NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 12 Harvard men's lacrosse team was tripped up for the first time in 2024, as the Crimson fell in a 17-15 loss to the No. 10 Yale Bulldogs. Harvard (6-1, 0-1 Ivy) had an impressive comeback bid fall just short in the team's first setback of the season.
 
Harvard nearly erased an eight-goal Yale lead in the second-half led by career efforts from Sam King (8 points), Teddy Malone (5 goals) and Christian Barnard (19 saves), but the Elis were able to hold off the surging Crimson to take the 105^th meeting between the ancient eight foes.
 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The No. 12 Harvard Crimson put its undefeated record on the line when it made the trip south to take on the red-hot No. 12 Yale Bulldogs on their home turf.
• It was the 105^th meeting between the Ancient Eight rivals and one of the most anticipated college lacrosse matchups of the afternoon.
• The Bulldogs wasted no time, striking first and grabbing a 1-0 lead just ten seconds into the contest. Sam King countered with his first goal of the game, fighting through contact and rolling inside before finding the back of the net with a shot on the doorstep. The Bulldogs answered with back-to-back goals before Teddy Malone registered his first goal to make it 3-2.  
• Another quick run by the Bulldogs pushed their lead to 5-2 before Malone put an end to the rally with his second goal of the quarter. Malone striped another shot into the twine to briefly make the score 5-4, but the goal was waved off after a review and led to a three-goal run for Yale to help boost the Bulldog lead to 8-3. The Crimson held the Elis off for the remainder of the quarter after a trio of strong defensive stands.
• Sam King powered the Crimson attack to back-to-back goals to start the second quarter. The junior first fought through his defender and found space before threading a shot from distance and then found a cutting Miles Botkiss on the doorstep to make the score 8-5 after five minutes in the second quarter. Yale countered with a five-goal run to take a 13-5 lead.
• Sam King continued to show out on the attack, completing his first-half hat-trick as time expired in the first half. The Crimson would head into the break chasing a seven-goal Eli lead.
• Malone completed his hat-trick to open the second half as he found the back of the net on the Crimson's first extra-man opportunity of the game. Christian Barnard made two saves to hold off the Bulldogs on their first two possessions of the half but Yale would pocket another goal at the 10-minute mark of the third quarter to restore its seven-goal lead.  
• The Crimson got a big opportunity late in the third quarter after drawing a pair of Bulldog penalties, one of which locked in a two-minute EMO chance for Harvard. Logan Ip converted on the first chance for the Crimson, making the score 14-8.
• Graham Blake scored his first goal of the day on the EMO before Ip registered his second of the day to cut into the Yale lead and make the score 14-10. An Andrew O'Berry caused turnover on the ensuing Yale possession led to another Teddy Malone goal to bring the Crimson withing three goals of Yale. A 5-1 third quarter run helped the Crimson get back into the game as the score read 11-14 at the end of the third quarter.
• Barnard's 16^th save of the afternoon at the beginning of the third quarter led to another goal from Logan Ip, who completed his hat-trick to bring the Crimson within two goals of the Elis. Yale finally ended a five-goal Harvard run with back-to-back goals, making the score 16-12 at 10:44 in the fourth quarter.
• Malone punched back with his career-best fifth goal of the matchup and then Sam King muscled his way into the slot before scoring his fourth goal of the game to being Harvard back within two goals. A full-field goal by Yale took the wind out of the Crimson rally, giving Yale a 17-14 lead with just over four minutes to go.
• Another goal from King made the score 17-15, before the Elis regained possession and ran the clock down to just 39 seconds remaining. Harvard went back on the attack but could not complete the comeback as the Crimson dropped its first contest of 2024, a 17-15 decision to No. 10 Yale.

 

HARVARD HIGHLIGHTS

• Christian Barnard made a career-high 19 saves in the cage.
• Sam King scored five goals and dished out three assists to lead the team with eight points.
• Teddy Malone scored a career-high five goals in the action.
• Logan Ip poured in three goals to match a career-high.
• The Crimson was 3-for-5 on extra-man-opportunities.
• Andrew O'Berry led the team with six ground balls.
• Greg Campisi caused two turnovers on the day.

 
 

UP NEXT

Harvard will continue to power through the Ivy League portion of its schedule next week when it returns to Cambridge to take on the nationally ranked Princeton Tigers. The Crimson and the Tigers will throw down at 12:00 PM at Jordan Field and on ESPN+.