Harvard Topples No. 5 Duke, 9-6
from staff reports
DURHAM, N.C. - The Crimson opened its season in dramatic fashion
Sunday, as the men's lacrosse team toppled No. 5 Duke, 9-6, at
Koskinen Stadium. Harvard led 3-1 at the midway point and
never looked back as the Crimson earned its first victory over a
top-10 opponent under second-year head coach John Tillman, the
Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard Men's Lacrosse.
Harvard freshman Jeff Cohen led all scorers with a hat trick and
an assist for four points in his collegiate debut, while Travis
Burr netted two goals and Max Motschwiller had a goal and two
assists. Eric Posner grabbed six ground balls, and Sam
Slaughter and Andrew Parchman had four apiece. In net, Joe
Pike made nine saves in 59:55 and held Duke scoreless in the second
quarter, helping Harvard begin the year 1-0, while the Blue Devils
fall to 2-1.
The Blue Devils tallied the first quarter's only goal at 11:56 as
Steve Schoeffel capitalized on an unassisted chance. After
not finding its scoring touch early on, Harvard controlled play in
the second quarter, as the team got three shots passed Duke
goalkeeper Rob Schroeder. Cohen jumped right into the action
in his debut and got the Crimson on the scoreboard with a goal at
11:09 after he received a pass from Motschwiller.
Less than two minutes later, Cohen gave Harvard its first lead of
the day as he blasted a shot on a man-up opportunity at the 10:41
mark. With five minutes remaining in the half, Nick Sapia
collected his second straight assist on a man-up chance, as he fed
Burr for a goal, giving the Crimson a 3-1 lead entering the
half. After the first 30 minutes, Harvard led in shots,
24-7, at the half, including a 12-3 advantage in the second
quarter.
Duke battled back early on in the third to tie the game on
back-to-back scores by Brad Ross and Max Quinzani. With 4:41
left to play in the stanza, Jason Duboe began a stretch of four
straight tallies by the Crimson to end the quarter. Cohen
completed his hat trick with an unassisted goal at 3:40, followed
by another tally by Burr at 1:54. Motschwiller followed with
the eventual game-winner with only nine ticks left in the third,
giving Harvard a 7-3 lead with only 15 minutes left to play.
Ned Crotty cut the Crimson lead to 7-4 with an early score in the
fourth, but Jesse Fehr gave Harvard its second four-goal lead off a
pass from Cohen at 10:39. Duke rattled off two more goals at
5:08 and 2:05 by Ross and Schoeffel before Jeff Wannop capped the
scoring with Harvard's ninth tally with five second remaining in
the game.
The Crimson held the final count in shots, 45-29, and won 10-of-17
faceoffs on the afternoon. Harvard was also successful on
19-of-21 clear attempts, including a perfect 10-for-10 mark in the
first half of play.
