CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – It is officially lacrosse season and with the 2024 season already underway, the Harvard men's lacrosse team is ready to make its season debut this weekend when it takes on the Providence Friars at Jordan Field on Saturday (Feb. 17). The Crimson and the Friars will kick off the highly anticipated Spring 2024 slate in the first of seven home games for the Crimson this season. Harvard will play 13 games in the 2024 regular season including its seven home contests inside the friendly confines of Jordan Field. The Crimson is looking forward to an exciting slate that features contests against a number challenging opponents.
The Harvard men's lacrosse staff, led by the Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard Men's Lacrosse
Gerry Byrne, kicked off the year by welcoming in its 11 new first-year players, who joined the Harvard Class of 2027.
Jack Speidell,
Jackson Greene,
Nick Bruckner,
Owen Umansky,
Andrew Glinski,
Wyatt Wiggins,
Teddy Kim,
Jack Petersen,
James Canipe,
Michael Smyth and
Joost de Koning all quickly established themselves in the locker room and will look to make a positive impact on the team this year. Inside Lacrosse ranked three of the first-years among the top 100 incoming freshmen on its Power 100 Recruits list with No. 28 Greene, No. 38 Speidell and No. 56 Petersen.
Senior
Collin Bergstrom and juniors
Andrew O'Berry and
Sam King will lead the team as captains for the 2024 season. Bergstrom led the team last season
in caused turnovers (15) and was ranked fifth in the Ivy League. King led the team last season in points, grabbing 31 goals and 25 assists. He also ranked fifth in the Ivy League in points per game with 4.67 while also becoming the fifth-fastest Harvard player to reach the 100-point mark.
Continuing its trend of academic excellence In the 2023 season, the team posted a cumulative GPA of 3.73 during the Fall semester. The Crimson, the winners of the IMCLA Team GPA award in each of the past two seasons, prolonged its trend of academic success and looks to carry the effort onto the field with them as it prepares to take the field for the highly anticipated 2024 Spring season.
HLX has been working hard all offseason in preparation for the 2024 season. It's Fall schedule saw the team compete in a number of competitive intrasquad scrimmages while also testing its skill against Maryland and Lehigh at a Fall scrimmage in Philadelphia.
The Crimson also showcased its dedication to the local lacrosse community, collaborating with the Harlem Lacrosse Boston group to hold its annual Chumash Tournament. The afternoon saw youth players of all ages come out to compete in the tournament.
QUICK HITS
- Gerry Byrne, The Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard Men's Lacrosse, returns for his fifth season with the Crimson.
- The Crimson is coming off a 5-7 season with a 2-4 record in Ivy League play.
- Last season Harvard posted one of the biggest upsets of the 2023 NCAA Lacrosse season, defeating No. 4 Cornell at Jordan Field.
- In 2023, Harvard had the third-best ride in the nation, holding teams to a .789 clearing percentage. Additionally, the defense finished fourth in the nation with 10.5 caused turnovers per game while the man-down defense allowed only nine goals all season and finished as the best man-down unit in the Ivy League.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Returning point-scorer Sam King returns to the Crimson in 2024 to lead the Harvard attack unit.
- Sophomore Teddy Malone will join King on the attack and will look to improve off an impressive first-year season in 2023.
- Jackson Greene, Jack Spiedell and Jack Petersen will all see playing time right from the jump after showing off their skills in Fall competitions.
- The Crimson returns an experienced defensive group that includes former All-Ivy league talents Collin Bergstrom and Greg Campisi. Charlie Muller and Martin Nelson, who both started more than 10 games a year ago, will both be back in the crimson and white.
- Senior goalkeeper, Christian Barnard, will return to mind the crease for the Crimson.
- Owen Umansky, a member of the incoming first-year class, is looking to make an impact in the faceoff circle for Harvard next to junior Andrew DeGennaro.
- Andrew O'Berry and Ray Dearth will both look to build off solid season a year ago when they lead the defensive midfield group this season.
KEY DATES
- February 17 - HLX opens the season vs. the Providence Friars.
- March 10 - Harvard travels to Ann Arbor to battle the Michigan Wolverines.
- March 16 - Harvard opens Ivy League play and renews rivalry with Yale.
- March 23 - Harvard welcomes Princeton to Jordan Field to open its Ivy League home schedule.
- March 30 - The Crimson will take on preseason no. 3 Virginia at Jordan Field.
- April 27 - Harvard celebrates Senior Day and takes on Brown in final regular season home game at Jordan Field.
- May 3 - The start of the Ivy League Tournament, hosted by the regular season champion.
RECAP THE PRESEASON
FOLLOW ALONG
