CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Joe Pike made 11 saves and Jeff Cohen tallied five goals to guide the No. 19 Harvard men's lacrosse team to a 13-8 victory over archrival Yale before 3,023 fans at Harvard Stadium Saturday afternoon. Jason Duboe contributed two goals and three assists, while Jesse Fehr added two goals to clinch Harvard's first winning season since 2004. With the win, the Crimson improves to 7-5 overall and 2-3 in the Ivy League, while Yale drops to 5-7 and 1-5 in the Ancient Eight.

On Senior Day, Eric Posner, a senior defender, put the Crimson on the scoreboard early, as he fired a shot past Yale goalkeeper Johnathan Falcone at 14:25. Yale rebounded to score the next two goals on unassisted chanced by Matt Gibson and Michael Karwoski, giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 advantage after the first quarter.

Harvard controlled the ball much of the time in the second quarter, winning 6 of 7 face-offs to regain the lead. Kevin Vaughan blasted a shot that got through the defense at 14:01, and Cohen followed with back-to-back goals at 12:12 and 8:06, putting Harvard on top, 4-3. Cohen also added a goal later in the frame off a pass from Daniel DiMaria, giving the freshman his second consecutive hat trick.

Through two quarters of action, Harvard held a slim lead on the scoreboard, 5-4, and shots, 20-19, while ground balls were tied, 11-11.

In the third, Max Motschwiller grabbed the first of three straight goals for the Crimson, as he fired a shot into the right side of the goal from seven yards out at 13:57. Fehr netted his first goal of the day at 12:34, before Duboe capped the scoring run after receiving a pass from Travis Burr at the 11:15 mark. With 2:39 remaining in the quarter, Cohen tallied his 30th goals of the season off a pass from Duboe on the right side of the cage. However, Yale netted the next two scores to pull within two goals, 9-7, after three.

Cohen and Duboe teamed up for another score in the opening minutes of the fourth, beginning a 4-1 run for Harvard to close out the game. With just under six minutes remaining, Fehr blasted a shot from 12 yards out that found the back of the net, making it an 11-8 contest. In the final two minutes, Duboe and Nick Smith each tallied unassisted goals to put the game out of reach.

Andrew Parchman won an impressive 14 of 22 face-offs, while Eric Posner grabbed five ground balls. For the game, the Crimson outshot the Bulldogs, 40-37, and snared 25 ground balls, while Yale had 19. Harvard also claimed 16 of 25 face-offs, and held Yale scoreless on four man-up opportunities.

Up next, The Crimson will travel to Dartmouth for the regular-season finale Saturday, May 2. The opening face-off is slated for 1:00 p.m.

* * * *

BOSTON, Mass. - Matt Gibson, Gregory Mahony and Michael Karwoski each scored twice but the Yale men's lacrosse team couldn't hold off No. 17 Harvard at the other end of the field in a 13-8 Crimson victory at Harvard Stadium.

The Crimson (7-5, 2-3) broke open a 5-4 game early in the third quarter with three consecutive goals. Jeff Cohen led the home team with five goals, while six other Harvard players hit the net. Joe Pike stopped 11 shots to earn the win in goal.

Brendan Gibson and Brian Douglass had the other Yale goals. Matt Miller chipped in with an assist. Jonathan Falcone made 12 saves in the Elis' last Ivy League game of 2009 and the team's last road contest.

Matt Gibson's goal at 10:34 of the first period evened the score at 1-1, and nobody found the net for nearly the next seven minutes. That's when Karwoski gave the visitors their only lead of the day. The Crimson scored three straight in the second quarter, including two by Cohen, and managed to hold on from there.

1 2    Next  »

2009-04-25