CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard men's lacrosse is back in Cambridge and ready to play its final game of the regular season this Saturday against the No. 16/13 Yale Bulldogs. The Crimson (5-6, 2-3 Ivy) will celebrate its 12 seniors before the game that will decide who takes the final spot in the Ivy League Tournament next weekend. The Bulldogs will travel to Jordan Field to renew its rivalry with Harvard in Cambridge for the first time since 2019.
 
With a victory, the Crimson would clinch a spot in the Ivy League Tournament for the first time since 2016. This will be meeting No. 104 between the Ancient Eight foes who have split the last eight games over the past ten years.

What's Happening

Harvard will celebrate senior day and its 12 members of the class of 2023 in a pregame ceremony before the first faceoff with the Elis. Harvard will also welcome a number of youth lacrosse teams to Jordan Field to watch the action unfold. 

Quick Hits

• The Crimson and Yale are currently even at 2-3 in the Ivy League and will fight for the last remaining slot in the Ivy League Tournament on Saturday.
• Harvard is coming off a 17-11 defeat against Princeton (Apr. 22) in which Sam King notched six points with four goals and two assists to lead the offensive effort. Collin Bergstrom had one of his best performances of the season on defense, causing three turnovers and scooping up two groundballs.
• The Crimson ride currently ranks fourth in the nation, holding opponents to a .788 clear percentage this season. The group has forced five or more failed clears in all but two games in 2023.
• Harvard is also in the national top-five in caused turnovers, making 10.27 a game. Chase Yager leads the Crimson in that category with 13 so far this season.
• One of Coach Byrne's main points of emphasis this season has been winning the ground ball battle. Harvard is currently no. 13 in the nation and second in the Ivy League with its 34.82 ground balls per game. Harvard is 4-1 this season when it has more GBs than its opponents.
• FOGO Andrew DeGennaro and GK Christian Barnard lead the effort with 41 and 32 ground balls per game. Greg Campisi, Sam King and Chase Yager lead the other positions with 25-plus ground balls each this season.
• The attack is led by sophomore Sam King, who secured his first career 50-point season after his six-point outburst at Princeton. He is up to 51 points in 2023 with 27 goals and 24 assists.
• King's assist mark (2.18 apg) leads the Ivy League and is good for No. 14 in the nation.
• Harvard has the sixth deepest roster in the league according to Lacrosse Reference, averaging 26.7 contributors per game.
• The Crimson has played the tenth hardest schedule in the country this season based on the RPI of its ten hardest opponents. Ten of Harvard's 12 opponents were either ranked or receiving votes in national polls at the time of the matchups.

 

The Matchup

The 104th Edition of the Harvard-Yale Rivalry

Harvard has not played any opponent more times than Yale, and the duo will add another chapter to its long-standing rivalry this weekend when the sides meet on Jordan Field. Yale, winners of the last three contests in the series, come into the game looking to solidify its case for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Harvard could deal a huge blow to the Eli's postseason hopes with a victory, securing the last spot in the Ivy League Tournament and preventing the Bulldogs from adding to its resume.
 
Harvard's postseason hopes are still alive as a win over the Elis will secure it a spot in the Ivy League Tournament for the first time since 2016. The Crimson is also seeking its first win over Yale since the 2017 matchup.
 
Over the years, the games between the two bitter Ivy League rivals have been close, with seven of the last ten matchups being decided by two goals or fewer, six of those being one goal games. Harvard came up just short in last year's battle – one of the best college lacrosse games of the season – in a 17-16 loss in overtime.
 

Scouting Yale

The No. 16/13 Yale Bulldogs are flying into its final regular season contest of 2023 with a 7-4 record and an active four-game win streak. The Bulldogs are currently on the bubble but are projected to be one of the last two teams into the 2023 NCAA Tournament field after running through its competition in the last month. Yale owns key wins over Villanova, UMass, Denver and Boston University, but went 0-3 against the top of the Ivy League (Cornell, Penn, Princeton).
 
The Bulldogs and the Crimson are very similar on paper, with both teams rolling out young roster stacked with first-year and sophomore talent. However, Yale's strength continues to be its high-paced scoring offense, led by Tewaaraton candidates, Matt Brandau, and his 52 points. Chris Lyons is the team's main scoring threat, as he totals 46 goals so far in the campaign. His goals per game mark of 4.18 is good for second in the nation.
 
The eight strongest team according to lacrosse reference, Yale – again similar to Harvard – works fast, averaging 25.3 seconds per possession on scoring plays. The Bulldogs' main weaknesses include its clearing percentage (.838 – 6^th in Ivy), man-down defense (.512 – 7^th in Ivy) and scoring defense (13.27 – 4^th in Ivy).
 

Notes and Storylines

He's the King

Sam King is having nothing short of a stellar sophomore campaign, establishing himself as one of the most lethal offensive threats in the Ivy League. Currently leading the team in points, goals and assists, King is just three points away from reaching the 100-point milestone as a sophomore. Should King register the three points needed to reach 100, he would become the fastest Harvard player to 100 points since Michael Ferucci accomplished the feat in 1996.
 
King has notched five or more points in five contests and ranks first in the Ivy League with his 2.18 assists per game. His 4.64 points per game ranks 20^th in the nation and fifth in the Ivy League. His points total is also third best in the sophomore class nationally.
 

Keys to Victory

Ground balls, caused turnovers and second-chance shots continue to be the key to Crimson victories this season. In its five wins, Harvard has come away with more than 50-percent of the ground balls and has caused turnovers on more than 30 percent of its opponents' possessions. Additionally, in all but one of its wins, Harvard has averaged more than one shot per possession and has capitalized more on its second chance scoring opportunities.
 
Defensive efficiency has also been crucial to Harvard's success. In four of its five victories, the Crimson has posted a defensive efficiency of 75-percent or higher.
 

Winning the 50/50 Battle

Coach Gerry Byrne has made winning the 50/50 battles one of the main focuses for his group this season. Harvard has responded by posting the second highest ground balls per game total in the Ivy League heading into the final week of action. The Crimson's 34.82 groundballs per game is also good for the 13^th highest nationally. 14 Crimson players have grabbed 10 or more groundballs in 2023, the second highest player total in the Ivy League.
 
Outside of FOGO Andrew DeGennaro and goalkeeper Christian Barnard, who are first and second on the team, respectively, a host of Harvard players rank amongst the top ground ball getters in their position group nationally. Sam King's 2.64 ground balls per game is eight amongst attackmen. Greg Campisi has picked up 2.64 ground balls per game to rank sixth amongst LSMs and Chase Yager's 2.36 gbpg total is good for third amongst SSDMs.
 

Crimson Causing Chaos

The Harvard defense has tortured opposing teams with its ability to cause turnovers. The Crimson currently ranks fifth in the nation and first in the Ivy League with its 10.27 caused turnovers per game total. Chase Yager leads the effort with 13 CTs this season, recording at least one in all but two contests. His 1.18 ctpg total is also fifth-best in the Ivy League.
 
The team's ability to cause turnovers has showed in the performance of the ride which has slowed down its opponents' ability to successfully clear. The Crimson ride forces nearly seven failed clears per game and currently ranks fourth in the country with a .788 opponent clear percentage. That total is also the best in the Ivy League.
 
Harvard finished third in the category in 2022 after finishing with 10.07 caused turnovers per game.
 

Up Next

The Crimson control its own destiny, needing to win this contest against Yale to make its way into the Ivy League Tournament and continue its season. The Ivy League Tournament will feature the top-four teams in the conference standings, who will then compete at Columbia University next week (May 5-7) to decide the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.