Laxmen Spring Off To Early Ivy Lead

While Harvard's baseball team was training in Florida, its softball team gearing up in South Carolina, and its men's tennis team practicing in California, the men's lacrosse team was hard at work, tackling three East Coast schools during spring recess.

The laxmen hosted Cornell.

And won.

They travelled crosstown to Boston College.

And won.

They journeyed to Penn.

And won.

The three-game sweep gives the Crimson a 3-1 mark on the season and a shocking 2-0 record in the Ivy League. Last year, the squad won a grand total of three games, without capturing a single Ancient Eight contest.

Following a 13-11 season-opening loss to C.W. Post, Harvard came back from a four-goal second half deficit to knock off the Big Red for the first time in six years, 10-7 at Ohiri Field on March 22.

Cornell, ranked number four in the nation by one poll at the time of the meeting, grabbed a 6-3 halftime lead and then scored again early in the second half before the Crimson tallied the contest's final seven goals to gain the upset victory.

"We said at the beginning of the season that senior leadership and good defense were keys to our having a good season, and against Cornell we got both," junior defenseman Rob Graff said.

Co-Captain Tom Corcoran led the way with three goals and two assists, fellow Co-Captain Chris Pujols recorded two goals and two assists, and senior Rufus Clark also tallied twice en route to capturing Ivy Player of the Week honors.

After defeating BC, 8-5, in a midweek match-up, the Crimson toppled Penn, 14-12, in Philadelphia on Saturday--the squad's second Ivy upset of the week.

Harvard once again spotted its opponent a four-goal, second half lead (8-4), before winning several decisive face-offs down the stretch to insure the two-goal victory. Clark, Pujols, and senior defenseman Ralph Hartmann led the way for Harvard, while senior goalkeeper Mark Vita--who sat out last season--was in the process of posting an impressive 72 percent save average over the three-game span.

"We heard a rumor that [Penn Coach] Tony Seaman said after our win over Cornell that we were the weakest team on Penn's schedule," Corcoran said. "Now we know that we're the team to beat in the Ivies."