CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The highly anticipated return of Harvard men's lacrosse is nearly here as the team is set to unofficially begin its season this weekend with a trip to Long Island to scrimmage the Stony Brook Sea Wolves. The Crimson, who are coming off an 8-5 season in 2024, will compete for the first time as a team this weekend when it gets its first taste of game action in 2025. Led by the Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard Men's Lacrosse, Gerry Byrne, and a number of talented returning student-athletes Harvard will look to start the season on the right foot as it begins its climb in 2025.
 

The Matchup

Who: vs. Stony Brook
When: Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025 // 11:00 AM
Where: Stony Brook, N.Y. // LaValle Stadium
 

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST STONY BROOK

Harvard has played Stony Brook during the regular season just four times in program history with the last matchup coming in the 2009 season. The Crimson holds a 3-1 record in those games, the last being a convincing 12-4 victory for Harvard.
 

STARTING THE YEAR AT NO. 18

Harvard men's lacrosse begins the year ranked in the national polls at No. 18. Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse both have the Crimson slotted in the 18th spot on the rankings to start 2025. Last season, Harvard rose to as high as No. 12 in the national rankings after a historic 6-0 start the 2024 campaign.

FALL RECAP

There were no days off for the Crimson during its Fall Season, as the team kept themselves busy with several events and high-level scrimmages. Highlighting the Fall was a trip to Chicago where Harvard battled the defending National Champion, Notre Dame, in a competitive scrimmage. The trip also saw the Crimson head to Wrigley Field, take a city tour on the Chicago River and also mix in some community work with OWLS lacrosse.
 

BREAKING DOWN THE SCHEDULE

No stranger to strong opposition Harvard will play yet another challenging slate of contests in 2025. The schedule features seven opponents that are ranked or receiving votes in the first Inside Lacrosse Poll of 2025 and three NCAA Tournament teams from the 2024 season. Harvard is also set to play three opponents who are ranked in the top five to begin the season (No. 2 Syracuse, No. 3 Cornell and No. 4 Princeton.
 
The slate also features eight home games at Jordan Field and two first-time matchups against Binghamton and Marquette. The cross-town rivalry between Harvard and Boston U. will also be renewed this season on Mar. 25.
 

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN

Sam King' 25, Martin Nelson '25 and Logan Ip '26 were voted as captains by there peers for the upcoming season.
 

ALL-IVY LEAGUE

Harvard men's lacrosse earned seven placements on All-Ivy League teams last season. Team captains Sam King and Andrew O'Berry both led the way by earning spots on the All-Ivy First Team, while Logan Ip, Collin Bergstrom and Greg Campisi earned spots on the All-Ivy Second Team. Christian Barnard and Teddy Malone were also both given Honorable Mentions All-Ivy selections to round out the Crimson honor roll in 2024.
 
The seven individual honors are the most in a season for the Crimson since 2014 and its two First-Team selections are the most since 2016.
 

THE NEXT WAVE

This offseason, the Crimson welcomed in an impressive 2025 recruiting class that features 11 members in total. The eighth-ranked recruiting class in the nation according to Inside Lacrosse is made up of three attack and midfielders, two defense and faceoff specialists and one goalie. The class includes six players who were featured in the Inside Lacrosse Top 100 and six who landed on the NLF top 120 in the Class of 2024. The incoming first-years are...
 
#1 Jared Maznik | A | Delta, British Columbia | Western Reserve Academy | West Coast Starz
 
#11 Patrick Grimley | M | Margate City, N.J. | Ocean City HS | Legacy TAZ LI
 
#14 Jackson Henehan | FO | Marshfield, Mass. | Thayer Academy | Laxachusetts
 
#17 Michael Savadove | D | Bryn Mawr, Pa. | Radnor High School | NXT Lacrosse
 
#21 Andrew Van Stone | D | Philadelphia, Pa. | La Salle College HS | NXT Lacrosse
 
#24 Mac Mohn | A | Fox Chapel, Pa. | Shady Side Academy | Annapolis Hawks
 
#24 Trevor Sardis | FO | Bernardsville, N.J. | Bernards HS | Tri-State
 
#30 Nathan Cobery | A | Bristol, R.I. | The Loomis Chaffee School | The Fighting Clams
 
#44 Blake Hetherington | M | Hillsborough, Calif. | Sacred Heart Prep | West Coast Starz
 
#50 Oscar Woloson | M | Baltimore, Md. | The Gilman School | FCA Lacrosse
 
#56 Graham Stevens | Goalie | Chester, N.J. | The Pingry School | Leading Edge
 

ON THE PLL RADAR

Sam King '25 and Greg Campisi '24 - who transferred to Notre Dame after his graduation last Spring - were listed as potential draft picks on Adam Lamberti's 2025 PLL Mock Draft 1.0. King was slotted as the No. 13 prospect with Campisi coming in as the No. 31 prospect heading into the Spring.
 

THE KING

One of the best players in the nation Sam King '25 will return to Cambridge for his fourth season with the Crimson. King, one of the few two-time captains in the nearly 150 year history of Harvard men's lacrosse, has already been recognized for his talents on the field, being named a Second-Team Preseason All-American by USA Lacrosse. The Baltimore native was also ranked as the seventh best player in the nation coming into 2025 by Inside Lacrosse after an impressive 2024 season in which he scored 38 goals and dished out 35 assists to total 73 points, the third-highest total in a single season in HLX history. King contributed all over the field in 2024, scooping up 44 ground balls and causing six turnovers. King was the only player in the nation to record 70-plus points, 35-plus goals, 35-plus assists and 40-plus ground balls on the season, making him the national leader in total statistics (points, ground balls and caused turnovers.
 
His efforts last season did not go unnoticed by the national media as King was awarded with numerous honors including USA Lacrosse Second-Team All-America, Inside Lacrosse Third-Team All-America, USILA Third-Team All-America, First-Team All-Ivy League, NEILA First-Team All-New England. Additionally, King was one of only 25 players in the nation to be named a 2024 Tewaaraton Award nominee.
 

 ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

The Harvard men's lacrosse team continues to set the standard for academic excellence, achieving an impressive 3.72 GPA for the Fall 2024 semester. This remarkable achievement represents a nearly one-point increase from the team's GPA in the Spring 2024 semester, underscoring their commitment to both athletic and academic success.
 
This accomplishment builds on Harvard's already impressive academic track record. The team has won three consecutive United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Team GPA Awards, an honor bestowed annually to the NCAA Division I program with the highest team GPA. The Fall 2024 results further solidify Harvard men's lacrosse as a leader in fostering a culture of excellence that bridges academics and athletics.
 

POWER 100 STATUS

Six Harvard men's lacrosse first-year players were honored by Inside Lacrosse this week by earning Power 100 status from the outlet. The Inside Lacrosse Power 100 list ranks the top 100 first-year players in the nation annually. The Crimson has been a familiar team on the lists in previous seasons as team now has had 15 student-athletes land on the list in the past three seasons. The six placements on this year's list is tied for the most in the Ivy League.
 
Graham Stevens, a five-star prospect out of New Jersey, headlines the list for the Crimson at the No. 15 spot. A Pingry School and Leading Edge product, Stevens is the highest ranked goalie on the list and one of only 20 players in the nation to earn a five-star ranking on Inside Lacrosse's recruiting rankings. No. 29 Michael Savadove comes into his first colegiate season as the sixth-highest ranked defense recruit in the nation. A pair of attack, No. 33 Jared Maznik and No. 34 Nathan Cobery, gave Harvard back-to-back spots in the top half of the list. Patrick Grimley, a four-star midfielder out of New Jersey, came in at No. 72 and another attack, Mac Mohn, rounded out the list at the No. 78 spot.
 

CONSISTENCY IS KEY

Gerry Byrne is set to return for his fifth season and sixth year at the head of the Harvard Men's Lacrosse program in 2025. Byrne brings back Neil Hutchinson, who was promoted to Associate Head Coach this Summer, as the offensive coordinator. Hutchinson has been with Byrne since his arrival in Cambridge prior to the 2020 season.
 
Mike Terranova - the team's goalie/faceoff coordinator - returns for his third season with the team and Nick Grill - Assistant Coach, Defense - returns fro his second season on the Crimson bench.
 

MAKING THEIR RETURN

After being held off the field due to injury a year ago, several major contributors will be back in the mix for Harvard Lacrosse in 2025. Highlighting the group of returners are 2023 All-Ivy selections Andrew Perry and Owen Gaffney. A duo that racked up a combined 45 points with 27 goals and 18 assists will be competing for minutes with an already stacked offensive midfield that features a versatile Logan Ip (20/8/28 in 2024), Miles Botkiss (12/13/25) and John Aurandt IV (10/2/12).
 
The defense will also be getting a boost from senior Tommy Martinson - who was forced to sit out the entire 2024 season - and sophomore Joost de Koning - whose season was cut short due to injury. Martinson and de Koning, who are both All-Ivy caliber preformers, will help fill the gaps on defense that were left behind from the departures of Collin Bergstrom '24 and Greg Campisi '24.
 

IN THE CAGE

After the graduation of two-year starter Christian Barnard '24, Harvard will now look towards Graham Stevens and Teddy Kim. Stevens, a first-year, was a top 15 recruit in the class of 2024 and was rated as a five-star prospect by Inside Lacrosse. The New Jersey native was also named an All-American by three different outlets after a stellar high school career. Teddy Kim, a sophomore, is also in line to mind the crease this year for the Crimson. A Connecticut native, Kim did not see game action a season ago but has preformed well in Fall camp.
 

ON THE ATTACK

After the graduation of two-year starter Christian Barnard '24, Harvard will now look towards Graham Stevens and Teddy Kim to take over the staring goalkeeper role. Stevens, a first-year, was a top 15 recruit in the class of 2024 and was rated as a five-star prospect by Inside Lacrosse. The New Jersey native was also named an All-American by three different outlets after a stellar high school career.
Teddy Kim, a sophomore, is also in line to mind the crease this year for the Crimson. A Connecticut native, Kim did not see game action a season ago but preformed well in Fall camp.