CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard men's lacrosse will play its final regular season contest at home this weekend as it is set to play host to the Brown Bears this Saturday (Apr. 27) at Jordan Field. The Crimson (7-5, 1-4 Ivy) will look to play spoilers this weekend as the Bears (3-9, 2-3 Ivy) must earn a win over the Crimson to have a chance at playing in the Ivy League Tournament.
Harvard will look to end the regular season strong after a loss to the No. 9 Cornell Big Red a week ago.
Gameday Festivities
Harvard Lacrosse is on pace to sell out Jordan Field again this weekend. The team is excited to host Massachusetts Youth Lacrosse Day as well as Senior Day this weekend when it hosts Brown. The event will also include…
- Sam Adams Beer Garden
- Food Trucks
- T-shirt Toss and HLX Sticker Giveaways
- HLX Apparel Store On Site w/Free HLX Stickers
- Tailgate Games Supplied for Fans (Cornhole etc.)
- Live Music
- HLX Apparel and Equipment Raffles
- Fan Tunnel for Youth Players as HLX enters the field
A limited number of tickets are still available, so be sure to lock in your seats before it is too late.
The Matchup
Harvard and Brown will renew its long standings rivalry this weekend when the sides battle it out on Jordan Field. The Crimson has won back-to-back contests against Brown and owns a 42-35 edge in series history. Harvard is 30-17 at home against Brown all-time.
Quick Hits
- Harvard (7-5) is coming off a loss to No. 9 Cornell (Apr. 27).
- Sam King's 5.75 points per game is the second-best mark in the nation.
- King now owns 69 points on the season, the fifth most in a season in HLX history.
- Harvard owns the nation's second-best man-up offense with a .633 percentage.
Statistically Speaking
Harvard's Ranks in the National Standings
2nd Best Man-Up offense in the country (.633)
5th Best shooting percentage in the nation (.338)
9th Most Caused Turnovers per game (9.83)
9th Lowest Opponent Clearing Percentage (.813)
10th Highest scoring offense in the nation (14.17 goals per game)
12th Best clearing team in the NCAA (.890)
By The Numbers
1.41 Caused Turnovers per game for
Greg Campisi, the fifth-most in the Ivy League.
5 Caused Turnovers for
Collin Bergstrom against Dartmouth (Apr. 6) and
Martin Nelson against Virginia (Mar. 30), both new career-bests and tied for the second-highest total in an NCAA game this season.
5.75 Points Per game for
Sam King, the second-most in the country
15 Game goal scoring streak for
Graham Blake, the longest run of his career
19 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
28 Game goal scoring streak for
Sam King, the eight-longest stretch in the nation
69 Points for
Sam King this season, the third-most in the nation and the 6th most in HLX history
90 Goals scored by the starting attack group of
Sam King,
Teddy Malone and
Graham Blake, the most in the Ivy League
Scouting Brown
Brown owns a 3-9 record heading into this weekend's contest against Harvard and is still in contention for the final 2024 Ivy League Tournament spot with Princeton. The Bears got off to a slow start in 2024, opening the season at 0-6 before finally earning its first win over UMass on Mar. 22. It's best win of the year was its 13-12 upset win over No. 13 Princeton.
The Bears have struggled on the road this season, posting an 0-6 record outside of Providence. Aidan McLane (31 points) and Ben Locke (22 points) lead the bears on the offensive side of the ball while Connor Theriault (12.8 GAA) anchors the defense in the cage.
Brown is one of the least efficient teams in the nation, posting an offensive efficiency rating of 24.6 percent to rank 65
th out of 73 teams in the country. The Bears also own the Ivy League's worst scoring offense (9.42 goals per game). The group has had a few solid outings on defense and currently ranks fourth the league allowing only 12.42 goals per game.
2023 Matchup Against Brown
The 2023 edition of the Harvard-Brown rivalry came down to the wire and required late game heroics from
Sam King and
Teddy Malone to give Harvard a 16-15 win. The teams went back and forth for the entire contest as Brown held a one-goal lead late in the fourth quarter.
Teddy Malone found the back of the net with just 13 seconds left on the clock to force and overtime period.
In overtime, Brown would win the initial faceoff, but
Owen Guest caused a quick turnover to give Harvard possession.
Owen Gaffney nearly had the game-winner but his shot was blocked by Brown's goalie as possession went back to Brown. Three shot attempts from the Bears all sailed wide and another caused turnover by
Greg Campisi sent Harvard off to the races with just 55 seconds left. King scored the game-winner with just 13 seconds left in overtime to send Harvard off with its second consecutive one-goal win over Brown.
Last Time Out
The Crimson came up short in its last game at the No. 9 Cornell Big Red. Harvard took an early lead 2-1 lead thanks to a man-down goals from
Ray Dearth before Cornell went on a 7-1 scoring run to end the half. The Crimson battled back in the final 30 minutes but the deficit proved to be too much as Cornell came away with a 15-8 win.
Logan Ip led the squad offensively with three points off two goals and an assist.
Sam King and
Graham Blake each scored twice to chip in offensively. On the other end,
Charlie Muller and
Logan Darrin combined for five caused turnovers to lead the defense.
Junior captain and attack,
Sam King, has used one of best offensive season in Crimson history to fly up all-time leaders list in the Harvard men's lacrosse record book. Currently, King owns 69 points in 2024 which is already the sixth-most in a season in program history. With one game remaining, King needs six more points to reach the No. 2 position on the list.
The Gilman School product also entered the top ten in the career points list this season where he ranks tied for seventh with his career total of 171. The all-time leader, Mike Eckert '96, recorded 243 career points from 1993-96. King is also currently tied for ninth on the career assist leader list with 79.
The Crimson Shield
Harvard's defensive unit has turned in a number of impressive efforts this season and has shown its ability to lock down teams for long periods of time in game. The Crimson defense has recorded a shutout stretch of ten-plus minutes in all but one contest this season, with the longest being a 23-minute shutout run in the season opener against Providence.
Spidey on SportsCenter Top 10
First-year attack,
Jack Speidell, landed at No. 5 on the SCTop10 after his behind-the-back goal against Dartmouth (Apr. 6) went viral. Speidell's clip has generated over 15,000 likes and has been viewed over 150,000 times across social media since Apr. 7.
Speidell has come on strong in the second half of his first collegiate season, scoring four goals in his past four games.
Jack of All Trades
An indicator of his all-around skillset,
Sam King is currently the only player in the nation to have recorded 60 points, 30 goals, 30 assists, 30 ground balls and five caused turnovers. Excelling in all phases of the game, King has shown his effectiveness all over the field in 2024.
Milestone Watch
A number of Crimson student-athletes are approaching key career milestones including…
Sam King
- 8 goals shy of 100 career goals.
Graham Blake
- 2 points shy of 30 in the 2024 season.
Miles Botkiss
- Three goals away from 50 career goals.
- Five points away from 75 career points.
Teddy Malone
- Five goals away from 50 career goals.
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 12 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 10th in the country, as Harvard has scored on 34.9-percent of its possessions in 2024.
HLX Class of 2024
Harvard men's lacrosse will say goodbye to 12 of its members who are set to graduate in the Harvard class of 2024. This class has been key in the rebuild of Harvard men's lacrosse and has helped the program secure 20 wins, seven wins over ranked opponents and a, NCAA Tournament at-large selection. Off the field, the group contributed to the team GPA that was the highest in the nation in each of the past two seasons.
The seniors being honored are listed below.
1 –
Graham Blake
9 –
Andrew O'Berry
11 –
Christian Barnard
14 –
Collin Bergstrom
21 –
Greg Campisi
24 –
Andrew DeGennaro
25 –
Mark Stephens
30 –
Jaden Jernigan
31 –
Fred Asare-Konadu
44 -
George Alvarez
50 –
Brennan McBride
56 –
Mike Binkowski
