CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard men's lacrosse will look to right the ship this weekend when it hosts Dartmouth at Jordan Field in the Crimson's return to Ivy League play. Harvard (6-3, 0-2 Ivy) hopes to correct a three-game losing skid when it hosts the Big Green (3-6, 0-2 Ivy) this Saturday in Cambridge.
 
The team is coming off a hard-fought loss to the No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers this past weekend. Harvard held a lead for the majority of the second and third quarters before Virginia took the lead in an eventual 13-10 victory.
 
The 93^rd meeting between the Ancient Eight foes is a revenge game for the Crimson, who was narrowly defeated in a 10-9 loss in overtime to the Big Green a year ago. Harvard owns a 51-40-1 advantage in the all-time series and has defeated Dartmouth six consecutive times on its home turf.
 

The Matchup

No. 17/15 Harvard hopes to end its mid-season skid this weekend when it hosts the Dartmouth Big Green. Harvard owns an 11-game advantage in the all-time series and has dominated the rivalry this century, posting a 14-8 record since 2000 and an 8-2 mark in the last 10 meetings. The record includes a six-game home winning streak against Dartmouth.
 
The sides' 2022 contest ended in a 19-10 victory for the Crimson that was powered by a nine-point effort from Sam King. The total stands as a career-high for the junior.
 
Quick Hits

• Harvard (6-3) is coming off another close loss to the No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers.
• The team has posted a 13-5 record at Jordan Field under the Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard Lacrosse, Gerry Byrne.
• The Crimson is 3-2 on its home turf this season.
• Sam King leads the team with 5.89 points per game this season, the second highest total in the nation.
• Harvard owns the nation's second-best man-up offense with a .643 percentage.

 

Crimson in the National Rankings

• Harvard remains ranked in all three major college lacrosse polls despite the current three-game skid.
• The Inside Lacrosse has the Crimson as the No. 17 team in the nation.
• The USILA Coaches voted Harvard into the No. 15 spot.
• USA Lacrosse Magazine has Harvard slotted at No. 18.

 

Statistically Speaking

2^nd Best Man-Up offense in the country (.643)
3^rd Best shooting percentage in the nation (.358)
6^th Best clearing team in the NCAA (.908)
6^th Highest scoring offense in the nation (15.22 goals per game)
7^th Most Points per game as a team (23.44)
10^th Most ground balls per game nationally (34.33)
11^th Fewest turnovers per game (14.44 per contest)
 

By The Numbers

.517 shot percentage for Logan Ip, the fourth-best mark in the nation and best in the Ivy League
1.63 Caused Turnovers per game for Greg Campisi, the third-most in the Ivy League.
3.0 Goals per game for Teddy Malone, the tenth-most nationally
5 Individual man-up goals for Liam Griffiths and Graham Blake, which are tied for the fourth-most in the country.
5 Caused Turnovers for Martin Nelson against Virginia (Mar. 30), a new career-best and the second-highest total in an NCAA game this season.
5.89 Points Per game for Sam King, the second-most in the country
11 Game goal scoring streak for Graham Blake, the longest run of his career
17 Groundballs in the last three games for Andrew O'Berry
17 Players with two or more caused turnovers, the most in the Ivy League.
20 Saves for Christian Barnard against Princeton (Mar. 23), a new career-high
25 Game goal scoring streak for Sam King, the eight-longest stretch in the nation
53 Points for Sam King this season, the fourth-most in the nation and the 13^th most in HLX history
75 Goals scored by the starting attack group of Sam King, Teddy Malone and Graham Blake, the most in the Ivy League
 

Scouting Dartmouth

The Big Green is coming off a 5-15 loss to Princeton last weekend that put the squad at 3-6 in the regular season. Dartmouth also owns an 0-2 mark in Ivy League play with losses to Penn (11-13) and Princeton.
 
The Big Green have hung in most of its games despite its bottom-16 ranked scoring offense and defense. The group boasts the No. 57 scoring offense (10.0 goals per game) and the No. 59 scoring defense (13.0 goals allowed per game). The team's best areas this season has been it's man-up offense (.455, 10^th), ground ball total (33.2 per game, 18^th) and its caused turnover numbers (8.78 per game, 22^nd).  
 
Mitchell Myers is off to a hot start at the faceoff X, posting a .560 winning percentage to date which is the second highest in the Ivy League and no. 22 nationally. Colin McGIll is the team's primary offensive threat with his 2.22 goals per game mark.

Last Time Out

Harvard went toe-to-toe with one of the nation's best in its last contest, a narrow 13-10 loss to the No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers. The Crimson held a 10-6 fourth-quarter lead before Virginia went on a massive scoring run to escape Cambridge with a victory. The defense was the star of the show in the action as the starting group of Collin Bergstrom, Martin Nelson, Logan Darrin and Greg Campisi clamped up one of the best attack units in the country for the better part of three quarters.
 
Nelson caused a career-high five turnovers – the second-highest total in an NCAA game this season – to lead the charge. Darrin and Campisi each added three caused turnovers in the action. Campisi, a senior LSM, also got on the score sheet with a highlight reel scoop, sprint and score goal against the Cavaliers.
 

History Against Dartmouth

The majority of the Crimson lineup comes into the contest with experience against the Big Green. Sam King (13p, 8g, 5a) is the Crimson leader in points, goals and assists against the Ivy League foe. Teddy Malone (4g, 1a) had a solid outing in last year's contest, scoring the team's first four goals of the game consecutively.
 
Miles Botkiss (3g) and Graham Blake (2g) have also had success against Dartmouth offensively. On the other side of the ball, Colling Bergstrom and Greg Campisi have each recorded two caused turnovers against Dartmouth. Campisi also owns ten groundballs in his two games against the foe.
 

Jack of all Trades

Sam King has continued his rise to the top of collegiate lacrosse this season, producing at a record-setting pace that has put him in the "best players in the nation" conversation. King can do it all, score, assist, defend and lead, as shown by his rankings nationally. The Baltimore native ranks inside the top-30 in every offensive metric and currently sits at no. 2 nationally with 5.89 points per game. The Gilman School product also ranks eighth with 3.11 assists per game and 26^th with 2.78 goals per game.
 
King is also the only player in the nation with more than 20 goals, 25 assists, 30 ground balls and five caused turnovers in the country, showing his all-around skillset.
 
The junior captain is already up to 53 points this season, putting him on pace for 77 points, which would be the second most in Harvard history. King also already owns 155 career points which is tied for the 12^th-most in program history.
 

Locking Down the Cage

Senior goalkeeper, Christian Barnard has turned in two of his best career efforts in two of the past three contests against Yale and Princeton. Barnard first posted 19 saves in the close loss to Yale (Mar. 16) before – at the time a career-high for the Connecticut native – before setting a new career-best with 20 saves against Princeton (Mar. 23) this past weekend.
 
The 20 save total is the most by a Harvard goalie in a game since the 2019 season where Kyle Mullin '22 made 22 stops against Providence. The 20 save total is also tied for the third-highest total in an NCAA this season.
 

It's a Team Game

Harvard sports one of the deepest rosters in the entire country as shown by its raw depth according to Lacrosse Reference. The Crimson averages just under 27 contributors per game to rank fourth in the nation behind High Point (29.8), Duke (26.8) and Bellarmine (26.4).
 

Like a Well-Oiled Machine

Harvard men's lacrosse is the fourth-most efficient team in the nation according to Lacrosse Reference, posting a cumulative efficiency of 41.2-percent through seven games. This metric is a combination of Harvard's offensive efficiency (goals per possession) and the defensive efficiency (goals allowed per possession). The Crimson's offensive efficiency alone also ranks fourth in the country, as Harvard has scored on 37.7-percent of its possessions in 2024.
 

Peppering the Cage

One of the most accurate shooting teams in the nation, Harvard has tested opposing goalies all season long with its ability to put shots on net. The Crimson boasts a 37.7 percent shooting percentage which is the second-best mark in the nation behind only Notre Dame (.407). Harvard averages 27.5 shots on goal per game and 41.5 total shots per game.
 
Logan Ip leads the team and is fourth in the nation with a .517 shooting percentage. The Sophomore has scored 15 goals on only 29 shots so far in 2024.
 

The Crimson Shield

Harvard's defense has had a knack for going on long shutout streaks throughout this season, recording a shutout stretch of 10-plus minutes in every contest in 2024. The longest streak came against Providence where Harvard held the Friars scoreless for 24-minutes consecutive minutes. The defense shut out Vermont for the entire third quarter and for 18-minutes total in the tilt up in Burlington.  
 
Most recently against Virginia, Harvard's defense twice held off the Cavaliers for long stretches of time. First holding them off for 18-plus minutes between the first and second quarters and then following that up with a nine-minute shutout streak between the second and third quarters.
 

A Historic Start

Harvard men's lacrosse began the 2024 season by going 6-0 for the first time since 1990. The Crimson was one of only three remaining unbeaten teams left in the nation at the time of its loss to Yale a week ago. The Crimson offense scored 88 goals in its first five game, which was the most to begin the season in program history.
 

Up Next

The tilt with Dartmouth concludes a three-game homestand for Harvard as the team will now hit the road for two of its final three games of the season. First, the Crimson will travel to Philadelphia for a matchup with the nationally ranked and league-leading Penn Quakers next Saturday (Apr. 13) before making another trip to Ithaca, N.Y. to take on the Cornell Big Red (Apr. 20).