No. 10 Harvard Can’t Come Through Late, Falls to No. 6 Cornell, 11-9

For the second week in a row, No. 10 Harvard took one of the best teams in the Ivy League down to the wire, only to fall in the closing minutes to No. 6 Cornell, 11-9, in its regular season finale.

The Crimson’s defeat secures hosting rights for the Ivy League Tournament for the Big Red, the reigning national champion, forcing Princeton, Yale, and Harvard to all have to make the Odyssey to Ithaca next week.

As hosts, Cornell (10-3, 5-1 Ivy) earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament, while Harvard (9-4, 3-3) will be the No. 4 seed, meaning the two sides will see each other once again on Friday, May 1, with times to be announced.

The victory all but seals an at-large NCAA Tournament berth for the Big Red, while the Crimson have to win next week or else be forced to sweat it out on selection day.

The wind and rain played a clear factor in the matchup, with 36 total turnovers in the game, players having trouble holding on to the ball, and general sloppy play throughout the afternoon.

Much of the afternoon, Harvard out-hustled the Big Red, securing numerous possessions by simply running harder, not giving up on groundballs, and fighting through defenders.

It was ultimately a failure to capitalize on several open opportunities that cost the Crimson its seventh loss to Cornell in their past eight meetings.

Harvard’s nine goals came from seven different players, yet its top offensive players, captain Logan Ip, senior attack Teddy Malone, and junior captain Jack Speidell, were held to just one point each.

Cornell was eighth in the country in faceoffs entering the game, winning nearly 60 percent of its battles at the center circle, and today was no different. The Big Red won 16 of 24 faceoffs, particularly hurting a Harvard side that needed possession as the clock dwindled.

The Crimson’s season began with its best start since 1961, an 8-0 run that included a victory over then-No. 1 Syracuse, the first victory over a No. 1 team in school history.

The run ended with a blowout loss to No. 2 North Carolina. Harvard survived a tense matchup with an unranked Brown the following week and was then demolished by Yale, 15-9.

The Crimson fell last week to No. 2 Princeton in a 15-14 thriller, as the Tigers scored the game-winner with just 17 seconds remaining in the game.

Cornell, meanwhile, boasts victories over No. 2 Princeton and No. 16 Duke, as well as a narrow loss to No. 4 Richmond.

Harvard won the opening faceoff, and Ip found Malone wide open in the middle to give the Crimson an early lead.

Freshman midfielder Logan Turley got his hands free for a left-handed shot to make it 2-0 Harvard.

Junior attack Willem Firth opened the scoring for the Big Red. Entering the week’s games, the junior ranked fifth in the nation in goals per game at 3.17.

Senior midfielder John Aurandt IV scored on the fast break to stretch the lead back to two. The Brighton, Mich., native was named a Third Team Midseason All-American earlier this month.

Strong defensive performances and plenty of turnovers left the remaining seven minutes of the first quarter scoreless.

The Big Red had five unforced turnovers and was caught offsides three times in just the first quarter.

Harvard’s defense forced three run-outs in the first, a trend that continued throughout the game and helped to steal possession from an already turnover-happy Cornell side.

Senior midfielder Francisco Cortes beat his defender down the left alley and let a shot loose, hitting top-ched to give Harvard a three-goal lead.

Cornell dominated the rest of the second quarter, scoring four times unanswered to give the Big Red a 5-4 lead heading into the halftime break.

After winning the game’s first faceoff, Harvard lost the ensuing seven draws to finish the half trailing 2-9 against one of the nation’s top units at the center circle.

Sophomore goalie Graham Stevens looked like himself again after a rough outing against Princeton last week, saving seven of 12 shots faced in the first half.

Cornell continued its run with a goal from junior attack Ryan Goldstein to begin the third.

Harvard stopped the bleeding with a shot from senior midfielder Andrew Perry into the bottom left corner for Harvard’s fifth goal, coming from its fifth different player.

Cornell’s junior goalkeeper Matthew Tully made two phenomenal saves, and the Big Red drew a penalty on the ensuing clear to swing the momentum back in Cornell’s favor.

The country’s most successful man-up offense, scoring on .652 percent of its opportunities, did not fail to capitalize, giving Cornell a 7-5 lead.

After a demoralizing fast-break shot that slammed off the post, Aurandt recuperated the Crimson and let a shot rip from deep to put Harvard back within one to end the third quarter.

Harvard won the opening faceoff of the fourth and got the ball to Speidell in the fast break, who let it rip to tie the game at seven.

After a big hit on the ride to regain possession, the Crimson ran a strong offensive set, culminating with a masterful bounce pass from Speidell to sophomore attack Nathan Cobery on the crease to give Harvard the lead.

Goldstein fired a shot, which Stevens managed to save, only for the rebound to go right back into Goldstein’s stick, who dumped it in to even it at eight.

Firth capitalized on a failed Harvard clear to put Cornell in front.

Aurandt let loose a cannon for a hat-trick to tie the game up at nine with four minutes to go, but Cornell came out of the media timeout with a faceoff win and a quick goal to retake the lead.

Firth scored his fifth of the day to give the Big Red a crucial insurance goal, forcing the Crimson to have to play quickly and win faceoffs to have any hope of recovering.

Multiple failed Harvard offensive possessions sealed the defeat, as the Crimson fell for the fourth time in the last five games, 11-9.

Harvard hopes to avenge the defeat this upcoming Friday in the Ivy League Tournament when it returns to Ithaca to face the Big Red yet again.

It will mark the first time in program history that the Crimson will appear in consecutive conference tournaments.

—Staff writer Maxwell P. Friedman can be reached at [email protected].