In the latest edition of the Charles River Rivalry, No. 13 Harvard University landed 12 goals in the first half to beat the No.17 Boston University men’s lacrosse team 16-7 Tuesday.
“You’re only as good as your last game, and I think we weren’t ready to play at the intensity that Harvard was playing at, the speed that they were playing at,” head coach Ryan Polley said.
Harvard (6-2) was in complete control in the opening minutes of the game, scoring four goals before the Terriers (7-2, 3-1 Patriot League) got on the board.
Crimson sophomore Jack Speidell contributed two of the first four on his way to a five-goal performance.
Terrier freshman midfielder Andrew Pape fired a shot that found its way past Harvard’s freshman goalkeeper Graham Stevens to start the scoring for BU, before freshman attack Ben Morris added a second.
Harvard responded quickly, leaving the Terriers trailing 7-2 after the first 15 minutes.
“We gave up seven goals in the first quarter … and we were just playing catch up the whole game,” Polley said.
The Crimson got off to a quick start in the second quarter too, finding the net just 36 seconds into the period before adding five more before halftime.
For BU’s only goal of the quarter, freshman attack Timothy Shannehan assisted junior attack Jimmy Kohr to take advantage of a man-up opportunity.
In a shift of momentum, the Terriers initiated the scoring in the third quarter — senior defender Trey Brown recording his first goal of the season and just the second goal of his career 15 seconds into the period.
The Terriers attacked more aggressively in the third, firing off 15 shots in the period, but they failed to convert these chances, only scoring on two through the period.
BU also had its best defensive performance in the third, holding the red-hot Crimson to just one goal, but Harvard had already stretched far ahead, leading 13-5 going into the final frame.
A pair of fourth-quarter goals from Kohr would be far from enough to mount a comeback, with Harvard scoring three more goals on their way to the nine-goal win.
“We have to rebound,” Polley said. “ We had a rough spot against Navy and responded by playing three really good games in a row, and we got to do something similar after Harvard.”
The Terriers will return home to Nickerson Field Saturday at 4 p.m. to take on Holy Cross in another local rivalry.
