HAMILTON, N.Y. – Harvard men's lacrosse rebounded in a big way Saturday afternoon with a 14-10 victory in its final non-conference game against the Colgate Raiders. The Crimson (4-4, 1-1 Ivy) leveled its record after a solid all-around outing.
 
Miles Botkiss, Joe Dowling and Sam King all turned in four-point performances to lead the Crimson to its ninth straight victory over Colgate.
 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Crimson and Colgate met on the men's lacrosse field for the ninth time on Saturday on a sunny day in Hamilton. It was the final nonconference matchup for each team, both of which were looking to get back on track before continuing league play.
• Christian Barnard and the Harvard defense set the tone early as Barnard made a pair of saves and the defense caused a pair of turnovers in the early going. The Raiders managed to get the first goal across the line to give the Raiders a brief lead.
• Logan Ip leveled the score with a strike four minutes into the first quarter and was quickly followed by Miles Botkiss, who gave Harvard the lead with a goal just over a minute later.
• Andrew Perry and Botkiss scored back-to-back goals later in the quarter after another pair of saves from Barnard held off the Raider attack. Teddy Malone increased the lead with the fifth Crimson goal of the quarter to end the scoring in the opening frame. Harvard led the contest 5-2 after the first 15 minutes.
• Nick Loring kicked off the second quarter by firing a laser into the back of the net, giving Harvard a 6-2 lead. Later in the quarter, Botkiss added his third tally of the game on the man-up chance, after the Crimson ride forced a failed Raider clear. The Crimson's six-goal run was ended after Colgate finally got one back at 7:01 in the period.
• Hayden Cheek scored goal No. 15 on the season at 4:49 in the quarter to extend his goal-scoring streak to 19 games. Harvard capitalized on another man-up chance later in the half after a great passing sequence led to a goal from Joe Dowling. The half ended with the Crimson leading by a score of 9-3.
• Barnard made a trio of saves in the first five minutes of the third quarter to keep the Crimson lead at six goals.
• The pace slowed down after halftime but Joe Dowling was able to break through the Colgate defense late in the third quarter, scoring his second goal of the day to give the Crimson a 10-3 lead. Colgate would add just one more tally in the third frame to put the score at 10-4 after three quarters.
• Graham Blake put his first goal of the season in the back of the net to give his squad the first goal of the quarter. Colgate would answer with three consecutive goals to cut the Crimson lead to four.
• The Raider run was halted after Botkiss potted his fourth goal of the game with four minutes left in the action. Dowling added his third goal of the game later in the quarter to give Harvard no. 13 on the afternoon. Colgate would answer with another three-goal run to bring the score to 13-10 with just over a minute to play.
• Sam King netted the dagger for the Crimson, his first goal of the day, with 45 seconds left to play in the contest and securing a 14-10 win for the Crimson.

 

HARVARD HIGHLIGHTS

• Miels Botkiss led the attack with a team-high and season-high four goals.
• Joe Dowling registered a career-best four points with three goals and an assist.
• Christian Barnard posted a .524 save percentage, making 11 stops in the effort.
• Hayden Cheek extended his goal-scoring streak to 19 games with his tally in the second quarter.
• Andrew DeGennaro posted 10 faceoff wins and scooped up a team-high nine groundballs. The total is also the most by a player this season for the Crimson.
• Harvard assisted on 11 of 14 goals today, led by Sam King who threw out three helpers. Owen Gaffney also tallied a pair of assists to help the Crimson offense.
• Nick Loring, Logan Ip, Hayden Cheek and Andrew Perry all notched two points in the outing.
• The Crimson were 19-for-21 on clear attempts and also forced six failed Raider clears, marking the third straight game an opponent has come in under an 80-percent clear percentage.
•  The Man-Up offense also preformed at al high level today, scoring on three of five chances.

 

UP NEXT

After nearly a month-long hiatus, Harvard will finally be back in Cambridge next Saturday when it plays host to the Cornell Big Red. The Crimson will look to upset the Ivy League's top team when the sides clash at 12:00 on Jordan Field and on ESPN+.