Men’s Lacrosse Falls to Princeton 11-8 in Ivy Tournament Semis

The No. 11 Harvard men’s lacrosse team made its first Ancient Eight tournament appearance since 2015 on Friday, but the squad’s postseason hopes were quickly dashed as it fell 11-8 to the No. 2 Princeton Tigers for the second time this season. Despite falling in the first round to the No. 2 ranked team in both the nation and the Ivy League tournament — sitting behind the No. 1 nationally-ranked Cornell Big Red, who hosted the tournament — the squad has a chance at securing an at large bid for the NCAA tournament for the second time in Head Coach Gerry Byrne’s tenure.

Coming down to the tournament committee’s selection Sunday process this evening, the team’s impressive RPI has it sitting at the No. 8 or No. 9 spot in several simulated brackets. However, the team’s further participation in postseason play will hinge on the selection committee given the squad failed to claim the Ancient Eight ticket that will go to either Cornell or Princeton.

Facing off against Princeton for the second time this season, the teams played neck-in-neck until the final minutes of the fourth quarter when the Tigers pulled ahead in a late surge that saw the New Jersey squad score three goals and hold Harvard to zero goals for the entire last 15 minutes of play. Leading into that, though, senior middie and unanimous first-team All-Ivy league selection Coulter Mackesy struck first for Princeton at the 10:31 second mark, finding the back of the cage on an outside lefty snipe.

Freshman goalie Graham Stevens stood on his head throughout the game, posting a career-high 18 saves — to Princeton’s junior net minder Ryan Croddick’s, who was the Ancient Eight goalie of the year this season, 12 — that kept the team in the game deep into play. Face offs swung in favor of the Tigers, with the New Jersey team clinching 17-of-22 takes. The disproportionate skew of offensive possession time allowed Princeton to generate more takes on the attacking end, with the team out-shooting Harvard by 10.

Princeton surely capitalized on those opportunities.

Taking advantage of the substitution game, Mackesy found himself with space at the top of the arc, hitting a slippery outside roll dodge that left him with room to work on his matchup. The name of the game for the first three quarters, play went back and forth between the two teams until the last minute of the first when senior middie Owen Gaffney tied it at ones on the assist from sophomore attackman and second-team All Ivy selection Jack Speidell. Speidell drew the quick double as he dodged around the left side of the cage, pulling the upfield slide which left Gaffney open at the adjacent for a monster step down from the right wing.

Princeton would get things started with the first goal of the second, this time from senior middie Sean Cameron who blew by junior SSDM Finn Pokorny with a crafty right-to-right face dodge that showed the senior’s speed. Harvard would find its first lead of the night with the next two goals, the first dropping from senior middie Miles Botkiss, and second coming from Speidell on a man-up play.

Botkiss took it himself down the left alley, getting a step on his man and using the late second slide from the Tigers as a screen to send the ball top shelf. Speidell’s goal came from the same spot on the turf, this time on a feed from King who hit the St. Anthony’s product as he filtered through the middle to open space on the right GLE. Catching the rock off-stick, he bounced it with no angle through the five-hole as the Princeton defense raced to recover a moment too late.

Two goals for the Tigers in response would eliminate the Crimson lead, the first coming from Chad Palumbo and the second from John Dunphey. Palumbo’s was the result of a late miscommunication at the top of the fan as two Harvard defenders failed to work through the switch and stay on the pick game.

Dunphey on the other hand scored on a clean cut through the middle of the fan that took advantage of his defender, sophomore LSM Joost de Koning, trailing his cutter which allowed Dunphey to get his hands free for an easy righty quickstick finish on the doorstep.

The penultimate goal of the half came from Botkiss, this time on the two-man game as the lefty worked with King behind the crease. The senior made his move around the right side of the cage, taking advantage of his faltering matchup who hit the turf after sliding into a well-timed pick set by King. Botkiss realized that he had time and space, and not finding an additional slide sent his way took it to the cage right-handed for a decisive finish.

Tied up at four, Princeton made a statement with two seconds left on the game clock. Tigers attackman Nate Kabiri saw LSM Michael Bath breaking away up field with the clock winding down, and wisely kept pace with the defender who flung a last-ditch, hail mary feed through three Harvard defenders, finding Kabiri on the backside. In a play that has since graced the social media accounts of dozens of lacrosse pages, Kabiri finished the play with a no-angle shot that had him well behind the GLE.

The Crimson didn’t allow the play to phase it, however, and came out to start the second with guns ablazing. Finding the first tally of the second half was Speidell, who took it to the hoop unassisted. The sophomore took it around the right side of the cage, speed dodging around his matchup and gaining a step that allowed him to turn back and fling a shot that struck paydirt.

Trading tallies, Peter Buonanno answered Speidell’s goal with one of his own before Harvard’s junior attackman Teddy Malone leveled the game at six on the assist from Gaffney. Tucker Wade pulled Princeton ahead once again, but the Crimson stayed poised and controlled, eliminating the deficit on a goal from junior middie John Aurandt IV, who was named Inside Lacrosse’s most underrated player for the Harvard squad.

Living up to the title, Aurandt got his defender biting with a little fake at the top of the fan as he looked for a cutter on the inside. Seeing the D jump, Aurandt split underneath and found space for a lefty rocket from the top of the arc. One minute later, Mackesy hit his second of the day to lead 8-7, but Speidell’s goal to round out his hat trick had the two squads leveled at eight to enter the last 15 minutes of play.

Ending the quarter with a bang, the riding attack stripped the Princeton defense at the midline, getting off a stinging wrap check that sent the ball loose and into the cross of King. King, seeing Speidell holding space near the crease, sent the ball flying through the Tigers’ defense for a picture perfect pass that gave Speidell a one-on-one take against the netminder.

Despite the surge at the end of the third, the team lost steam in the final minutes of the game which gave the Tigers confidence as they started stacking plays, winning 50-50 ground balls and making the momentum plays needed to pull ahead and create the first real deficit of the night.

“Our defensive game plan was executed well, and we really made their offensive threats work for their goals and plays,” Stevens said. “I think with the possession deficit, it’s really hard to remain perfect in the fourth quarter with fatigue coming into play. Obviously, there were a couple of lapses, but no glaring mistakes. We let Mackesy get to his strong hand a couple of times, but Martin Nelson overall did a good job on him.”

With 1:39 on the game clock, Cameron notched his second goal of the night, providing the final nail in the coffin that secured Princeton’s victory.

“I think they made just more plays than us in the fourth, getting more clutch ground balls and really controlling the pace,” Stevens added.

Figuring out how to control the pace of play is something the Crimson needs to do if it wants to get out of its end-of-season slump that saw it drop its Senior Day game to No. 1 Cornell, bobble and pull out a one-goal win in the last game of the season against Brown, and then fall to Princeton in the first round of the tournament.

While the field is not yet set, Harvard is expected to secure an at-large bid for the tournament, which will be announced during the selection show tonight at 9:30 p.m.

– Staff Writer Katharine Forst can be reached at katharine.forst@thecrimson.com