CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-Jason Duboe scored four goals and Travis Burr added three as the Harvard men's lacrosse team scored 10 straight goals for its fourth straight win, 12-3 over 20th-ranked Fairfield Saturday afternoon at Jordan Field.

After Fairfield (3-2) tied the game at 2-2 early in the second quarter, goalie Joe Pike and the Crimson (4-1) held the Stags scoreless for more than 41 minutes. Meanwhile, the Harvard offense piled on four goals in the second, three in the third and three in the fourth.

Harvard dominated the stat sheet, outshooting Faifield, 40-16, winning 13 of the game's 18 faceoffs and holding a 23-20 edge in ground balls. Pike made six saves, while Joe Marra stopped 15 shots and got the help of two pipes and a crossbar to try to keep his team close.

Dean Gibbons had a pair of goals for the Crimson, while Zach Widbin notched two assists. Nick Smith won 11 of 15 faceoffs and led Harvard with five ground balls. Max Gottschall picked up four ground balls.

Max Motschwiller got the scoring started in the game's sixth minute, spinning past a defender and beating Marra with a shot. A Brian Stanton tally knotted the score less than a minute later, but Burr's first goal of the game gave Harvard a 2-1 lead after a quarter.

Matt Plominski struck for the Stags two minutes into the second quarter to tie the score again, but Gibbons came from behind the net to beat a defender and Marra 59 seconds later, opening the floodgates for the Crimson. Burr made it 4-2 with 7:44 left in the half, converting after taking a pass from Jesse Fehr on the edge of the crease.

It looked like Harvard might take a two-goal lead to the half, but Duboe notched his first goal with 30 seconds on the clock. Smith won the ensuing faceoff, took the ball toward the cage and dished to Burr at the left post. The sophomore shot low past Marra to give the Crimson a 6-2 halftime edge.

Just 46 seconds into the third quarter, Duboe ripped a long shot past Marra for Harvard's third goal in 76 seconds. Duboe scored the next two goals for the Crimson as well, both off assists from Widbin, the second in an extra-man situation. It was the third straight hat trick for Duboe, who has 11 goals on the season.

Neither team scored for nearly 13 minutes, but Gibbons made it 10-2 with 10:42 left in the game. Brooks Scholl and Liam Griff also got in on the scoring with fourth-quarter goals as the Crimson continued to clamp down on defense and dominate possession. The Stags finally got back on the scoresheet with a goal from Shannon Sturz in the final two minutes.

Senior captain Evan O'Donnell played the in the final minutes, making one save for Harvard.

The Crimson seeks its fifth straight victory when it opens the Ivy League season March 22 at Penn.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Fairfield...........  1  1  0  1 -  3
Harvard.............  2  4  3  3 - 12
 
Attendance: 678
 
Fairfield SCORING:
GOALS: Matt Plominski 1; Shannon Sturz 1; Brian Stanton 1.
ASSISTS: Dan Boudreau 1; Travis Nelson 1.
 
Harvard SCORING:
GOALS: DUBOE, Jason 4; BURR, Travis 3; GIBBONS, Dean 2; MOTSCHWILLER, Max 1;
       SCHOLL, Brooks 1; GRIFF, Liam 1.
ASSISTS: WIDBIN, Zach 2; FEHR, Jesse 1; SMITH, Nick 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Fairfield...........  5  4  3  4 - 16
Harvard.............  8 12  9 11 - 40
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Fairfield...........  7  7  5  1 - 20
Harvard.............  7  8  4  4 - 23
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Fairfield...........  2-4   0-6   1-3   2-5  -  5-18
Harvard.............  2-4   6-6   2-3   3-5  - 13-18
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Fairfield...........  3-3   3-5   4-6   2-4  - 12-18
Harvard.............  5-7   3-6   3-3   2-2  - 13-18
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Fairfield...........  0-0   0-0   0-2   0-0  -  0-2
Harvard.............  0-0   0-1   1-1   0-1  -  1-3
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Fairfield...........  4  6  3  2 - 15
Harvard.............  1  2  2  2 -  7
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Fairfield...........  4  6  5  3 - 18
Harvard.............  4  4  4  1 - 13
 
PENALTIES - Fairfield 3/2:30; Harvard 2/1:30.

2008-03-15