Lax Double Dip: Tigers Times Two

Both Harvard lacrosse teams will have to earn their stripes on Saturday when they seek their first Ivy wins against highly-regarded Tiger opponents in a doubleheader on Jordan Field.

The Crimson women (4-4, 0-2 Ivy) kick off the day’s festivities by hosting No. 1 Princeton (10-1, 3-0 Ivy) at noon, while their male counterparts (4-4, 0-3 Ivy) face off against No. 11 Princeton (4-4, 1-1 Ivy), the defending national champions, three hours later.

Women

Entering last Sunday’s match-up against Penn, Harvard had been playing well, narrowly dropping a heartbreaker at No. 12 Yale, 9-8, before edging then-No. 20 BU, 11-10, at home.

But on Sunday, the Crimson spotted Penn a 2-0 advantage three minutes into the game and never led, eventually falling, 8-6.

As a result, Harvard will be looking to get back on track against the Tigers, who haven’t lost since dropping their season opener to current No. 2 Georgetown, 15-13.

Still, the Crimson has had a great week of intense practices, and the players feel confident in their ability to compete with Princeton.

“I think we’re going to be ready,” senior attacker Melissa Christino said.

“If we play our game, I think we can honestly play with anyone in the country,” junior midfielder Katie Shaughnessy added.

For Harvard, that means attacking the Tigers from the outset, possessing the ball and making smarter decisions to keep it away from the likes of Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week Theresa Sherry. The sophomore midfielder leads both Princeton and the Ivies in scoring with 28 goals and 37 points.

But Sherry is far from a one-woman show. Lauren Simone is second in the league in points with 36 (28G, 8A), while Kim Smith has 27 (23G, 4A) and Mimi Hammerberg 24 (13G, 11A).

In contrast, the Crimson doesn’t have a player in the top 17 in the Ivies in scoring, although Shaughnessy did earn a spot on this week’s Ivy Honor Roll with a hat trick and an assist against BU and two goals against Penn.

Shaughnessy will be hard-pressed to score, though, against a Tiger defense led by Ivy Defensive Player of the Week Rachel Becker. The junior has caused 23 turnovers this season.

If Harvard does have an advantage, it’s that Princeton won’t know where the Harvard attack is coming from.

“Everyone steps up at different moments, which is so great because if someone’s off, somebody else will pick up the slack,” Christino said.

The Crimson won’t be satisfied with just staying in the game and earning a moral victory.

“We’re sick of losing close games,” Shaughnessy said. “We want to win.”

The fact that it’s the Tigers would just make a victory that much sweeter.

“There’s definitely a rivalry there,” Shaughnessy said. “We don’t like Princeton.”

What’s more, the Harvard players think they can win.

“They’re a great team and we have a lot of respect for their athleticism,” Christino said. “But there are a lot of things that can influence a game.”

Men

After having started the season 4-0, the Harvard men have fallen precipitously, dropping four consecutive games to nationally-ranked opponents—7-5 to then-No. 19 Penn, 10-7 to then-No. 11 Duke, 11-4 to then-No. 10 Cornell and 9-8 to then-No. 20 Brown.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Crimson after Princeton, either, as Harvard’s next two games are at No. 8 UMass and No. 14 Yale.

Harvard has managed to topple ranked opponents in its recent past. The highlight of the Crimson’s 2001 campaign was a 6-5 victory over then-No. 12 Duke.

Harvard has the talent to pull off a similar upset this year. It will just be a matter of putting together a complete, 60-minute game—something the Crimson has struggled with all season.

“We’re real close to putting all four quarters together,” sophomore midfielder Jeff Gottschall said. “We’re ready to go.”

Inherent in that goal is avoiding the mental mistakes and turnovers that have led to so many fast-break and man-down goals for Harvard’s opponents.

“If you make a lot of dumb mistakes against Princeton, it’ll cost you big,” freshman attacker Mike McBride said.

Offensively, the Tigers are indeed dangerous, but, in this case, the Crimson’s best defense may really be a good offense.

Harvard, led by junior attacker Matt Primm, who earned a spot on the Ivy League Honor Roll with two goals against Cornell, will try to stake itself to an early lead.

To do that, the Crimson will test Princeton’s weak goaltender from the outset, assuming it can get by Princeton’s own member of the Ivy Honor Roll, junior defender Damien Davis.

If the Crimson can get ahead, the offense will try to possess the ball, keeping it out of the sticks of the Tigers’ big three attackers—senior B. J. Prager, junior Sean Hartofilis and sophomore Ryan Boyle.

Once that trio gains possession, however, Harvard’s defense will have its work cut out for it. Prager has 101 career goals, while Boyle has scored a point in every collegiate game in which he has played. Hartofilis, too, is explosive, as he demonstrated with 5 goals in an 18-4 blowout of Penn last Tuesday.

It won’t be easy, then, but the Crimson is confident it can outwork the Tigers and, by playing up to its potential, come away with the victory. Harvard isn’t hoping just to keep it close, either.

“We’re looking for a win,” Gottschall said. “We’re not looking to just play well.”

If a few things go their way, both the Crimson men and women could turn their seasons around and, by taming the Tigers, turn college lacrosse on its tail.