Men's lacrosse cruises past Harvard in penalty-filled night game

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — In trying to knock off the reigning Ivy League champs, Harvard took a novel approach. In a new facility, under new lights, the Crimson tried a new defensive alignment to befuddle Princeton's attack. Still, the game ended with the same old result — another Tiger Ivy victory.

Saturday evening at the brand-new Jordan Stadium, the men's lacrosse team defeated Harvard 12-6, recording its 29th consecutive conference victory.

In the first outdoor night game ever hosted by a Harvard team — in any sport — the Crimson altered its defensive strategy in an attempt to neutralize Princeton's vaunted offense.

By rarely shifting its defensive players to the ball, Harvard (6-3 overall, 2-2 Ivy League) was able to shut down some of Princeton's passing lanes. As a result, with fewer targets available, the Tigers (7-1, 4-0) had to rely on their one-on-one skills to create scoring opportunities.

And Princeton did just that.

"They changed up their defensive game plan," head coach Bill Tierney said. "They tried not to slide and not to let us move the ball around, and it took us a little while to adjust. But that leads to the individual game — it was going to be a one-on-one show."

Brad Dumont opened scoring for both teams with 10 minutes, 27 seconds remaining in the first quarter, when he converted a shot from a sharp angle on the left side. Nearly six minutes later, Dumont beat two defenders with a spectacular dodge and waltzed towards the Crimson goal uncontested to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.

Methodical

Throughout the first half, Princeton exhibited patience on the offensive end. When the Crimson shut off some passing options, instead of forcing a pass into traffic or taking a low-quality shot, the Tigers methodically moved the ball around the perimeter. Princeton sought a momentary lapse in the strong Crimson defense and pounced when opportunity presented itself.

"Everybody seemed to be on the same page," senior captain and midfielder Chris Berrier said. "We just tried to move the ball, run our plays all the way through, and when we did that we seemed to score well."

On the defensive side, Princeton was dominant for the first 30 minutes. Junior goaltender Trevor Tierney made a pair of stellar saves in the early going but was rarely challenged for the remainder of the half. Freshman Damien Davis, sophomore Scott Farrell and junior Ryan Mollett — all defensemen — swarmed Harvard's attackmen, allowing the Crimson to take only outside shots.

In the first half, Princeton's possessions lasted as long as two minutes at a time. Harvard seldom controlled the ball for more than 30 seconds at a time. Because of this, the Tigers outshot their hosts 30-10 and took a 6-0 lead into the intermission.

While the first half was marked by fluidity, the third quarter was marred by ugliness. A well-played game turned into an unsightly, penalty-filled affair. A total of 19 penalties were called in the game, 11 against Princeton, which had averaged only four penalties per game in its first seven contests. Even coach Tierney received a penalty — for unsportsmanlike conduct — in the seemingly endless quarter.

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"I said to [the referee], something about coming to New England. That's all I said," the coach said after the game. "That was indicative of what we got out there."

Neither team could control the ball in the third quarter as it seemed the ball spent as much time on the new artificial turf surface of Jordan Stadium than it did in players' sticks.