Men's Lacrosse

After trading goals with Brown for three periods, the Harvard men's lacrosse team scored three unanswered goals in the final frame to win 7-4 at Jordan Field last night.

It was the first Ivy win for a Harvard (6-3, 1-2 Ivy) team that has gotten scoring from a number of sources throughout the season.

For the Bears (3-5, 1-2), it was their fifth loss in six games and their second league loss in five days. No. 1 Princeton trounced Brown in New Jersey last Saturday, 15-2.

Last night, the Crimson scattered its seven goals between six players, proving that its depth around the cage may be its best asset going into a tough game on the road against the top-ranked Tigers (7-1, 3-0) this weekend.

Freshman midfielder Jeff Gotschall got the eventual game-winner at 1:46 of the fourth period, beating Beret Dickson for the Crimson's fifth goal, the first in a string of three in the period.

Dickson made nine saves on the day.

The Crimson iced the game with subsequent goals from sophomore attackman Matt Primm at 5:04 and senior attackman Dana Sprong at 11:53.

Sophomore Jay Wich opened the scoring with an unassisted tally only 47 seconds into the game. The Bears answered with unassisted goals from Chas Gessner at 8:10 of the opening frame and Brian Miller at 5:12 of the next period.

Sophomore Doug Logigian found net at 12:40 of the second to tie the score at two. The half finished with the teams tied at a deuce.

In the third, Brown bookended goals from sophomore attackman Matt Primm and freshman Josh Hollinger to make it 4-4 going into the final frame.

Brown actually outshot Harvard on the evening, 40-38. Especially in the first half, the Brown Bears put impressive numbers in the books but could not translate them into tallies on the board.

Aided by a Crimson penalty early in the second period, the Brown Bears outshot the Crimson 16-9 in the second period and entered the break with a 24-15 edge.

Sophomore netminder Jake McKenna answered the call again, however, saving six in a busy second frame and 14 on the evening.

The Crimson returned from the intermission with a restored determination on offense. Although it could not take advantage of two man-up opportunities, Harvard increased its pressure around the cage, peppering Dickson with 11 shots.

Perhaps the most positive sign for the Crimson was its performance in the face-off.

Through much of the season, the Crimson has won in spite of its performance on the face-off, and in close losses it could be argued that Harvard could have benefited from more possession from the restart. Last night, the Crimson won 11 face-offs while Brown could manage only three.

Harvard will need to bring a complete game to New Jersey both on the face-off and elsewhere if it hopes to win this weekend.

Princeton has not lost in 34 straight Ivy League games, five shy of Cornell's record set in the mid-seventies. The Tigers regained the top spot in the rankings this weekend after posting four wins in five games on the road. Their only loss was at No. 3 Syracuse.

The Tigers have been led recently by freshman sensation Ryan Boyle, last week's Ivy League Rookie of the Week. Boyle had five goals and seven assists in two games. He leads the Ivy League in assists and is ranked 12th nationally in the category. The Crimson will face-off against the Tigers on Saturday at 3 p.m.