie. Malone, who was locking off the low outlet pass, recognized the play and dashed in front of the crease, intercepting the ball one-handed before burying it in the back of the net.

“It all stems from good communication,” said Guest about the ride, which was the most impactful it's been all season. “I think guys on the ride were talking to each other, which is something we were struggling with in earlier games this season. It was a good step up for us.”

Despite winning the next faceoff, Merrimack Head Coach Mike Morgan called a time out to settle his squad and draw up a play for his offensive unit. The decision proved fruitless, as the Crimson defense once again locked down its matchups, which led to Merrimack forcing a cross-fan skip pass that sailed out of bounds. King was unable to capitalize on the turn over, with senior goalie Henry Vogt stuffing his signature move around the right side of the crease. The Warriors found their first success of the evening as it pushed the fast break, scoring on an outside rip.

Play remained back and forth between the two squads, with both teams finding glimmers of success on the offensive ends that were ultimately overshadowed by fixable, unforced, turnovers. Harvard’s defense continued to play solidly and create opportunities for the offense. Junior defender Logan Darrin posted two successive CTOs that were ultimately squandered, the first on a forced shot that was deflected off the body of a Merrimack defender, and the second on a rushed play while attempting to push the fast break.

“It was confidence in ourselves and our guys,” Guest added. “Our guys had the ability to confront the players they were guarding because they were confident not only that there was a slide roll, but guys pushing guys into the slide roll, so we played very cohesive, very good defense. Good slide and recovery defense.”

Byrne called a timeout to reset his bench, and what resulted would shift the momentum of the rest of the game in Harvard’s favor. Merrimack drew a flag for a late hit with potential contact to the head, which put the Warriors down a man for a locked-in one minute. Morgan challenged the call, but official review affirmed the initial decision, and Merrimack would have to play the rest of the half with no timeouts.

“I think we offensively were hitting singles, we were scoring goals on man up, and momentum was just building throughout the first quarter once we got the first couple,” King said.

The man up unit continued with its stellar performance, scoring twice on the one-minute penalty. Moving the ball quickly around the perimeter, Botkiss exploited a lapse in Merrimack’s defense to feed junior middie Liam Griffiths, who was posting up in the middle, for a dynamic righty bouncer. DeGennaro secured the next faceoff win, and Botkiss was once again able to facilitate success from his perch on the right wing, this time hitting King at the top of the arc for a righty over-hand outside rip.

The Crimson would add two more tallies to end the first quarter, with sophomore middie John Aurandt IV shovel-shotting in a rebound on the doorstep that resulted from an initial stopped-take from sophomore middie Finn Pokorny. The next would come off a lefty-bouncer from Botkiss with just six seconds left on the clock. Despite starting off evenly, the Crimson found itself on the power-play and continued with that momentum for the next three quarters.

“We didn’t change much,” added King about the team’s offensive approach. “Coming in from the Bucknell game, we had a little bit of a different mindset, which was to attack early and really finish our shots which we did a good job of early in the first quarter, which set us up for success later in the game.”

After its game against UVM this weekend, the squad is set to play four ranked opponents in No.13 Michigan, No. 10 Yale, No. 15 Princeton, and No. 2 UVA. By Dylan J. Goodman

The Warriors secured possession at the faceoff X to start the next period, but Byrne’s defense was able to keep Merrimack at bay and get the ball back into its offensive zone. However, an unforced error from O’Berry on the fast break sent the ball back to the Warriors and Merrimack was able to draw a flag, sending freshman Joost de Koning – who posted a stellar performance – to the penalty box for thirty seconds. Merrimack’s offense generated solid takes throughout the first quarter, but many of its opportunities broke unlucky, with shots hitting pipes or sailing just high above the crossbar. The man down team held the Warriors scoreless during the penalty but was able to strike paydirt during six-on-six play.

The Crimson secured the next faceoff and drew a flag down on the offensive end, going man up for 30 seconds. The Botkiss-Griffiths connection shone once again and Harvard raced ahead to an 8-2 lead. Merrimack’s sophomore attackman KJ Delane clawed back another goal in answer to Griffith’s man-up finish, but his efforts were in vain as the Crimson tallied three more to end the half up 11-4.

Merrimack returned to the field with a desire to edge its way back into the competition, with its bench cheering on every ground ball, CTO and chippy play. The Warriors clamped the initial faceoff, but a heads-up CTO from Campisi on the defensive end stifled Merrimack’s offensive attempt. O’Berry pushed the ball upfield, and with all attention on him, lobbed a pass from the 50 to Malone, who had crept downfield into space and was wide open for a one-on-one take with the goalie.

Malone drew a flag for a late hit, but was sent off of the field alongside the Merrimack defender for a minute due to unsportsmanlike conduct. Due to the nature of the penalties, the Warriors started with possession at the faceoff. Bergstrom was able to force a CTO, and Barnard scooped up the ground ball for a clear. The offensive possession was short lived, however, as Botkiss turned the ball over while pushing it down on the fast break.

Junior defender Martin Nelson, who has been quarterbacking the Crimson defense alongside Bergstrom this season, was sidelined for two locked-in minutes on the next play for dangerous contact to the head. Merrimack converted twice on its opportunity, both times taking advantage of late rotations from the Crimson defense that allowed its outside shooters to use the approaching defender as a screen.

“We have to be ready to spike, ready to help sooner,” Campisi said. “They had some good shooters on their team and we were kind of late to go. Being ready at the whistle caught us off guard a couple of times, and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

The next two goals would fall in favor of the Crimson, with the first coming on an unassisted take from Guest, who tallied his first career goal on a fast break opportunity. King added the next goal, finding success with his signature move around the right side of the crease. Merrimack would answer back, with a Warriors attackman finally connecting on a feed from the top of the arc that the team had been looking to make all night. With just over four minutes in the quarter, Harvard notched two more goals. Botkiss hit Greene on the right elbow, and from about 15 yards out the freshman was able to use his defender – who got caught ball-watching and was late to rotate – as a screen for a pretty righty finish. About two minutes later, and after another turnover by each team, the Crimson drew a man up opportunity on a slash in the midfield. Up by eight, the team decided to get crafty with its next possession.

After about a minute of solid ball movement, the Crimson forced a pass that was sent out of bounds. Barnard came out of the cage to force the 10-man ride, and a Warriors defender sent a long ball sailing well over the top of the cage, with the full-field shot attempt being a heads-up play to get the ball quickly on the offensive end. Despite the quick thinking, Merrimack drew the penalty for a slash, sending the team down two men for 11 seconds, and down one man for the remainder of the half. Harvard regained possession on its offensive end, where King and Ip attempted a hidden ball trick. The defense read the play, but in the chaos communicating through it, Blake was able to creep up around the right side of the cage for a feed from King, who held the ball at the top of the arc. The Crimson ended the quarter up 16-7.

The Crimson will travel to Burlington to face off against the Catamounts. By Dylan J. Goodman

Byrne exploited the depth of his bench throughout the fourth quarter, strategically pulling his starters and subbing in his second-string players. Senior SSDM Fred Asare-Konadu made an impact on the defensive end – notching two groundballs for the Crimson – as well as senior LSM Jaden Jernigan – who played stellar defense that resulted in a CTO – and junior LSMs Max Ewald and John Fontham, who also notched CTOs on the evening.

“Those guys work their tails off all week, and so when they get the opportunity to come out and play, they’re always ready to go at the blow of the whistle,” King said. “And, we’re pumped to see those guys have success. So, once they get in, it brings a lot of energy and it’s great for everyone”

The fourth quarter felt as though it was run entirely by the Crimson, with the squad dictating pace of play and – for the first time this year – looking like it enjoyed being on the field. Blake got things started offensively, finding success at the top of the arc with a shifty face dodge off a feed from King at X. The next four goals went in Harvard’s favor, with the first of those coming from Aurandt and the second from senior attacker Brennan McBride, who were able to find the back of the cage just a minute later. The fourth quarter was filled with firsts for the Crimson, with McBride, freshman middie James Canipe, freshman middie Michael Smythe, and junior middie John Warner all tallying their first collegiate goals. Following McBride’s rip from the right elbow on a feed from Smythe, the freshman took it to the hoop himself just over a minute later, finding space with a nice dodge downfield that allowed him to get underneath his defender, change hands, and shoot with minimal angle on the doorstep.

About two minutes later, Graham – who tallied his first collegiate goal in the second quarter – notched his second, making use of McBride’s pick on the crease – which successfully tripped up the two Merrimack defenders – to wrap around the right side and finish with a low righty side-arm slinger. Senior Mike Binkowski lost the next faceoff on a procedural violation, which saw the Warriors head into its only successful offensive possession of the fourth quarter.

The Crimson answered back quickly, with Smythe scoring about a minute later on a left-to-right split dodge down the right alley. Vogt made the initial save, but the ball got away from him, sending Harvard to a 15-goal lead. The final goal of the night came from Warner, who scored on a feed from McBride. Warner, who posted up in the middle of the fan looking for the open feed from behind, found his lane, as the senior dodged around the right side of the cage, backdooring his defender for the opportunity on the doorstep.

After two close games against Bryant and Bucknell, the Crimson seemed to find its rhythm against the Warriors, putting up an impressive offensive performance with 23 goals. Despite the decisive victory, the team will need to minimize its turnovers, value the ball on offense, and look to send the slide a second quicker on the defensive end. It will need to continue to build on its momentum during its matchup against Vermont this weekend, as the squad’s next four games will be fought against ranked opponents in No. 13 Michigan, No. 10 Yale, No. 15 Princeton, and No. 2 Virginia.

“We kind of played to Merrimack’s brand of lacrosse, and we need to stick to the way that we play lacrosse,” King said. “Control the game, and take care of the ball.”

The Crimson will travel to Burlington, Vt. this weekend to face off against the UVM Catamounts. The action will commence live at 12:00 p.m., and it will also be streamed on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Katharine Forst can be reached at katharine.forst@thecrimson.com.