Albany Takes Unexpected Win Over Crimson

Headed to the University of Albany coming off a comeback victory over No. 16 UMass last Tuesday and looking ahead to rival No. 7 Cornell next weekend, the No. 20 Harvard men’s lacrosse team was in great danger of falling prey to a trap game against the Great Danes Saturday afternoon.

And for the second straight weekend, the Crimson (6-3) fell on the road by one goal, losing 12-11 to Albany (4-5) at John Fallon Field.

In a back-and-forth contest in which neither team was able to gain more than a two-goal advantage, Danes attack Miles Thompson scored twice in the final 2:14 to give his team the win.

“It was a disappointing loss,” junior attack Jeff Cohen said. “It was a game I felt we should’ve won.”

A high-scoring first quarter saw nine total goals, as Albany jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead when attacks Joe Resetarits and Ty Thompson scored within six seconds of each other in the third minute of action.

“I think we came out flat,” freshman attack Daniel Eipp said. “Emotionally, I don’t think we were there for whatever reason.”

But Harvard responded right back, with junior midfielder Terry White scoring just 14 seconds after Thompson, and co-captain Dean Gibbons tying the game shortly over a minute later.

Gibbons’ next goal, his 20th of the year, was sandwiched between two scores from Ty Thompson, whose hat trick gave the Danes a 4-3 lead. But junior co-captain Kevin Vaughan and senior attack Matt Hull each scored in the final 3:18 of the period to give Harvard the 5-4 advantage after one.

Ty Thompson scored his fourth goal of the contest 1:16 into the second period, but Eipp responded under a minute later to put Harvard back ahead.

At 7:44, Resetarits beat Harvard sophomore goalie Harry Krieger for his second score of the contest. Cohen tallied his team-leading 22nd goal of the season with 2:39 left in the period to put Harvard up 7-6, but the Danes tied things up again with just eight seconds remaining in the half on a Brian Caufield score.

“We didn’t pull away with a lead off the bat like I think we could’ve,” Eipp said. “We weren’t clicking as a team.”

In the third, an unassisted goal on a bouncing shot from the left by Crimson sophomore attack Ryan Stevens was sandwiched by two Miles Thompson goals that put Albany ahead, 9-8, heading into the final period.

Harvard jumped out to an early lead in the fourth on two Eipp scores, both assisted by Gibbons. The freshman’s first goal came from the right of the crease off Gibbons’ pass from behind the net, and Eipp finished the hat-trick with a spinning underhand shot shortly thereafter.

“I was trying to take advantage of my matchup,” Eipp said. “My defender wasn’t as quick as other defenders I’ve seen in the past. I tried isolating him at times and playing a one-on-one game with him, which worked.”

Albany’s Ryan Feurstein beat Krieger from the left side a minute later, but Crimson sophomore midfielder Jack Doyle responded by firing one into the lower right-hand corner of the net from the middle of the zone.

With Harvard up 11-10 with 11:12 to go, neither team could score until Caufield split two defenders at the top of the zone and hit Miles Thompson, who beat Krieger with a sidearm shot from the left to tie things up at the 2:14 mark.

The Crimson won the ensuing faceoff, but White turned the ball over, and, in transition, Miles Thompson spun right and fired a low shot past Krieger to put the Danes up one with 1:17 left.

Harvard junior defenseman Daniel DiMaria forced a turnover in Albany’s zone with 24 seconds to go and was able to clear. But with five seconds remaining, Stevens’ final attempt soared wide left, and Albany held on for its first win in five games.

Krieger had just four saves for Harvard, while freshman Edmund Cathers had 12 for Albany. Eipp’s three goals led the Crimson, while the Thompsons had four each for the Danes.

Harvard lost despite taking more shots (41-28), winning more ground balls (38-25) and faceoffs (19-8), and having fewer turnovers (18-17) than its opponent.

“It’s a game we’re going to have to learn from and move on,” Cohen said. “I think it would have been great if we were able to pull away but we need to get better at winning the close games.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.