CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A strong showing from the defensive unit for No. 12/11 Harvard Men's Lacrosse powered the team's season opening win over RV/RV Providence.
Teddy Malone's six-point day fueled the offensive effort for the Crimson (1-0, 0-0 Ivy), who ran past the Friars (2-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) on opening day at Jordan Field. Six different players found the back of the cage for Harvard who posted its third consecutive opening day victory over Providence.
Harvard Highlights
- Teddy Malone led the offense with six points, scoring four goals and adding two assists.
- Jack Speidell chipped in with three points, one goal and two assists.
- Graham Stevens made eight saves and allowed a career low four goals while guarding the Crimson cage.
- Harvard caused 12 turnovers as a team.
- Joost de Koning and Wyatt Wiggins shared the team lead with three each.
- Owen Umansky went 8-for-16 at the faceoff x and added a team-high six ground balls.
- Nathan Cobery scored the first two goals of his collegiate career in the effort.
- Logan Ip, Jack Petersen and John Aurandt IV filled in the rest of the Crimson scoring with a goal each.
- The Crimson outshot Providence, 33-25 and led in ground balls, 35-19.
- Harvard's defense forced 20 Providence turnovers.
- Providence was scoreless for nearly 32 minutes of game action from the second to the fourth quarter.
- The Crimson defense held the Friars to just one goal in the second half and one goal in the final 43-plus minutes of the contest.
How it Happened
- It didn't take long for Harvard to get into form as the team scored the first two goals of the matchup early in the first quarter to take a 2-0 lead. John Aurandt IV scored the first Harvard goal of the 2026 season and Malone followed with his first goal of the afternoon.
- Providence added two goals in the first quarter, finally breaking through the relentless Harvard defense to cut into the lead late in the opening frame. Jack Petersen scored his first goal of the season in between the Friar goals to give Harvard a 3-2 advantage after 15 minutes.
- The Crimson defense dug in after an early second quarter goal by the Friars, who briefly tied the game up at 3-3. The group put forth an incredible defensive showing, holding Providence off the scoreboard for what would become nearly 32 minutes of game action.
- With the defense locking it down, the offense rallied with three consecutive goals to take a 6-3 lead into the halftime break. Malone added his second, Nathan Cobery scored his first career goal and Logan Ip found the back of the cage with a bounce shot on the man-up to power the scoring run.
- Harvard came out of the halftime break buzzing, adding three more tallies to increase its scoring run to six goals. Malone scored twice – with Cobery adding the third strike – to fuel the offense and give Harvard a commanding 9-3 lead.
- Three saves from Graham Stevens in the third quarter helped the Crimson hold onto its 9-3 lead heading into the final quarter.
- Providence finally got back on the scoreboard three minutes into the fourth quarter to end the scoring draught. That was all it would get for the rest of the game as Stevens cleaned up the only other shot on cage in the final quarter.
- Jack Speiedell put the game on ice with his first goal of the season with just under two minutes remaining in regulation. The junior's tally made the score 10-4 in favor of the Crimson.
- The solid defensive showing and dangerous offensive attack gave Harvard its first win of the 2026 campaign and its third consecutive opening day win over the Friars.
Up Next
Harvard will be back on Jordan Field in just 72 hours when it takes on the Colgate Raiders under the lights on Tuesday (Feb. 17) night. The Crimson will look to exact revenge on the Raiders when the sides faceoff at 7:00 PM in Cambridge. All the action is set to air live regionally on NESN with the game also streaming on ESPN+.
