CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Embarking on its first road trip of the season, the Harvard men's lacrosse team will travel to Florida for a neutral site game against No. 8 Ohio State. Game time is set for 7 p.m. with the contest airing on BTN+. The matchup will take place at the Paradise Sports Complex in Naples, Fla.
What to Know
- Harvard kicked off its season earning a dominant 17-4 win over NJIT its in home opener last weekend at Jordan Field to move to 1-0. The Crimson's success was highlighted by 11 different goal scorers, including two hat tricks from senior
Austin Madronic and first-year
Miles Botkiss.
- The Crimson's defense was stellar in its season opener against NJIT, forcing 17 turnovers and winning the groundball battle 29-15. Harvard's faceoff unit produced as well, winning 13-of-24 battles, including a team-best 5-of-8 from first-year
Andrew DeGennaro.
- Harvard is now 6-1 in its last seven season openers, with four of those wins coming in Cambridge on home turf. The Crimson is now 2-0 in season openers under head coach
Gerry Byrne's leadership.
- The Crimson currently ranks first in the nation in caused turnovers per game after registering 17 against NJIT, 19th in groundballs with 35 and 30th in faceoff winning percentage with .542.
- Three Crimson players rank in the top-27 in the nation in caused turnovers per game.
Greg Campisi leads the way in third with 4.00, followed by
Tommy Martinson in eighth with 3.00 and
Ray Dearth in 27th with 2.00.
- Harvard and Ohio State have met once in program history, with the Buckeyes topping the Crimson, 13-4, in 2017. Ohio State enters the weekend ranked No. 8 in the nation and sports a 3-0 record after season opening wins over Detroit, Cleveland State and No. 4 North Carolina.
Leading the Way
Gerry Byrne enters his third season as The Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard Men's Lacrosse. In his first year at the helm in 2020, Byrne led the Crimson to a 2-2 overall record before the Ivy League/Harvard canceled the remainder of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Byrne's leadership drastically enhanced the Harvard defense in 2020, which saw Harvard's goals against average (GAA) improve from 14.78 to 11.25 GAA, moving from 71st in Division I to 37th. Under Byrne's tutelage, Harvard's man down defense improved from 41st in the nation, to fourth, giving up just one goal in four games.
Up Next
The Crimson will continue a three-game road stretch at Fairfield on Saturday, March 5. Game time is set for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on Lax Sports Network.
