CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Boston now belongs to the No. 13 Harvard Crimson men's lacrosse team after its convincing 16-7 victory over the No. 17 Boston University Terriers in the first ever Charles River Rivalry game. The Crimson (6-2, 1-1 Ivy) cruised to the win in a top 20 matchup between only two men's lacrosse teams in the city of Boston thanks to
Jack Speidell's five goals and a masterful defensive showing. The Crimson earned Boston bragging rights and its fourth ranked victory of the season with the result.
How it Happened
The Terriers made the short trip across town tonight to take on the Harvard Crimson in the first ever Charles River Rivalry game at Jordan Field. The event brought the crosstown rivals – both of which were ranked in the national polls – together in a game that featured the only two men's lacrosse teams in the city of Boston. The No. 17 Terriers came into the contest as one of the hottest teams in collegiate lacrosse after its win over No. 3 Army West Point this past weekend.
A fast start put the Crimson in the driver's seat in the early going. Senior defenseman
Martin Nelson opened the scoring with his first career goal just 22 seconds into the game. After winning the opening faceoff, Nelson stayed on offense and crept in the alley unmarked by BU, caught a pass from
Teddy Malone at X and used his pole to throw a shot in the cage over the BU goalie and get Harvard on the board. Harvard tacked on three more goals – one from
Andrew Perry and two from
Jack Speidell – to build a 4-0 lead in the first five minutes. The Terriers countered with a pair of goals over the next five minutes of play to crawl back into the game before Harvard slammed the door shut with a massive scoring run.
Owen Gaffney,
Sam King and
John Aurandt IV got the run started late in the first quarter with a trio of goals in the final four minutes. After the first quarter break, with Harvard leading 7-2, the offense kept rolling with an extra-man goal from
Miles Botkiss, another Speidell goal, a full-field goal from
Owen Guest and a cage-rattler from
Teddy Malone. BU ended the seven-goal run with a goal after a 13-minute shutout streak for starting goalkeeper
Graham Stevens and the Harvard defense. Gaffney capped off a dominant first half from the Crimson with the team's final goal of the half to make the score 12-3 heading into the break.
A slow-paced third quarter started with a quick Terrier goal off the opening faceoff draw but the Crimson defense responded with another lengthy shutout streak of eight-plus minutes. Speidell's fourth goal of the game was the Crimson's only strike in the third quarter and made the score 13-5 after 45 minutes of action.
After two more tallies from King and Speidell to start the final frame, the Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard Men's Lacrosse,
Gerry Byrne, turned to his bench to carry the team the rest of the way. Junior Long-stick-midfielder,
Sean Jordan, provided the exclamation point on the effort with his first goal of the season at the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter. The Crimson would go on to secure a 16-7 victory over its cross-town in front of a crowd of over 1,300 fans in the first ever Charles River Rivalry game.
Harvard Highlights
- 10 different players scored goals for Harvard.
- Jack Speidell's five tallies were a game high and tied his career best.
- The Crimson defense allowed the fewest goals in a game (7) this season.
- Harvard posted its fourth win over a ranked opponent this season.
- Sam King and Charlies Muller each grabbed five ground balls to lead the team.
- Martin Nelson and Ray Dearth each caused three turnovers.
- Graham Stevens made eight saves in the cage, allowing just seven goals.
- Harvard forced 24 Boston University turnovers, a season worst for the Terriers.
- The Crimson was 2-for-2 in extra man situations.
- Martin Nelson held BU's leading scorer, Tim Shannehan, to just one assist.
- Three defensive players for Harvard, Nelson, Owen Guest and Sean Jordan scored goals in the matchup.
Up Next
The Crimson will wrap up its nonconference schedule this weekend when it hosts Binghamton at Jordan Field on Saturday (Mar. 29). The first-ever meeting between the two foes is set for 12:00 PM at Jordan Field with the action set to stream live on ESPN+.
