Men’s Lacrosse Weekend Recap
By JASPER FU
The Crimson Men’s Lacrosse Team fought an uphill battle this Saturday, taking on the nationally ranked Cornell at Harvard Stadium after squeaking out a 13-12 victory against SUNY Albany the previous Wednesday. Despite the valiant efforts (and four-point games) of junior Kyle Anderson and sophomore Myles Hamm, Harvard (5-5, with a 1-2 Ivy record) lost 19-11 against the Big Red (7-3, with a 2-2 Ivy record).
Despite scoring the first point in the first minute of the game, Cornell got off to a slow start. The first frame saw the Crimson and the Big Red trading points, with a final first-quarter score of 4-3 in Cornell’s favor. In the second quarter, Cornell scored three rapid-fire points in a 3 minute window, and a fourth point just before halftime, closing out a final halftime score of 8-4.
The second half was even more dominant for Cornell; although the Crimson answered the Big Red’s first point from Cornell senior Colton Rupp with a solo shot from junior Nigel Andrews, the gap kept widening. In the third quarter, Cornell scored five points to Harvard’s three, despite Anderson scoring his third point of the game to secure his second hat trick in a row (out of his career-wide 10).
Cornell continued gaining momentum going into the fourth period, as Harvard’s only goal (scored by Miles Hamm) was tallied against Cornell’s six in the same period. A last minute rally by the Crimson, with Harvard scoring three times in the final three minutes, brought the final scorecard to 19-11, in Cornell’s favor.
Cornell fired 32 of 48 shots on goal, with 15 assists over 19 points and caused 16 of Harvard’s 17 turnovers, 6 of which were thanks to two Cornell defenders (Joseph Bartolotto II and Fleet Wallace).
The Crimson team had its own standout players though; Anderson and Hamm each recorded hat tricks, scoring 3 goals and an assist apiece, and Anderson kept his 22-game point streak alive. Jeremy Magno, who scored the third point in the Crimson’s third quarter, has scored 10 goals in four games. The Crimson, with 42 shots and 25 on goal, also had more ground balls (45 to Cornell’s 30).
Jasper Fu (jasperfu@college.harvard.edu) writes sports for the Indy.