PRINCETON, N.J. – The Harvard men's lacrosse team brought the fight with them to Sherrerd Field to battle the No. 6 Tigers but fell after a highly competitive contest. The Crimson (5-2, 1-1 Ivy) put together a stout defensive showing to slow down the fast-paced Tigers, but the home team would eventually prevail with a 13-11 win.
Graham Stevens' 12 saves,
Sean Jordan's three three caused turnovers and
Jack Speidell's hat-trick led the Crimson effort in the narrow loss.
How It Happened
The Crimson made its way down to New Jersey today to take on the No. 6 Tigers in a battle of top 20 teams. Harvard and Princeton squared off at Sherrerd Field in what would become an absolute battle between the Ivy League rivals.
The Harvard defense was the story of the first nine minutes of action, as the Crimson forced four Tiger turnovers to keep the team off the board.
Sam King and
Owen Gaffney each had a caused turnover to hold Princeton to just 2-for-5 on the clear in the opening minutes.
Jack Speidell tallied the first goal of the game for the Crimson at the 6:44 mark, breaking the scoreless tie. Princeton bounced back in a big way, going on a five-goal scoring run to end the quarter and take a 5-1 lead into the first quarter break.
King, Speidell and Gaffney added the Crimson goals in the second quarter, to match the Tiger total of three, and make the score 8-4 heading into the halftime break. Stevens settled into the cage in the second quarter, making five saves to hold off Princeton while the defense chipped in with caused turnovers from
Martin Nelson and
Sean Jordan.
The Tigers kicked off the third quarter with a goal to build its lead up to five. Harvard responded with back-to-back goals, both by junior captain
Logan Ip, to cut into the deficit. After the Tigers responded with a two-goal run of their own, Harvard began to build momentum again, scoring three consecutive goals to close out the quarter and make the score 11-9.
Teddy Malone,
Andrew Perry and
Finn Jensen all scored in the final two minutes of the frame to give the Crimson a fighting chance heading into the final 15. Jensen's goal came with just one second remaining and was the first career goal for the junior SSDM.
Despite four saves from Stevens in the final quarter, the Tigers were able to tack on two more goals to build a 13-9 lead with just over seven minutes remaining. The Crimson did not shy away, adding two more goals from Speidell and John Aurandt to bring Harvard within two with 45 seconds remaining. The Tiger defense stepped up to stop the surging Crimson attack and hold on for the 13-11 win over its rival.
Harvard Highlights
Up Next
The Crimson will return to its home turf to play two games next week and wrap up nonconference play. Harvard will first meet the Boston University Terriers in the first edition of the Charles River Rivalry matchup at Jordan Field. The tilt between the only two Division I teams in the city of Boston is set for 7:00 PM on Tuesday night in Cambridge. The Crimson will then wrap up nonconference play when it battles Binghamton at Jordan Field on Saturday at 12:00 PM.
