PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The No. 15 Harvard men's lacrosse team had the No. 14 Penn Quakers on the ropes this afternoon in another highly competitive Ivy League lacrosse matchup. The Crimson (7-4, 1-3 Ivy) could not hold on to its first half lead as the Quakers (8-4, 4-1 Ivy) escaped with a win over its Ancient Eight Foe.
 
Sam King had another impressive day at attack for Harvard, scoring six goals and finishing with seven points to lead the offense. Christian Barnard anchored the effort with 13 saves in the cage.
 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Ancient Eight foes, Harvard and Penn renewed its rivalry this afternoon in the 92^nd meeting between the two schools.
• The Crimson opened the scoring just 15 seconds into the action as Graham Blake found the net off a feed from Sam King to give Harvard an early 1-0 lead.
• The sides would trade goals, Penn finding one just a minute later before King answered off a feed from Greg Campisi in transition. Penn would match to tie the score at 2-2 just three minutes into the game.
• Penn would go on to add two more goals in the next nine minutes of action to take a 4-2 lead towards the end of the quarter.
• Harvard answered with an offensive onslaught, led by its junior captain, Sam King. Jack Speidell got Harvard going with his first goal of the game before King went off to score three consecutive goals and give the lead back to Harvard. King's run put the Crimson up 6-4 at the end of the first quarter.
• The second quarter saw both teams settle in on defense, holding both teams to no goals through the first six minutes of the second frame. Penn would get on the board first in the second with a man-up goal at 8:40 in the quarter.
• The Crimson once again answered the call, going on a three-goal run to boost its lead to 9-5. Logan Ip, Speidell and John Aurandt IV all added the tallies. The Quakers went on a small two-goal run to end the half, but Harvard held the advantage at 9-7 entering halftime.
• The Quakers used a 4-0 run in the third quarter to retake the lead. Penn would go up 11-9 at the end of the third and hold the lead heading into the final period.
• After an early fourth quarter goal from Penn, the Crimson began its comeback. King scored back-to-back goals just 30 seconds apart and Jack Petersen found the tying tally with just under seven minutes remaining in the final quarter.
• Penn found two goals down the stretch that would end up being the difference, as the Quakers went on to escape with a 15-12 victory over Harvard.

 

HARVARD HIGHLIGHTS

• Sam King led the attack with seven points off six goals and one assist. The six -goal total ties a career-high for the junior.
• Jack Speidell chipped in with two goals.
• Martin Nelson led the team in groundballs with three.
• Eight different players caused a turnover for the Harvard defense.
• Christian Barnard made 13 saves to anchor the Crimson defense.
• Harvard forced 15 Penn turnovers in the contest.

 

UP NEXT

Harvard will make the trip to take on nationally ranked Cornell next weekend in its penultimate regular season contest of 2024. The Big Red and the Crimson are set to clash next Saturday (Apr. 20) at 12:00 PM in Ithaca and on ESPN+.