The Boston University men’s lacrosse team failed to come away with a home win against Harvard University in a crosstown matchup Tuesday night.
Tied with the Crimson (3-4, 0-1 Ivy League) at 11 after the fourth quarter, the Terriers (6-3, 1-1 Patriot League) saw three overtime periods before Harvard hit a game-winning shot. BU was 0-12 on draw controls throughout the fourth quarter and the overtime periods.
“They were just better than us,” BU head coach Ryan Polley said. “I was disappointed in the fact that we were unable to win a faceoff when it counted.”
The Terriers opened strong, scoring two goals in the first five minutes with freshman midfielder Jett Dziama opening the scoring. The Crimson, however, dialed up their defense and prevented any more goals for the rest of the quarter while scoring one themselves.
Just 30 seconds into the second period, Harvard attack Myles Hamm scored a goal, bringing the game to a tie at two goals apiece.
With less than a minute left in the first half and the game tied at four, the Crimson were waiting out the clock trying to get the last goal, but a turnover gave BU an opportunity. A Hail Mary pass with just seconds to go led to a goal by sophomore attack Chris Gray, giving the Terriers a one-goal lead to start the second half.
The third quarter saw BU take a big lead, going on a 4-0 run through most of the period. Gray had two more goals, securing a hat trick as well as an assist. A goal by Harvard midfielder Nick Loring with less than two minutes to go gave the Crimson some momentum heading into the fourth quarter.
Down by four, the Crimson put up five unanswered goals and had the lead at the 3:53 mark in the fourth quarter. BU managed to tie the game back up on a goal from senior attack James Burr one minute later. Then, with 29 seconds remaining, Harvard midfielder Charlie Olmert gave the Crimson the lead, 11-10.
With three seconds left in regulation, the Terriers called a timeout. The play was called for Gray, and in the final second of play, he willed the ball into the goal to tie the score at 11 and force overtime.
“[Gray] made the play at the end of the game, which was outstanding,” Polley said. “Chris is just a great player, and he certainly played well enough for us to win tonight.”
Throughout the first two overtime periods, the Terriers and the Crimson were neck and neck, neither allowing their opponent to have any type of upper hand.
Finally, near the end of a third set of additional time, Harvard midfielder Nigel Andrews slammed in a goal to win the game for the Crimson.
Tuesday’s game was the Terriers’ first home loss of the season. The team will stay home this weekend to host Lafayette College at noon Saturday.
