No. 12 Men's Lacrosse Hosts Canisius in Season Opener
Pictured: Sophomore defender Daniel DiMaria and the Crimson
won four home game last spring.
Photo courtesy: David Silverman Photography
Complete Game
Notes (PDF)
Live
Statistics (weather permitting)
Harvard
Season Preview
The Particulars
After winning eight games last spring, the 12th-ranked Harvard
men’s lacrosse team will open up the 2010 campaign by hosting
Canisius at Cumnock Turf. Harvard was 8-5 last season, while the
Griffs posted a 4-9 overall record.
Tickets for Saturday’s game will be free of charge.
Follow From Home
Weather permitting, GoCrimson.com will providelive
statistics for Saturday’s contest.
Series History
Saturday’s game will mark the first time Harvard and
Canisius have met on the lacrosse field.
National Recognition
Harvardis ranked 12th in both the Nike/InsideLacrosse and LaxNews
national polls and appears 17th in the United States
Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association ranking.
On the Sidelines
John Tillman, the Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard
Men’s Lacrosse, is in his third season at the helm of the
Crimson. He owns a 14-13 record during his stint at Harvard and has
helped the Crimson reach as high as No. 11 in the national polls,
coming during the 2009 season.
Strength Of Schedule
Six of Harvard’s 12 regular-season games are against schools
ranked in this week’s Nike/Inside Lacrosse Men’s
Division I poll. The Crimson was 1-4 against ranked teams this
season, defeating then-No. 7 Duke, 9-6, in Durham, N.C., on Feb.
22, 2009.
To The Nines
Harvard has won 31 of its last 38 games in which it has scored
nine or more goals. The Crimson has lost 38 of its last 46 games in
which it has scored fewer than nine goals.
It’s All Over
The Crimson was 8-0 when leading after three quarters in 2009
after holding off Duke, Stony
Brook, Hartford, Penn, Presbyterian, Holy Cross, Yale and
Dartmouth in the fourth quarter.
Welcome To The Show
Head coach John Tillman welcomed the third best recruiting class
in the nation to Cambridge this year, according to the
InsideLacrosse incoming class rankings. The class ranked first in
the Ivy League and included six players listed in the
publication’s Power 100 newcomers from around the
country.
Duboe Is All Class
Senior midfielder Jason Duboe has named a candidate for the
prestigious Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Duboe is among 20
candidates for the award for displaying both on-field and off-field
excellence. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be
a senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence:
classroom, character, community and competition.
Starting Fast
In each of the first two seasons with John Tillman on the
sideline, Harvard has started the year witha 4-1 record.
It’s Good To Be Home
Harvard will play six games at home this season, including at
least four at Harvard Stadium (Brown March 20, Dartmouth March 27,
Duke April 2 and Princeton April 24). Last season, the Crimson
owned a 4-2 record at home, defeating Hartford March 13, Penn March
21, Holy Cross April 18, and Yale April 25.
Preseason Prognostication
Harvard was selected to finish third in the Ivy League in the
Inside Lacrosse preseason conference poll. Senior defender Billy
Geist, a co-captain of the Crimson, and senior midfielder Jason
Duboe were named to the publication’s preseason All-America
honorable mention team, while Duboe also earned a spot on the
Inside Lacrosse preseason All-Ivy League first team.
Leading the Way
Last season, attacker Jeff Cohen, now a sophomore, paced the
Crimson with 41 points on 34 goals and seven assists. Junior
attacker Dean Gibbons ranked second with 21 goals and 27 points,
while senior attacker Travis Burr (16-3-19) and senior midfielder
Jason Duboe (11-8-19) tied for third with 19 points apiece.
Around The Country
A year ago, the Crimson boasted the country’s third best
scoring defense, allowing only 6.69 goals per game. John
Tillman’s squad also ranked third in man-down defense (.810,
34 of 42), fifth in scoring margin (+3.985), 15th in scoring
offense (10.54 goals per game) and 15th in man-up offense (.389, 14
of 36).
When The Game Is On the Line ...
Jeff Cohen and Dean Gibbons tied for the team lead with three
game-winning tallies apiece during the 2009 season.
Road Trip
Harvard will play six games away from home this spring. The
Crimson will visit Georgetown March 3, Holy Cross March 6,
Massachusetts March 13, Cornell April 10, Penn April 17 and Yale
May 1. The Crimson stood at 3-3 in road contests in 2009.
Ivy League Tournament Coming in 2010
Beginning this season, the Ivy League will hold four-team
tournaments to decide the conference’s automatic qualifying
institutions to the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s
Lacrosse Championships. Each tournament will include the top four
teams in Ivy League regular season round-robin competition and will
be hosted by the round-robin winner.
The winners of the Ivy League championship will continue to be
determined by results of the conference’s round-robin
competitions during the regular season. The tournaments will be
held at the winner of the regular-season Ivy League
championship.
Faceoff Specialists
Juniors Christian Oberbeck and Andrew Parchman will once again
take the majority of the faceoffs for Harvard. In 2009, Parchman
won 69 of 121 faceoffs (.570), while Oberbeck had a .526 winning
percentage (60 of 114).
Consistent Offense
The Crimson outscored opponents in each quarter last season for a
total of 137 goals for, compared to 87 goals against. The biggest
margin occurred in the third quarter, as Harvard outscored other
teams, 41-25. The Crimson also had an advantage in shots in each
quarter, firing a total of 474 shots, compared to 356 by
opponents.
Pedigree
Harvard has won 13 national championships in men’s lacrosse,
including the first two intercollegiate titles (in 1881 and 1882).
Harvard has won three Ivy League championships (1964, 1980, 1990)
and made five NCAA tournament appearances (1980, 1988, 1990, 1996,
2006). Eighty-three Harvard players have achieved All-America
status.
Stay A While
Harvard has had just four head coaches since 1949. Bruce Munro
coached the Crimson from 1949-74. Bob Scalise (now Harvard’s
director of athletics) took over from 1975-87, and Scott Anderson
coached the Crimson from 1988-2007. This is the third season under
current head coach John Tillman.
Crimson Captains
All-NEILA midfielder Travis Burr and All-Ivy League, All-NEILA and
Inside Lacrosse preseason All-America defender Billy Geist will
captain the Crimson in 2010.
Well Attended
For the last two seasons, Harvard served as a co-host, along with
the ECAC, for the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships. Last
year’s championships drew a total of 126,673 fans to Gillette
Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. The 2010 and 2011 championships will be
held in Baltimore, Md., but will return to Gillette in 2012, as
once again Harvard will serve as the tournament host.
Championship Tradition
Harvard has won 138 national team championships in 18 different
sports since the men’s track and field team won the
school’s first national title in 1880. The list includes four
NCAA titles (1989 men’s ice hockey, 1990 women’s
lacrosse, 2003 women’s rowing, 2006 fencing). Harvard has the
largest Division I athletics program in the country with 41 varsity
sports and nearly 1,500 student-athletes.
