Men’s Lacrosse Narrowly Bests Providence 12-10

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The No. 17 Harvard men’s lacrosse team (1-0, 0-0 Ivy) found glory on the road this past Saturday, squeaking past the No. 20 Providence Friars 12-10. Despite coming out to a slow start, Harvard Head Coach Gerry Byrne’s squad was able to level the score at six-apiece at the half before reclaiming the turf and clinching its first victory of the 2025 season.

Division I lacrosse was anybody’s game this past weekend, with the Richmond Spiders toppling No. 7 Virginia, Villanova besting the No. 9 Yale Elis in what is always a tough contest between the two programs, and No. 6 Maryland handily beating No. 2 Syracuse 11-7. The Crimson’s ability to clinch its contest against a top-20 team will help solidify its strength of schedule as the field shifts amongst these top programs.

After beating the Friars 23-7 last year, all eyes were on Harvard to see if the team could repeat the stellar performance. Providence came into the contest hot off of two difficult wins against Holy Cross and Bryant, and utilized that confidence to race out to an early 2-0 lead just 45 seconds into play. It seemed from the jump that Providence would run away with the game, but the level-headed coaching from Byrne brought his team back down from its nervousness, and allowed the Crimson to get its foot in the door for a win.

On a textbook fastbreak off the face off clamp, Providence got one past Harvard’s freshman goaltender Graham Stevens, who had a standout performance to mark his first ever collegiate contest. Stevens – who was able to work past the pressure of the high-pace push from the Friars – recorded 13 saves on the day, which earned him the title of most saves in a collegiate start for a Harvard goalie since at least 2007.

The rookie found himself standing on his head several times throughout the contest, looking rock-solid in the cage. It was his presence as well as the leadership of senior defenders Martin Nelson, Tommy Martinson, Logan Darrin, senior SSDM Ray Dearth – who posted three CTOs and three GBs – junior SSDM Owen Guest, and sophomore defender Joost de Koning – amongst others – that stymied Providence’s momentum to keep the contest in the Crimson’s hands.

“It was the first game of the season, you’re always going to have those first quarter nerves,” junior attackman Teddy Malone said. “But I think we stayed composed, we trusted that we’d fall into a rhythm as the game progressed. It wasn’t pretty, but ultimately we got the job done.”

“We’re a learning team,” Stevens furthered. “We didn’t come out hot off the jump, but we learned, we saw what they did, and we adjusted.”

Adjusting was the name of the game as Harvard wouldn’t find the back of the net for almost 11 minutes following Providence’s run, with the opening strike coming from veteran middie Miles Botkiss, who posted three points on the day with two goals and an assist. 30 seconds later, The Friars answered the call, capitalizing on a slow rotation from the Crimson defense that left Providence’s Jack Horrigan open for an easy dish on the crease.

The squad has its work cut out for it with a tough schedule, but will take it one contest at a time as it looks for another win tomorrow against Colgate. By Dylan J. Goodman

Following a series of turnovers from Providence and Harvard that made the crowd question whether freshman lacrosse really is a thing of the past, Byrne called a timeout that proved, literally, to be a game-changer. Returning to the field settled, it was all Botkiss again as the senior added another tally to the board to put the Crimson within one with less than a minute to play.

With the score seeming much more even at 3-2, and emotions running higher on the Harvard bench, a key face off win by sophomore FOGO Owen Umansky – who traded shifts with freshman Jackson Henehan and senior LSM Max Ewald – would get the ball down to Harvard’s offensive end before an unnecessary take from junior LSM Sean Jordan turned possession right back over to Providence. The Friars had a difficult time clearing the ball, going 18-24 on the day, as the fundamentals of catching and throwing seemed to evade the program at the midfield line. This time, Darrin was able to scoop up the errant pass, and get the ball down to the offense where the attack had time to set up for one final rotation before the buzzer.

Captain and attacker Sam King quarterbacked his offense, posting a lethal seven points in six assists and one goal, notching his first mark on a feed to sophomore attacker Jack Speidell with only four seconds left on the clock. That would not be Speidell’s only tally on the day. The sophomore made himself known against Providence, opening the season with a hat trick and a Sports Center-Top-10-level play that resulted in a crafty behind-the-back finish on the doorstep.

Speidell ingratiated himself with the starting lineup of King and junior Teddy Malone, and will be a key player to keep an eye on in the game against Colgate tomorrow. His comrade Malone showed why he was named The Harvard Crimson's 2023 Rookie of the Year, sparking a fire on the attacking end with four goals, three GBs, and one CTO. The trio of King, Speidell, and Malone certainly found its rhythm on Saturday.

At the face off X, possession, or lack thereof, proved to be a mark against the Crimson as Providence out-clamped Harvard 19-7. As a result, productive, settled six-on-six play evaded the Crimson in the first half. The effort to get the ball down to the attack was noticeable as Byrne’s defense had to step up in the midfield on the scrum, and down low, in order to give the attack time to work.

While it was a weakness for the first two quarters, the team showed impressive maturity in settling the ball in the second half. The second two quarters against the Friars were filled with poise as the team struck the balance between pacing itself for intentional takes and skipping the ball quickly to fuel a motion-heavy offense.

“We weren’t really going at our matchups,” said Malone about what changed between the two halves. “We said as a group that we were not playing as fast as we usually do, and so the emphasis on the second half was to really attack your guy – one move and go. We moved forward, and I think ultimately that’s what gave us the most success, and the most success off ball as well.”

The Crimson will face off tomorrow against Colgate at 2 p.m. in what should be a tough battle. By Dylan J. Goodman

A highlight from the team was its man-down defense, which held Providence to an impressive 1-7 on man-up attempts. While there are certainly penalties that could have been avoided – two 30-second flags for off-sides, and a one-minute penalty for tripping, amongst others – the defense looked solid, and was able to mitigate the man-down threat.

A point of focus for the team heading into its next game will be to place itself into situations where it can succeed, and to try to eliminate careless errors. While a boon that the squad was able to make six man-down stops, several of those performances resulted from lapses in lacrosse-IQ that could have been avoided.

Making up for it, however, was the team’s hustle-plays at the 50-yard line. Every coach tells his team that games are won by ground balls and heart, and that rang true for Harvard. Providence turned the ball over 21 times on Saturday, and Harvard was eager to make its opponent feel its mistakes.

“Coach said in the locker room after the game that we won the game in the middle of the field,” Darrin said. “That’s a big emphasis for us this year – riding and clearing and staying clean in between the lines – and that’s something that showed true today, and we are going to look to continue doing that.”

While Providence certainly turned the ball over more than Harvard – who tallied 14 turnovers – the team will need to continue emphasizing clean, mistake-free play. The squad went man-down three times in the fourth quarter – twice for 30-second off-sides penalties, and once for a minute after the referee called a slash against Nelson. Coupled with a last-minute buzzer-beater from Providence with just five seconds left in regulation, the team will have to continue working through the nerves that plague every program at the start of the season.

While the last strike on Saturday might have gone in favor of Providence, Harvard will look to stretch its winning streak to two in its game against the Colgate Raiders tomorrow, Feb. 18. Colgate will not prove an entirely easy foe for Harvard, who leads the all-time series 9-0 after besting the Raiders 14-10 in 2023.

Heading into tomorrow’s game, Colgate finds itself with a 1-2 record. Despite losing both contests, the Raiders put up a fight against No. 5 UVA and No. 14 Penn State, before most recently beating upstate rival and perennial powerhouse UAlbany 19-14 over the weekend.

Originally set to air at 6:30 p.m., the game has been moved up to 2 p.m., and will take place on Jordan Field. Catch the game live or stream the action on ESPN+.

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